Manufacturing, Electrical, and Organizational Equipment for Student-Built Mars Rovers

Husky Robotics Team

Requested:

$4,482

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$4,482

Abstract

The Husky Robotics Team is a registered student organization of 140 students competing in the Rover Challenge Series, a series of competitions in Asia, Europe, and the Americas with teams from all over the world. Last year, we competed in the University Rover Challenge at Utah’s Mars Desert Research Station and the Canadian International Rover Challenge. To compete, we bring together a team of diverse and motivated students to design, build, and operate an annual mock Mars Rover. Our Mars rovers needs to do everything from pouring fuel into vehicles to searching for life to autonomously finding objectives in an almost mile-wide area. So, our team is divided into subsystems: Arm, Business, Chassis, Electronics, Manufacturing, Software, and Science to cover the competition’s large number of interdisciplinary tasks. Despite having a budget smaller than many other robotics teams, our team was able to place 2nd at our most recent competition after facing teams from Shanghai to Warsaw. However, our team still requires a large amount of manufacturing, electrical, and storage equipment to complete our rovers while effectively and safely collaborating. The equipment we are requesting is critical to our team’s continued success and will affect the operations of all our team’s members.

Dynamic, customized, integrative web platform to support students' career-readiness

Career & Internship Center

Requested:

$45,967

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$45,967

Abstract

Nationally, 85% of incoming freshmen indicate that “being able to get a better job” is “very important” in their decision to go to college. Preparing UW Seattle’s 46,284 students to be career-ready is an important and substantial undertaking that requires the involvement and collaboration of different stakeholders both inside and outside the university. Furthermore, to ensure that students of different backgrounds, academic interests, and learning styles have equitable access to career preparation, critical resources should be provided in a variety of media and available online 24/7. In this proposal, we’re asking the Student Tech Fee Committee to fund access to a dynamic, customized career development web platform (at careers.uw.edu) that integrates relevant information from academics, co-curriculars, alumni, employers, and labor market specialists.

High-precision GPS field mapping for student research and learning

Department of Earth and Space Sciences

Requested:

$32,320

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$32,320

Abstract

High-precision geo-spatial data are critical for modern field research and classroom exercises across many disciplines. GPS units are the most reliable method of collecting such data and Trimble GPS units in particular offer reliability and precision, and are consistent with industry standards. We are requesting STF funds to purchase high-precision Trimble GPS units and field computers for students to use in research and classes, developing skills in this critical methodology. This equipment will be available to students across the campus through a secure check-out system. The Earth and Space Sciences (ESS) department is committed to supporting this technology and new equipment by managing the equipment and software and by providing insurance.

Psychology Computer Lab for undergrad and graduate student instruction

Department of Psychology

Requested:

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$39,464

Abstract

Psychology has an enormous undergraduate teaching footprint and is one of the largest instructors in the College of Arts & Sciences with 64.480 SCHs generated in the past academic year. Focusing on increasing enrollments in broad campus-serving 200 level courses and challenged by unprecedented demand for our competitive major (we currently have over 1000 majors at any given time) we are increasingly facing bottlenecks and scheduling obstacles, particularly for our courses that require computer/software applications instruction. With our expansion to include parts of Kincaid Hall, we now have space in Guthrie Hall to create a dedicated computer laboratory, and we hope to move quickly to creating this essential classroom space that will serve both our undergraduate general education courses, psychology major courses, and graduate level courses.

Renewal of JADE Analysis Software and ICDD PDF-4 Database

Materials Science and Engineering

Requested:

$17,891

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$17,891

Abstract

This proposal renews STF proposal 2016-58. The funding from STF proposal 2016-58 expires September 2021. We propose to purchase two five-year renewal licenses to MDI Jade Pro x-ray diffraction analysis software and two five year renewal licenses to ICDD PDF-4 2021 x-ray diffraction database that includes annual updates for the five years. X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a nondestructive analytical technique used to gain information about materials' atomic crystal structure. A typical XRD measurement generates a x-y graph that shows diffracted beam intensity as a function of the diffraction angle 2-theta. With the help of MDI Jade Pro and PDF-4, students and researchers can take this XRD data and extract information about a material’s properties including its structure, phase, lattice parameters, crystallinity, crystallite size, material strain, etc. These material properties that can be gleaned from careful analysis of XRD data influence their performance in critical fields such as energy storage, biomedicine, and aerospace engineering. Without the JADE software and PDF database, students and researchers would have to use inefficient web interfaces to try to analyze their data. For this reason, we believe it is necessary to have access to the JADE software and the PDF database. Yearly updates to the database will also allow our students and researchers to have the most extensive, precise, and up to date information (over 400,000 datasets come with the database). The software and database are licensed through hardware USB-keys and will not be eligible for the key server. However, for convenience, the database and software will be stationed in the MAF (Molecular Analysis Facility- an instrumentation user facility located in the Molecular Engineering and Sciences Building) and the MSE User Facility (Materials Science & Engineering- located in Mueller/Roberts Hall). These user facilities house two of the XRD instruments on campus that are available to all students. After students and researchers get trained on how to operate the XRD instrument in these facilities, they will be shown how to analyze data using JADE and identify their sample composition and refine its crystal structure using the PDF-4 database.

Specialized software annual renewals for School of Art + Art History + Design computer labs

School of Art, Art History, and Design

Requested:

$4,589

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$4,589

Abstract

This proposal seeks to provide continued funding for annual maintenance/upgrade fees for our key 3D design software packages Keyshot, Solidworks, RhinoCAM, and LabStats which not only allows us to collect usage data but also an effective solution for student remote access into lab computers.

FIUTS: Technology for Student Leaders

Student Recreation

Requested:

$2,314

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$2,314

Abstract

The University of Washington’s vision statement explicitly states that the University seeks to provide a diverse student body with the education to become global citizens and leaders. FIUTS has created a community of international and American students, members of the local community, and alumni around the world through programs that link the campus with the community. We deliver our programs to a diverse range of constituents that promote cross-cultural understanding, global culture, and respect for diversity. A large aspect of our programming is facilitating events both in-person and virtually, led by approximately 200 undergraduate and graduate student “facilitators.” Our 18 elected student board members regularly present to student committees, classrooms, other RSO’s and at meetings and gatherings across campus. Technology hardware plays a large role in event facilitation and presentations, and with new equipment, we can better serve UW students and the community.

Academic Support Programs (ASP) Success Coaching Application Development

Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Requested:

$22,887

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$22,887

Abstract

This proposal is requesting funds for the development of a set of student-facing features in a web application which currently facilitates Academic Success Coaching. These features aim to significantly improve the experience for students who attend ASP Academic Success Coaching sessions.

Building a UW Global Meteor Network Station

Department of Astronomy

Requested:

$1,777

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$1,777

Abstract

The "Global Meteor Network" is a worldwide project to monitor the entire sky every night, capturing images of meteors and fireballs. This real-time data is generated from small, high-sensitivity, low-cost security camera systems running open source software. Currently no meteor network stations have been established in Pacific Northwest region, leaving a large gap between stations in Alaska and Arizona. We therefore seek funding to build a student-run meteor network station on the UW campus

HUB Resource Center Broadcast Studio

The HUB

Requested:

$9,697

Status:

Funded

Awarded:

$9,697

Abstract

The University of Washington (UW), located in the Puget Sound, is at the epicenter of the interactive media industry. The students of UW are consistently using online platforms to engage socially, academically, and professionally. They meet on Discord to host RSO meetings, stream their favorite movies, watch their favorite online personalities play games, give talks, share wisdom and daily activities. More and more, when an RSO hosts an event, one of the primary aspects becomes streaming it to Twitch, Facebook Live, or hosting video on YouTube. New media is the social and professional currency of the modern student and this was drastically accelerated due to remote learning and engagement brought about due to COVID-19. The UW is lacking in resources to support and inspire this interaction. The HUB in conjunction with student leaders is proposing a program to change this. We are requesting funding to build out a state of the art streaming studio house in the HUB Resource center a space created to support the diverse population of Registered Student Organizations.

Funding Status: Funded