John Free Physics and Engineering Seminar – Virtual Presentation – Friday April 3, 2020 at 4:30PM

Please join us on a Zoom Virtual Presentation of the Dr. John U. Free Physics & Engineering Seminar Series 2020 featuring faculty and Physics & Engineering senior research presentations. This series encourages collaboration and information sharing between programs and divisions and promotes an atmosphere that supports undergraduate research.

The URL to launch the Zoom Presentation is as follows:
https://encedu.zoom.us/j/982755524?pwd=N2l5NkFNaFFyVDQ5dzgxcnVxejE5dz09

The presentations scheduled for the April 3 installment of the series are as follows:

Full Stack Phone Application Aiding the Advancement of Student Engagement
by Katherine Sautter, BSc degree in Computer Science Candidate

The Student Engagement App is a mobile phone application developed to facilitate student engagement and collaboration towards academic excellence. Using a database, ORM, server, and user interface, this application informs students about campus events and allows students to engage in academic discussions with fellow classmates while also viewing the location of these events and discussions. The database used stores all application information and data and is connected to a web server through the utilization of object relational mapping. The ORM serves as a gateway between the database and server by facilitating requests passed between these two platforms. The server sends data to and from the database in response to user input via the user interface, which allows students to view and create events and discussions. While some schools may have multiple platforms by which they advertise events and academic activities, this application provides one common media where, within seconds, students can view all campus activity. This singular platform is beneficial to campus culture because when all campus information is in one place, students know exactly where to find everything occurring on campus rather than having to go to multiple different platforms to find different events. In addition, the location capabilities of this application provide a way for students to view where an event or discussion is occurring, which is particularly useful for new or transfer students who are still unfamiliar with school locations. Due to these functions, this mobile application will increase student turnout at events and will aid in student collaboration, resulting in overall academic excellence and student success.

Plant Growth Station: Aiding the Average Person in Becoming a Better Gardener.
by José Amilcar Mata Calidonio, BSc degree in Electrical Engineering Candidate, BA degree in Business Administration Candidate

The Plant Growth Station (PGS) is a product designed to aid customers in the process of growing their own plants. Using a web application, a Raspberry Pi, and two sensors, the product gives users access to sensor data such as the air temperature, humidity level, and light level that the plant is exposed to. This sensor data is displayed in graphs that update every five seconds to achieve near real-time monitoring of the plant’s environmental conditions. The application provides multiple features for users such as user registration and login, password reset function, username and profile picture creation and personalization, post creation and sharing, etc. Email services are also included in the application such as personalized email alerts when sensor values go above or below user-defined thresholds, and daily email reports with the average sensor values of the past day. Unlike self-watering pots or similar automated pots and comparable products, the main purpose of the PGS is to give the user useful information of the plant’s environment to help ensure that the plant is evolving under optimal conditions. Therefore, the PGS allows the user to have the complete gardening experience for themselves, with all the decisions involved in it, while providing useful information that enable the user to better take care of the plants.