CREATING EXCITMENT
LEARNING
(AND TEACHING)
ABOUT
Witold Kinsner
Cognitive Systems Laboratory
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3T 5V6
and the Institute of Industrial Mathematical Sciences,
and the Experimental Media Research Group,
and Telecommunications Research Laboratories, TRLabs
<w.kinsner@ieee.org>
IEEE TISP11; Toronto
April 28-29, 2011
Motivation
(1/2)

Enrollment in universities has dropped.

Many parents think that there are no jobs in Canada.

How do we attract students to:
– Engineering
–
–
–
–
Computer
Electrical
Aerospace
Biomedical
– Technology
– Sciences

How do we help to instill
the excitement and love of learning?
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Methodology

The traditional passive and active approaches to high-school outreach have
many merits
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–

Augmented approaches should also be applied
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
Presentations;
Competitions; and
Engineering Week and other special events.
Hands-on workshops (in schools and universities);
Extended courses (e.g., amateur radio, bioinformatics, smart systems);
Symposia (e.g., Peguis First Nation Science & Engineering Symposium);
Teaching teachers workshops.
Is outreach to high schools too late?
–
Primary schools must be included;
–
–
–
–
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Tours to university labs;
MiniUniversity;
Enrichment programs (workshops; augmented courses);
New introductory interactive books (e.g, Gord Klimenko); and
Parents and guardians should also be included.
This talk illustrates how good
these approaches have been in Manitoba.

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Outline of This Talk

Overview (just completed)
– Motivation; methodology and feasibility

Attractors (Strange)
– Traditional driving forces & activities
– Special augmented activities
– Multi-hub activities

Examples
–
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–
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
Space Adventure Camp
Canadian Satellite Design Challenge
Near-Space Exploratorium
First Nation Science & Engineering Symposia
Mentorship
Teaching Teachers
Closing Remarks
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Attractors:

How Do We Attract Students? (1/4)
Traditional Driving Forces
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Attractors:

How Do We Attract Students? (2/4)
Traditional Driving Forces
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Attractors:

How Do We Attract Students? (3/5)
Traditional Activities
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Attractors:

How Do We Attract Students? (4/5)
Special Activities
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Attractors:

How Do We Attract Students? (5/5)
Multi-Hub Activities
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Outline of This Talk

Overview
– Motivation; methodology and feasibility

Attractors (Strange)
– Traditional driving forces & activities
– Special augmented activities
– Multi-hub activities

Examples
–
–
–
–
–
–

Space Adventure Camp
Canadian Satellite Design Challenge
Near-Space Exploratorium
First Nation Science & Engineering Symposia
Mentorship
Teaching Teachers
Closing Remarks
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Example 1:

Space Adventure Camp
(1/10)
Objective
– To provide students (grade 9-11) with hands-on experience in
– Science,
– Engineering, and
– Technology.

Participants
– Students;
– Teachers;
– Parents & friends.

Duration
– One week in July (e.g., from Sun, July 17 to Sun, July 24, 2011);

Sponsors (20)
–
–
–
–
University of Manitoba;
Industry (e.g., Magellan Bristol, Boeing, Standard Aero);
Military (Aerospace School);
Organizations (e.g., Women in Science & Engineering).
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Example 1: Space Adventure Camp:

(2/10)
Pre-Study Course (one month in advance)
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–

Contents
Space environment;
Satellite design;
Orbital mechanics;
Satellite communications;
Satellite navigation;
Remote sensing from satellites; and
Spacelift.
Orientation Session (one day prior to the camp)
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–
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–
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Registered students;
Parents and friends;
President of the university;
Aerospace industry representatives;
Government representatives;
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Example 1: Space Adventure Camp:

(3/10)
Small Talks (15-min)
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–

Contents
What is this camp all about?
What is astro science?
What is astro engineering?
What is space law?
What is space communications
Do I fit into all of it or part of it?
Workshops (several hours a day)
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–
Rockets (building and launching);
Robotics (building and taking home);
Near-space balloon (launching and tracking);
“Foxhunting” (finding illegal transmitters in the field);
Satellite communnications through a ground station;
Experiments in space (Canadian Space Agency)
Simulation of space (company working with CSA)
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Example 1: Space Adventure Camp:

(4/10)
Bigger Talks (45-min & videos)
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–
–
–
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–

Contents
YES2 experiment;
Zero-gravity experiment (video);
Pico-satellite building experience;
Unmanned vehicles;
Experience from formula car competitions;
Large rockets (talk and launching).
Tours to Research Labs (several hours, two days)
–
–
–
–
Robotics (medical purposes);
Biomedical (hands-on);
Rapid prototyping (design tools and 3D printing);
Nanofabrication facilities (clean room).
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Example 1: Space Adventure Camp:

Pics
(5/10)
Using STK
• Docking to ISS
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Example 1: Space Adventure Camp:

Pics
(6/10)
Launching Rockets
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Example 1: Space Adventure Camp:

Pics
(7/10)
Larger Rockets
• Building a Robot
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Example 1: Space Adventure Camp:

Pics
(8/10)
Larger Robots (tour)
• Driving a Formula Car (emulator)
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Example 1: Space Adventure Camp:

Pics
(9/10)
Biomedical Lab (tour)
• Talking to Chris Hatfield
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Example 1: Space Adventure Camp:

Pics
(10/10)
Zero-G Flight & Experiment
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Example 2:

Can. Satellite Des. Challenge
(1/5)
Objective:
– To develop a triple pico-satellite (10 x 10 x 30 cm), including its
–
–
–
–
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Design;
Implement;
Verify;
Test; and
Launch.
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Example 2:



(2/5)
Start 2010
Completion 2012
Registered Students 78
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
Can. Satellite Des. Challenge
Engineering;
Sciences;
Business;
Arts.
Advisors 42
–
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–
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Academic
9
Aerospace
18
Industrial
9
Radio
3
Military
3
Student Government 2
Government
2
Community
1
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Example 2:

Can. Satellite Des. Challenge
(3/5)
All Stakeholders
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Example 2: CSDC:

Outreach Examples
(4/5)
April 7, 2011 - Balmoral Hall Presentation
– A team of 5 UMSATS students gave a lunch presentation on the
satellite project to a group of Grade 12 Physics and Chemistry
students. The emphasis was on linking some of their courses to
careers in the space industry in Manitoba.

April 27, 2011 - Marie-Anne-Gaboury School
– A team of 6 UMSATS students will be making a half hour
presentation to a class of Grade 6 students who have just finished
a unit on the solar system. The presentation links ideas about the
planets and space to satellites.

April 29, 2011 - Maples Collegiate
– A team of 3 UMSATS students will serve as judges for the
Canadian National Marsville Program Link-Up Day. At the Marsville
Link=Up Day, 300 students from across the province will present
the habitats they have designed to support life in Mars.
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Example 2: CSDC:

Outreach Examples
(5/5)
May 5, 2011 - Grade 6 English-Ukrainian Bilingual Program
– UMSATS will be hosting two groups of grade 6 students for a 45
minute workshop on satellite design and a 15 minute tour of the
Robotics Lab.

May 2011 - Vincent Massey Collegiate
– A team of 5-6 UMSATS students will make a presentation to the
Grade 10-12 classes on the satellite challenge and careers in
science and technology.
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Example 3:

Near-Space Exploratorium
(1/3)
Objectives
– To provide hands-on design, construction and testing experience
to students (university, college, high-school);
– To provide a testing facility to
– University students (capstone projects)
– High-school students (science projects)
– To provide a testing facility to
– Industry (design for harsh environments)
– R&D groups
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Example 3:

Near-Space Exploratorium
(2/3)
Facilities
– Satellite ground station;
– GENSO (Global Educational
Network for Satellite
Operations to support the
operation of university
satellites).
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Example 3:

Near-Space Exploratorium
(3/3)
Facilities
– Controlled-lift vehicle (100,000 180,000 ft; 30-50 km)
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Example 4:

Peguis FN Symposium
(1/5)
Objective
– To encourage First Nations students to study science and
engineering.

Attendees
– 500 students from the Peguis First Nation

Location
– Hotel (did not work well; no direct association with education)
– University of Manitoba

Duration
– Two days

Instructors: Professors and students from
– Science
– Engineering

Collaboration
– EngAP (Engineering Access Program)
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Example 4:

Peguis FN Symposium
(2/5)
Workshop example
– “Can I design and build a tiny robot?”

Logistics
– Assembly
– Soldering

Support
– UG student assistants (SA); 1 : 1
– Pre-workshop training of SAs
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–
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Part recognition;
Part assembly;
Soldering;
Testing.
Outcome
– Take-home robot (all but one completed)
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Example 4:

Peguis FN Symposium
(3/5)
Peguis students & SAs
• Explaining elements
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Example 4:

Peguis FN Symposium
(4/5)
Learning how to solder
• Finished machines charging
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Example 4:

Peguis FN Symposium
(5/5)
I will
show it
to my
parents
and my
friends.
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Example 5:

Teaching Teachers
(1/1)
Objectives
– To provide high-school teachers with hands-on experience related to
– mechatronics projects,
– their alternative designs, and/or
– Their alternative implementations.

Logistics
– During Teachers-In-Service days (Fall and Spring);
– Take-home project;
– Take-home alternative designs.

Project Examples
–
–
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Can I design and build a tiny robot?
Can I design and build a small rocket?
Can this thing launch a rocket safely?
Will this payload survive in a Marsian atmosphere?
One-eye vision.
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Example 5:

Teaching Teachers
(2/5)
How it works
• Finished machines
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Example 5:

Teaching Teachers
(3/5)
Classes of good solders
• Safe handling of solder
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Example 5:

Teaching Teachers
(4/5)
Solder in a safe container
• Solder for a group of students
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Example 6:

Mentorship
(1/1)
Objectives
– To provide senior high-school students with the highest possible
project experience within one academic term.

Logistics
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
A project is requested by a student, based on their interest;
A mentor professor is selected for the project;
A detailed project is discussed and selected;
Review meetings (every other week);
Presentation to the school by the student;
The student gats credit for the project.
Project examples
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Speech acquisition, recognition, synthesis
Pattern recognition using neural networks
Societal robots
Soccer-playing robots
Machine vision
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Concluding Remarks

Traditional driving forces
–

Traditional activities
–

Helpful when students want to come to the university
Special augmented activites
–
–
–
–

Insufficient by themselves
Appear to be more attractive
Are more costly
Require much effort
Should be done within a distributed system
Hands-on experience
–
Critical

TISP can help very much!
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Acknowledgements

Partial financial support of this project is
acknowledged gratefully from:
–
–
–
–
–
University of Manitoba
Manitoba Aerospace
MindSet
Canadian Space Agency
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research
Council (NSERC) of Canada
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•••
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References
(1/2)
All references are listed in the accompanying paper.
Additional References



[CUTG01] Codon Usage Tabulated from GenBank. Maintained by the First Laboratory for
Plant Gene Research, Kazusa DNA Research Institute, Japan, 2001.
Available as of May 2009 from
http://www.kazusa.or.jp/codon/
[DSRC99] I. Dunham, N. Shimizu, B. A. Rpe, S. Chissoe, et al., “The DNA sequence of
human chromosome 22,” Nature, vol. 402, pp. 489-495, 1999.
[Ferr08] Thomas E. Ferrin, “Interactive protein structure visualization,” Cupertino, CA: Apple,
2008. Availble as of June 12, 2008 from
–
–
–

http://www.apple.com/science/insidetheimage/ferrin/
http://www.apple.com/science/insidetheimage/ferrin/video.html
Movie: science_insidetheimage_ferris20070205_480x480-protein
[GGGP80] R. Grantham, C. Gautier, M. Gouy, R. Mercier, and A. Pave, “Codon catalog usage
and the genome hypothesis,” Nucl. Acids Res., vol. 8, pp. r49-62, 1980.
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