Jun. 23, 2015 –
This year, 11 students were awarded SURF-IoT fellowships. The newly selected fellows had the chance to meet each other and learn more about the current research projects at the program’s orientation lunch Tuesday at CALIT2.
SURF-IoT (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the Internet of Things) is a 10-week summer research program for UCI undergraduates, designed to immerse students in research and applications related to the Internet of Things (IoT).
The program, co-sponsored by UCI’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) and CALIT2, provides students with a unique experience. Each student has the guidance of a UCI faculty mentor, along with the opportunity to gain experience and advanced training in state-of-the-art facilities and techniques.
Fellows and mentors were welcomed to their first meeting by UROP director, Said Shokair and CALIT2 Irvine director, G.P. Li.
Shokair, advised students to stay enthusiastic and dedicated, “You’re not measured by the amount of time you are putting in, but by the quality of that time,” he said.
This year, SURF-IT, as it has been known since the program originated in 2005, was changed to SURF-IoT.
“It was changed for two reasons,” G.P. Li, said. “By 2020 revenue related to this IoT effort will reach $17 trillion – and it will happen within five years.” With predictions of more than 50 billion devices being connected to the internet, “that means every month, we need to have more than 380 million devices put into the market.” he said, “That’s a huge effort. I think as a university, we should not miss that opportunity.”
And because IoT is designed to collect the data as needed, convert that information into actionable intelligence and send it back to the decision maker to take action, Li explained. “We can use this kind of concept to have smart cities. We can save energy, save water. The internet of things means applications,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”
The teams will take on eight research projects this summer, ranging from developing a mobile app to address obesity among Latina breast cancer survivors to creating wearables that monitor the behavior of a child recovering from a concussion.
Fellows will also attend a series of seminars to help enhance knowledge and dialogue about telecommunications and information technology systems and applications. At the conclusion of the program students will present their research findings at a SURF-IoT Symposium.
– Sharon Henry
