Imagine a fully automated drawbridge system that doesn’t require a human operator or a mobile phone app that helps detect skin cancer at the click of a button. Within just a few years, Miami Dade College’s (MDC) new computing research lab has become a sought-after research incubator where students are encouraged to dream big and are given the tools to bring their cutting-edge ideas to life.In addition to the model drawbridge system and skin cancer detector app, students have developed prototypes for Android-powered cellphone apps that amplify sound for the hearing impaired and automatically decode colors on small electrical devices (resistors) for colorblind technicians. Another project in the works is a real-time, solar powered traffic monitoring system that has caught the attention of the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) for future use.
“The goal of engineering is to solve problems and help humanity progress,” said MDC’s School of Engineering and Technology Chair Dr. Miguel Alonso, who started the research lab in 2010 with a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to recruit, retain, and help progress underrepresented students at Hispanic-Serving Institutions in engineering and computing careers. “What we are trying to do is level the playing field to make sure the engineering and information technology fields have equal representation of all people,” said Dr. Alonso, who joined MDC’s faculty nearly seven years ago after working at Beckman-Coulter and General Electric. “It’s important to shape students into well-rounded scholars, who can defend their ideas and theories. I never say no to an idea, and I hold them to a very high standard.”
The grant funds lab equipment and six student research stipends each semester. The majority of students in the research program are of Hispanic or Caribbean descent, which reflects MDC’s legacy of giving students of all walks of life access to quality education and lucrative careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
