REU Site: Research Experiences in Pervasive Computing for Smart Health, Safety, and Well-being

This funding renews a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at Temple University. This REU Site will host a diverse group of students from universities across the nation to spend their summer working on research projects related to pervasive computing solutions for improving health, public safety, and well-being. Pervasive computing typically involves embedding computational capability, usually on microprocessors, into everyday objects to make them effectively communicate and perform useful tasks often with little interaction directly from the end user of the object or device. This project involves research into pervasive computing applications that have the potential to benefit the broader community at large. The research is led by an experienced faculty team that plans to offer a balance of theory, applications, and practical skills as well as mentoring and professional development opportunities for the students. The students will be part of a community of practice that designs, implements, and assesses research projects that can impact the lives of all citizens. The site will focus on recruiting under-represented minorities and women, particularly drawing on undergraduate institutions where students have limited research opportunities. The project has the potential to develop new algorithms and technologies that lead to an advanced understanding of the field of pervasive computing and its component areas of networking, computer vision, and data analytics. The projects are led by faculty mentors with strong research credentials as well as significant experience in undergraduate mentoring. The projects will have access to state-of-the art facilities in the new Science Education and Research Center as well as the resources of the Center for Networked Computing. The focus of the projects revolves around designing pervasive computing systems that employ sensing, actuation, and computation embedded in everyday objects, landscapes, and wearable items to improve the health, safety, and well-being of the general public. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.