| NSF Org: |
TI Translational Impacts |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 5, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 5, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1644478 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Junhong Chen
TI Translational Impacts TIP Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships |
| Start Date: | August 1, 2016 |
| End Date: | April 30, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $50,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $50,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1801 FAYETTEVILLE ST DURHAM NC US 27707-3129 (919)530-7333 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1801 Fayetteville Street Durham NC US 27707-3129 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | I-Corps |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.084 |
ABSTRACT
North Carolina Central University (NCCU) will explore scaling-up a modern tool for teaching solar and wind energy in order to commercialize it. The Educational Tool (ET) encompasses a modern and unique curriculum. The ET comprises instruction materials on solar and wind energy (SWE) and experimental equipment. Students learn in-depth the basics, as well as practical methods of how to design, size, install, and maintain SWE systems. The ET utilizes computer technologies for the delivery, and modern electronic platforms for data acquisition and automation of measurements. Also, to complement the instructions, information is retrieved using big data analysis, data aggregation, and a novel approach for data tagging using a master information set. Another important feature of the ET is its design, which was done with in mind the millennia learner, who is turning towards self-education, a new learning culture.
The ET has been categorized in three models, each dedicated to an end-user category for consideration during the customer discovery process. The first is the Education Sector, which includes students in engineering and physics programs, colleges and technical schools, secondary schools, and science clubs. A second sector is from Business, for example, employees of Renewable Energy (RE) companies that cannot afford multi-year learning cycles, engineers, businessmen, managers, building company practitioners, and RE equipment installers. The General Public comprises the third sector and includes private solar energy users, members of youth clubs, and amateur hobbyists. The ET will significantly enhance STEM education by delivering knowledge on emerging technologies and services. With the tool, students can procure their own lab to perform parts of or entire research projects, therefore research on solar and wind energy will be positively affected. The ET will prepare the renewable energy workforce in the Nation and the world.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
In summer 2016, the Center of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) of North Carolina Central University (NCCU) has received a NSF I-Corps-L award for marketing a curriculum on the sciences and technologies of Solar Energy (SE) and related alternative energy, bundled with a set of modern education tools. The product is referred to as Solar Energy Education Buddy (SEEB). This is an innovative education product for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs. It is based on a variety of technologies and innovative teaching methods. The SEEB is appropriate for classroom as well as for independent learner and training settings of para-professionals. It was developed based on prior in-class teaching of solar energy as well as research conducted by the team. The teaching was offered in the form of chapters included in the physics curriculum for undergraduates, special topics, advanced laboratories for undergraduate physics, and graduate and undergraduate elective courses. The instructions were only tested in classroom settings, and not in the form of standalone curriculum packaged with Lab kits, like in the case of the SEEB.
This modern education instrument comprises e-books for teaching SE fundamentals, hardware kits for laboratory experimentation, a set of virtual laboratories, user guides for SE analytical computer tools, and a subscription for SEEB forums. The taught computer tools are among the most popular application software used by renewable energy industry, such as those published by the National Renewable Laboratory (NREL) and the Department of Energy (DoE).
The major achievement of the project is the establishment of a customer base nucleus for the SEEB. This was accomplished through modern techniques learned in a series of workshops videoconferences organized by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) under the NSF leadership, where business and administration and entrepreneur faculty members have taught twenty five I-Corps-L teams modern approaches for customer discovery and methods for financing start-ups.
Also part of the award has been used to refine the SEEB curriculum and to integrate current elements into various kits, leading to a version for each customer segment discovered during the I-Corps-L award performance.
Last Modified: 08/30/2017
Modified by: Abdennaceur Karoui
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