Project Description

SMART is a unique program at Polytechnic University that provides a paid research opportunity for high school teachers. Funded by the Division of Engineering Education and Centers of the National Science Foundation, under its Research Experience for Teachers program, SMART aims to enrich education in pre-college environments by providing teachers with enhanced science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational content through their participation in a mechatronics training/ research workshop. During each of the three program years (2003—2005), ten teachers will acquire research experience through summer workshops of four-week duration. The exciting field of mechatronics will serve as a vehicle to engage and stimulate the interest of teachers in hands-on training activities. An interdisciplinary experience with a balanced introduction to theory, simulation, hardware, and software elements of mechatronics will advance the understanding of teachers in STEM disciplines. Specifically, teachers will undertake synergistic integration of sensors, actuators, instrumentation, and computer control hardware and software to perform pre-college level projects such as validation of global warming phenomenon; industrial and home automation; design of web-enabled remote laboratory experiments; robotics; etc.

Recent News

February 29, 2008: An article on the "New, GK12: Applying Mechatronics to Promote Science (AMPS)" project is available on the Poly website.

February 27, 2008: Under the GK-12 Fellows program, Division of Graduate Education of the National Science Foundation has awarded Polytechnic University a grant titled "New, GK12: Applying Mechatronics to Promote Science (AMPS)." This award provides funding in the amount $600,000/year. Under NSF's continuing award instrument, the project duration is expected to be five years. Professor Vikram Kapila, will serve as the PI and director of the AMPS project. The Co-PIs of the AMPS project include Professor Magued G. Iskander and Professor Noel N. Kriftcher. In addition, the following Polytechnic faculty will serve as the senior personnel on the AMPS project: Professor Dariusz Czarkowski, Professor Rastislav Levicky, and Professor Maurizio Porfiri.

February 15, 2008: An article on the "Central Brooklyn Robotics Initiative (CBRI)" project is available on the Poly website.

February 5 , 2008: An article on the "Central Brooklyn Robotics Initiative (CBRI)" project is available on NY Daily News (pdf version).

January 30, 2008: An article on the "Central Brooklyn Robotics Initiative (CBRI)" project is available on Brooklyn Daily Eagle (pdf version).

December 16, 2007: An article on the "Central Brooklyn Robotics Initiative (CBRI)" project is available on Our Time Press (pdf version).

August 12, 2007: An article on the summer Workshop in Instrumentation, Sensors and Engineering (WISE) is available on the Poly website.

July 20, 2007: An article on the the Summer Mechatronics Institute for Teachers (SUMMIT) is available on the Poly website.

July 2007: The Independence Community Foundation and the J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation have awarded Polytechnic University a $226,449 grant titled "Central Brooklyn Robotics Initiative (CBRI)." The project is led by Professor Vikram Kapila and Professor Noel N. Kriftcher.

July 2007: The Independence Community Foundation has awarded Polytechnic University a $226,449 grant titled "Central Brooklyn Robotics Initiative (CBRI)." The project is led by Professor Vikram Kapila and Professor Noel N. Kriftcher.

April 25, 2007: Under the Engineers of the Future Program, New York State Education Department has awarded Polytechnic University a $240,654 grant titled "Summer Mechatronics Institute for Teachers (SUMMIT)." The project is led by Professor Vikram Kapila (PI) and Professor Noel N. Kriftcher (Co-PI).

April 25, 2007: Under the Engineers of the Future Program, New York State Education Department has awarded Polytechnic University a $297,455 grant titled "Summer Workshop in Instrumentation, Sensors and Engineering (WISE)." The project is led by Professor Magued G. Iskander (PI), Professor Vikram Kapila (Co-PI), and Professor Noel N. Kriftcher (Co-PI).

February 9, 2006: Professor Vikram Kapila presented Mechatronics Outreach @ Poly to the members of Polytechnic University Board of Trustees.

January 21, 2006: Professor Vikram Kapila presented Mechatronics Outreach @ Poly at "Why Science, Technology and Invention are Fun for Youth/Minority Youth?" a seminar organized by Wilbert Murdock an electrical engineer turned entrepreneur at the Schomburg Library Auditorium at 103 West 135th St, in Harlem, New York.

November 9, 2005: Professor Vikram Kapila has presented Introduction to Robotics to over 200 Polytechnic freshmen in the freshmen engineering course EG1004.

November 8, 2005: Mr. Sang-Hoon Lee, a member of Poly’s SMART team, presented an overview of the project to New York City physics teachers at a conference titled “Physics for All: A Celebration of the World Year of Physics 2005” held at Stuyvesant High School, New York, NY.

October 24, 2005: Dr. Charlie Camarda, a Polytechnic alumni '74 and a NASA Astronaut who flew on the 2005 Discovery Space Shuttle mission STS-114, visited Polytechnic University and the Mechatronics Laboratory. Click here for a photo album.

October 1, 2005: SMART DAY @ Poly
Location: Regna Lounge, Polytechnic University, 6 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY, 11201.
Date/Time: October 1, 2005 (Saturday), 10:00 A.M. -12:00 noon.
Teacher Success Stories, click here.
SMART Project Media Coverage Archive, click here.
To read archived old news, click here.
Last Update: February 18, 2008

SMART project is funded by the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program of the Division of Engineering Education and Centers at National Science Foundation.