Solving Health and Environmental Challenges

On Thursday, May 14, 2020, the IEEE Consultants’ Network of Northern NJ (www.TechnologyOnTap.org) will host the 2020 Young Scientists and Engineers Award Winner’s presentations. The meeting will be held online. Please subscribe to our newsletter at http://eepurl.com/glfyo1 to receive the meeting link.

Topics include:

• Diagnosis of Depression Using Machine Learning
• An Autonomous Drone for Water Conservation and Irrigation Location Optimization
• Simulating Nanotechnology Applications for Photovoltaic Transparency

About the Topic

We face many health and environmental challenges today that require large scale solutions. In healthcare, mental disorders such as depression go undetected and the result can have tragic consequences, but using machine learning monitoring may help better manage mental health. In agriculture, drones may be used to monitor crop health to increase yield and decrease water usage. In energy production, transparent solar cells may be used to turn buildings into sustainable energy harvesting systems.

Our first two speakers received the NJ Region Science Fair IEEE Young Engineers Award, and our third speaker is the Hudson County STEM Showcase Gold Medalist and International Science and Engineering Fair winner.

About the Speakers

Our three presenters are Ivy Xie, Noam Yakar, and Tashu Gupta.

Ivy Xie, 11th grader, 2020 NJRSF IEEE Young Engineer Award winner

Title: Diagnosis of Depression Using Machine Learning

Abstract: “Depression is one of the most common mental disorders associated with suicide, and timely diagnosis and intervention of depression can significantly improve life quality and reduce the suicidal rate. Recent studies have shown that motor activity data measured from a wearable sensor may correlate with depression.”

Noam Yakar, 11th grader, 2020 NJRSF IEEE Young Engineer Award

Title: An Autonomous Drone for Water Conservation and Irrigation Location Optimization

Abstract: “Only 3% of the water on the planet consists of freshwater, and only a third of this is accessible for agricultural use. This poses a difficult problem for the agricultural industry because the technology used to modernize fields and farms in terms of water supply is limited. Currently, agricultural drones are conventional in modern-day agriculture due to their capability in nourishing farm fields. This project proposes a drone that monitors environmental data and optimizes water usage based on the placement of certain irrigation systems.”

Tashu Gupta, Gold Medalist and ISEF Award Winner, Hudson County STEM Showcase

Title: Simulating Nanotechnology Applications for Photovoltaic Transparency (S.N.A.P.T.)

Abstract: “Solar panels are crucial in harvesting renewable energy. However, they occupy vast amounts of space and in highly urbanized areas, cannot be used as skyscrapers exteriors, being generally transparent, since current solar panels are opaque. Transparent solar cells can replace skyscraper exteriors, windows, and other transparent surface areas to harvest photon energy by generating electron flow. Photovoltaic transparency was achieved through integrating nanotechnology in the engineering design tested through FDTD software computer simulations, incorporating the finite-difference time-domain method which applies Maxwell’s equations to produce output data.”