Making the Future
The NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering Is at the Nexus of the
National Maker Movement
The NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering Is at the nexus of the National Maker
Movement. With an extensive network of business incubators (many of whose
companies have been launched by students or grads); a curriculum that emphasizes
hands-on learning; a focus on K-12 STEM education; and a commitment to
invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship, the School of Engineering is educating
the nation's next generation of movers, shakers, and MAKERS.
Follow the links below to read more about all the things being made here right now.
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Skinesiology
Skinesiology is a NYU-based startup founded by a team composed of first-year
medical students Franklin Yao, Jeffrey Huang, Jenny Chen, Josh Phelps, and Ryan
Grattan.
With nontraditional backgrounds such as engineering, marketing, and business,
these students have developed innovative fitness apparel, specifically with a focus
on tights, which utilizes built-in elastomeric resistance bands. These bands are
positioned to counteract specific muscle groups and increase muscle activation in a
biomechanically sound fashion that will help the average person burn significantly
more calories during daily activities. More importantly they are said to promote
weight loss—up to 5 pounds per year.
Since the beginning, Skinesiology has been heavily involved with the incubators and
competitions that NYU has to offer them. The 2013 Prototyping Fund provided them
with a $500 grant through the sponsorship of the Greenhouse at NYU Polytechnic
School of Engineering and taught them how to take the best parts of their idea and
translate them into physical prototypes.
Skinesiology has also participated in both the Inno/Vention competition at the NYU
School of Engineering and the Entrepreneurs Challenge hosted by NYU Stern, where
they won $75,000 towards their invention.
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Solid Air
Two freshmen physics majors at the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, Patrick
Nave and Patrick Gumusoglu, developed a process by which oxygen and nitrogen
can be harnessed in solid form. Using this “Solid Air,” the students hope to devise a
replacement for the bulky, heavy, and expensive compressed-gas tanks typically
used by sport divers. Furthermore, the product may have the potential to be used
by firefighters and people with supplemental oxygen tanks in their homes to treat
conditions such as emphysema.
The pair received $500 toward their idea through a competition in a required
freshman Innovation and Technology Forum class taught by Industry Professor
David Lefer. The intention of the forum class is to lay the foundation for building the
next generation of global innovators and inventors.
Nave and Gumusoglu received an additional $500 from Suneris, a company cofounded by Joe Landolina, a NYU School of Engineering senior at the time. They
were also awardees of the Fall 2013 Prototyping Fund (sponsored by the
Greenhouse and the Entrepreneurial Institute), which gave them the opportunity to
develop their first prototype. The technology for Solid Air is currently patentpending.

Edenworks
Jason Green, the founder of a start-up called Edenworks and a civil engineering
major at NYU School of Engineering, is developing the future of food infrastructure
by building a smarter, more efficient, local food economy.
Instead of traditional farming, Green and his team at Edenworks build aquaponics, a
closed loop system where fish and plants are farmed together. Fish waste is fed to
the plants as fertilizer, and the plants act as a natural filter for the fish. Sensors
constantly monitor environmental chemistry and this information is combined with
data about the quality of the food, all via webapp.
Within urban environments, the aquaponics are built up vertically to get the desired
yield. While resource efficient, aquaponics are also scalable and “snap” together
much like an Ikea product. After harvesting, the fresh product and seafood can be
delivered by subscription to food services and businesses all around NYC. Having
previously worked in business development and partnerships at the NYU
Polytechnic School of Engineering DUMBO incubator and as the VP of the
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Association, Jason Green fervently applies his
experience so that Edenworks will seamlessly change the way we all eat.
 HEVO Power
Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Optimization (HEVO) is a tenant of the New York City
Accelerator for a Clean and Resilient Economy (NYC ACRE), housed at the NYU
Polytechnic School of Engineering’s Urban Future Lab.
The start-up company aims to market an innovative way to wirelessly charge
electric vehicles (EVs) by using electromagnetic resonant power—a method that is
expected to be of particular interest to the owners of commercial fleets and
organizations like the military.
The HEVO Power Station (HPS) provides a safe, fast, and affordable method of
charging EVs that eliminates the hazards and inconveniences associated with plugin charging, such as range anxiety, the common fear that a vehicle may not have
sufficient power and range to reach its intended destination, thus stranding its
passengers.
The company’s head of technology development, Aditya Karan Sharma, an electrical
engineer who earned an M.S. from the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, was
instrumental in forging collaborations with professors from the school, including
Francisco de León, whose research helped made city-compatible power stations
possible.
HEVO’s founder, Jeremy McCool, a veteran of the Iraq War, hopes that his company
will help to promote U.S. energy independence, which he has termed the “new
American freedom.”

Keen Home
Keen Home, a start-up founded by NYU Stern students Ryan Fant and Nayeem
Hussain, is a New York City Accelerator for a Clean and Resilient Economy (NYC
ACRE) incubator company that has developed a product known as the Keen Vent.
A wirelessly networked home air vent, the Keen Vent enhances the efficiency and
comfort of a home’s heating and cooling system by intelligently redirecting central
HVAC airflow. Collaboration with Con Edison, NYSERDA, and energy monitoring
firms at NYC ACRE, have allowed Fant and Hussain to quantify the amount of energy
used in a single day with a Keen Vent versus when it is not in operation. General
research has revealed as much as 30% energy savings.
The Smart Vent intelligently opens and closes to reduce uncomfortable hot and cold
spots, saves energy in unused rooms, and connects to a home network with the push
of a button. Keen Home has also incorporated smartphone control of air
flow. Recently, the company was provided with investment and mentorship from
renowned angel funds, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs through the exclusive
TechStars national accelerator program.
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Radiator Labs
Marshall Cox, the founder and CEO of a start-up called Radiator Labs, created a
Thermostatic Radiator Enclosure (TRE). This enclosure, also known as the Cozy,
solves cast-iron steam radiator woes by helping dampen the noise and reducing
energy expenditures and pollution.
Radiator Labs—a tenant of the NYC Accelerator for a Clean and Resilient Economy
(ACRE)—fitted the Cozy with a small fan, temperature sensors and a ZigBee
wireless radio transmitter. The device is placed over a radiator, held in place with
Velcro, and can help control the temperature of the room in question through a web
interface. In addition, the Radiator Labs system doesn't require any special
equipment and takes minutes to set up. With a Cozy in place, the boiler will have to
turn on less frequently since dispersed steam will used more efficiently, and less
heating oil will be burned. Cox estimates the technology could save building owners
up to 30 percent in energy costs, while still being aesthetically pleasing.

Chromosense LLC
ChromoSense LLC is a technology start-up company focused on the development
and production of the next generation of environmental sensing and monitoring
systems. ChromoSense has been addressing its mission while working closely with
the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and as part of the NYC
Accelerator for a Clean and Resilient Economy (ACRE) at the School of Engineering’s
Urban Future Lab. The CEO, Masoud Ghandehari, is a faculty member in the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the university and
incorporates other environmental engineers and remediation practitioners into the
company to bridge many of the technology gaps that currently exist in these fields.
From increased rates of cancer to incidents of birth defects, soil and ground water
pollution threaten not only the natural ecosystem but also human health. Today, the
annual remediation of sites worldwide costs billions of dollars. To help address this
issue, the team at ChromoSense developed an innovative, durable and cost-effective
opto-chemical oxygen probe, for which they were awarded a Phase I Small Business
Innovation Research Grant from the National Institutes of Health. This probe
promises to provide a unique long-term oxygen level monitoring solution for
contaminated soil and groundwater environments, which is essential as oxygen is
the most critical parameter of aerobic bioremediation.
The dissolved oxygen sensing is based on innovative fiber optical technology that
provides reliable readings and significantly reduces the cost of sensors. These
performance enhancements and cost reductions will facilitate the expansion and
acceleration of current environmental remediation projects. In addition, the
technology is applicable to other industries, such as in agriculture and chemical
processing, and can be adapted to other parameters such as pH and redox potential.

The Bug
Mahmoud Raslan, an Integrated Digital media (IDM) student who graduated this
year, created “The Bug” as his senior design project. The small robotic projector can
be used in relatively inaccessible areas, and its development was overseen by Dana
Karwas, an IDM instructor, and Chris DiMauro, an alum of Polytechnic's Digital
Media master’s program.
Raslan was initially inspired by guerilla projections, or “Projection Bombings,”
terms that describe the unauthorized projection of messages, images or videos onto
irregularly shaped objects like buildings. His current prototype is able to walk, and
he hopes to one day complete a prototype that climbs up walls. Raslan sees the
potential for commercialization, since his system involves much less infrastructure
and work than conventional projectors. The Bug was exhibited as part of the 2014
NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering Research Expo.

The Greenhouse
In the spring of 2012, the Design Tinkering Club at the NYU Polytechnic School of
Engineering, with the support of their advisor, Anne-Laure Fayard, launched a
project called My Vibrant Campus. The project challenged students to
collaboratively design spaces and services in and around the campus to increase
collaboration, entrepreneurship and innovation through informal interaction, coworking spaces, and events like hackathons. It was out of the efforts of this project
that the Greenhouse was born.
As the designated collaborative space at the NYU School of Engineering, the
Greenhouse is a place to foster innovation, collaboration and cross-pollination of
talents across the NYU community and support a growing entrepreneurial spirit. It
is the first space of its kind—designed by students, for students and run by
students—in the spirit of the school’s philosophy of i2e: innovation, invention and
entrepreneurship.
Speakers from the entrepreneurship and innovation worlds are asked to visit the
Greenhouse and inspire people to be creative, introducing them to the spirit of
design thinking and even workshops to get hands-on experience with essential skills
such as prototyping. There are also projects sponsored for the Greenhouse, open
innovation challenges, and programming funded by an NCIIA grant that students
can actively participate in. Ultimately, it is in this space where students within the
NYU community are asked to work on projects, meet new people, learn new skills,
and grow their ideas.
Through the Greenhouse, students can seek help from the Entrepreneurship &
Innovation Association (EIA) at NYU School of Engineering and turn ideas into
possible start-up companies with the use of the many supportive university
incubators.
•
Somaware
Somaware is a company launched by NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering
graduate student Michael Karlesky and dedicated to building tools to extend the
human senses. Its first project is a band that can be worn around the neck to expand
the user’s sense of direction, guiding him or her with pulses of vibration. The wearer
becomes, in effect, a human compass.
An accompanying smartphone app will allow a person to plan a route. Then, the
phone and the band cooperate wirelessly, resulting in an experience less like
reading a map and more like following a tap on the shoulder. The company--a
winning competitor in the School of Engineering’s Inno/Vention contest and a
current participant in its Summer Launchpad program--is working with cyclists,
runners, hikers, sailors, and the sight-impaired to fine-tune its technology.
Karlesky says that people think he came to the NYU School of Engineering to earn a
doctoral degree, but they are mistaken. He actually came to change the world.
•
BotFactory
A strong competitor in the Inno/Vention contest and one of the most buzzed about
participants at the recent MakerFaire in San Francisco, where it received a huge
welcome from the hacker and education community, the BotFactory was founded by
a team of students from the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering.
Building electronic devices has always been a compromise between cost, flexibility
and time, and the BotFactory was born of the idea of providing all three, anywhere
and to everyone. The company, at the forefront of a wave of Agile Electronics
Development, democratizes electronic design by providing the tools to easily print
electronic circuits from home.
After all, the founders have asserted, what is cooler than a robot building robots?
K-12 Initiatives
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Tech Kids Unlimited
Tech Kids Unlimited (TKU) is a technology-based educational organization geared
towards kids with special needs, between the ages of 7 and 18 years old. Beth
Rosenberg, an adjunct professor in the Department of Technology, Culture & Society
at the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, founded the organization in
2009. Inspired by her teenaged son, Jack, she hopes to empower and inspire the
next generation of digital natives to learn, create, develop and share the tools of
technology.
Convening throughout the summer, many of TKU’s week-long workshops take place
within the NYU School of Engineering and teach students how to make a digital
game, develop a sound app, learn Google Sketch-Up, and implement 3D printing
using 3D modeling software. Students get to work with experienced teachers and
students from the NYU School of Engineering, meet guest lecturers who work in the
tech field, experiment with technology, go on field trips, and much more.
In addition, TKU is in partnership with the new Media and Games Network
(MAGNET) on the NYU School of Engineering campus. MAGNET bridges the gap
between technology and culture by co-locating NYU’s teaching and research
programs in both game design and digital media design including games as a
creative art form, computer science, and engineering.

Center for K-12 STEM Education
The NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering’s Center for K-12 STEM Education helps
make science, technology, engineering and math fun and engaging for young
learners. The Center currently serves 17 schools in central Brooklyn and has
partnered with entities such as the Pinkerton Foundation, NSF, and First Robotics.
The Center for K-12 STEM Education specifically focuses on developing hands-on
lessons and techniques that bring together STEM disciplines and concepts through
creative projects and experiments. The program promotes teamwork, involves both
student and faculty mentors, and allows young people to engage with STEM through
building, programming and research.
Lessons:
Science of Smart Cities
Science of Smart Cities (SoSC) connects middle school students through teamwork
and mentorship and teaches them how to build and design more livable, efficient,
sustainable and resilient cities. The program, developed and taught by NYU School
of Engineering undergraduate students, consists of four curricular modules: Energy,
Urban Infrastructure, Transportation, and Wireless Communications.
Through demonstrations and projects, SoSC introduces students to new ideas in
science, engineering and technology, as well as to the scientific method and research
practices. The curriculum also explores urban planning, sustainability and healthy
urban living.
With the interest of wind/hydroelectric generation in mind, lessons provided to the
students overview different types of renewable energy, both on a micro and
macroscopic scale. Using simple materials, students learn to better understand how
to generate energy, what kinds of alternative energy sources there are, and are
introduced to ideas of cleaner energy. Demonstrations have been offered at USA
Science Expo in Washington DC.
Erosion
Erosion, the process by which soil and rock are removed and transported by
exogenic processes, inspired a program based on this topic which highlights how
cities are designed. Especially with sea levels rising and water encroaching in on
urban environments, this is a matter that has grown steadily more important.
To demonstrate the principles of soil erosion and civil engineering, the lesson uses a
sand table, 3D printed houses/structures (designed by the students), and then
requires them to decide how and where they would place those structures. These
miniature buildings are then placed in the sand and exposed to water where the
students are left to marvel at the power of erosion and how it affects their urban
planning.
The Celluarly-Accesible, Expressive, Semi-Autonomous Robot (CAESAR)
The Celluarly-Accesible, Expressive, Semi-Autonomous Robot (CAESAR) is an
ongoing project whose development is expected to be finished by the end of the
summer. It as a platform that will be used to conduct a series of research
experiments in human-robot interaction (HRI), some of which involves developing
mobile apps that people can use to interact with CAESAR.
To provide easy-to-use user interfaces for people of all ages and backgrounds so
that they can interact with CAESAR, the experiment apps will integrate cutting-edge
sensors and features found in smart devices, such as touchscreens, accelerometers,
and cameras. The apps will even be friendly to those who may have no scientific or
technical background and users with disabilities.
CAESAR is a mobile manipulator in the sense that it has a mobile platform used to
autonomously navigate indoor environments as well as robotic arms to manipulate
objects in that environment. In addition, CAESAR is a telepresence robot which
allows a user (via their own personal smartphone or tablet) to access CAESAR over
the internet from anywhere else in the world. CAESAR is also designed to act as a
type of robotic avatar.
Whereas the majority of mobile manipulators do not have a human-like face and the
majority of telepresence robots do not have arms for manipulation, CAESAR
combines these two attractive elements in one platform. A visiting researcher will
be redesigning and re-fabricating CAESAR's face this summer to look more inviting
and to be able to convey a variety of emotions through different facial expressions.
Furthermore, a student will be working on the hand-eye coordination to give
CAESAR the ability to pick up and place objects with greater precision and accuracy,
whereas a second student will be doing research into its ability to autonomously
navigate. For the future, it is expected that the next generation of students make
improvements to this first prototype as well as develop future prototypes that may
someday lead to a commercial product.
Robotic Fish
Nature is a growing source of inspiration for engineers. In an attempt to understand
the schooling habits of fish, researchers at NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering
have designed robotic fish that can swim with live fish and have the ability to
assume a leadership role and guide fish out of harm’s way. The design has been
demonstrated at the US Science Festival in Washington DC.
Probing the largely unexplored question of what characteristics make a leader
among a school of fish, students are shown that, by mimicking nature, a robotic fish
can transform into a leader of live ones. Through a series of experiments,
researchers aimed to increase understanding of collective animal behavior. This
included learning how robots might someday steer fish away from environmental
disasters.
Stefano Marras, at the time a postdoctoral fellow in mechanical engineering at NYU
School of Engineering, and Maurizio Porfiri, an associate professor of mechanical
engineering at the university, designed their bio-inspired robotic fish to mimic the
tail propulsion of a swimming fish, and conducted experiments at varying tail beat
frequencies and flow speeds. In nature, fish positioned at the front of a school beat
their tails with greater frequency, creating a wake in which their followers gather.
The followers display a notably slower frequency of tail movement, leading
researchers to believe that the followers are enjoying a hydrodynamic advantage
from the leaders’ efforts. This design has been successfully demonstrated to
students, in action, at the US Science Festival in Washington DC.