Stevens Institute of Technology: Admissions Blog

Setting Sail: Isabel Anderson’s Course to Success

Isabel Anderson is launching from Stevens this year with more than bachelor’s degrees in naval engineering and history and a master’s degree in maritime systems.  As if those accomplishments weren’t enough, she also graduates having the distinction of being Stevens’ first Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholar.  

Created and facilitated by the Department of Defense (DOD), the SMART Scholarship for Service Program supports undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. As a SMART scholar, Isabel received a full scholarship to Stevens and will be employed at the DOD after graduation. 

Isabel has navigated the waters – and started the journey to an exciting career – from an early age growing up in Washington, D.C., she said.  Learning how to sail with Sea Scouts, a Boy Scouts co-ed Venture Scouting program geared toward water activities, proved to be a catalyst for realizing a passion turned college and career pursuit. From early experiences with the Sea Scouts, she said, she fell in love with boats. The rest is history. 

It was during her sophomore year at The Lawrenceville School, a private high school in Lawrenceville, NJ, that Isabel decided she wanted to be a naval architect. She selected Stevens specifically for its Naval Engineering program.  At Stevens, she was also able to continue sailing – as co-captain and crew member of the Stevens sailing team. 

Isabel is grateful that the SMART scholarship has given her the opportunity to be exposed to wide range of extraordinary projects and unique experiences – at Stevens and also at the U.S. Navy’s Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia, where during the course of her student career, she spent three summers working with the very team she’ll soon be joining at the DOD after graduation. The projects she worked on gave her first-hand experience in human systems integration – specifically in ergonomics and spatial design.

The curricula, research and design experience she received in Stevens’ undergraduate and graduate programs worked hand-in-hand with what she gained through practical summer experiences with the DOD. “Because Stevens has a broad curriculum program and requirements, I was exposed to a wide range of engineering coursework and experience,” she said. “I felt confident working in human systems integration for the DOD, for example, because of all that I was exposed to at Stevens.”

Working on an interdisciplinary team with mechanical engineers and computer science students to design, build and program an unmanned underwater vehicle for a research project sponsored by the Office of Naval Research was one of the highlights of her student career. The team went on to present the vehicle and findings with teams from the U.S. Naval Academy and Georgia Tech.

Regarding other factors that influenced her success, Isabel also gives credit to the opportunity to find a healthy balance between school work and ample breaks for recreation and fun.  “I try to take advantage of any opportunities for new, different and challenging experiences,” Isabel said. “I love to travel and take every opportunity to visit friends and family members and to see the world.” Her recent destinations include Africa, South Korea, Thailand and Brazil.

At Stevens, Isabel also enjoyed being a tour guide for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, noting that it was especially rewarding to explain to prospective students how engineering can be fun and challenging at the same time. She also appreciates experiences she had as a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a service fraternity that allowed her to volunteer for events like the New York Marathon and also serve on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon inflation and vehicle anchoring teams.

In the further distance, Isabel said, is a possible future in underwater engineering. For now, she’s grateful and happy to have been able to realize her passion and interests and continue to do so in an exciting job at the DOD. “I’ve been so lucky to have the SMART scholarship fund my education at Stevens,” she said.  “Here, I was able to do what I loved and to be challenged. I worked with amazing students and faculty.  I have an exceptional sense of accomplishment.”

Designing the Future

When presented with a real-world problem, Stevens Institute of Technology students kick into gear, and not just because they're required to do so.  The Senior Projects Expo last week exemplified the reality that Stevens students not only develop the skills and knowledge to design solutions to challenging problems but that they enjoy the process!  

It was a beautiful day as faculty, staff, students, alumni, community members and friends gathered for Stevens’ annual event, a showcase of the senior year design projects of the graduating students from the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science, the Howe School of Technology Management, and the School of Systems and Enterprises.

The Expo is the culmination of the undergraduate education experience at Stevens. It allows students to apply the knowledge they have learned over four years to address a significant challenge in the areas of engineering, science, computer science, engineering management, and technology marketing and management. More than 100 groups were present at this year’s event – with outdoor exhibition space set up for the first time ever to accommodate the overflowing arena. 

"Every year, it is exciting to see the progress, teamwork, and execution of these concepts as ideas become reality," says Dr. Keith Sheppard, Associate Dean of Engineering and Science. "A number of these projects will go on in competitions, while others will make positive changes as industry applications. These students look forward to an incredible future."

The projects on display ran the gamut from alternative energy solutions to biomedical applications to innovative and efficient new vehicles. 

Team Five Guys was among the senior design teams displaying their projects in the Canavan Arena. Nyle Hammond, Edgar Barrios, Kyle Hanas, Elliot MacMillan, and Peter Yurkowski designed an interactive ordering solution for casual eating establishments, a project sponsored by Johnny Rockets, "The Original Hamburger," establishment in Hoboken, NJ. Their solution to inefficiency between front-end service and back-end management functions at restaurants that capitalize on maximizing table turnover? They designed a system that includes utilizing Apple iPads with the "Easy Pay Touch" hardware, docking stations, iOS mboile operating system software that integrates with the restaurant's POS system, and an administrative Web page. 

Essentially, they put touch-screen devices in the hands of customers, allowing them to choose and submit their orders directly to a ticketing system, generate and manage their bills, request server assistance, and split bills easily - decreasing time and error that would otherwise impede flow of service and, essentially, profits for the restaurant.

One of the groups, TEACHINS-U, worked to develop a therapeutic device for autistic children. Designed in two phases, a training phase then a hands-on phase, the acronym stands for Training and Educating Autistic Children to Help Improve Necessary Skills Unit. The Mechanical Engineering team has been receiving very positive and enthusiastic feedback to the device, according to group member Jeff Pass.

 

An Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) group created The Digital Wall Calendar, a device which will utilize a calendar-based operating system for organizing plans, meetings, and other scheduled events. They also intend for it to incorporate a custom photo feature to replicate the novelty of a traditional wall calendar.

 

The team members report that the project development was a lot smoother than they originally thought. They were able to utilize their time throughout the entire Senior Design process, completing the research early on, which made putting the final product together even easier. The team also published a QR code on their poster, drawing smart phone users to a website explaining their project. 

 

CADeyes, a Stevens Start-up company, is an advanced mobile mapping system designed to create dimensionalized site and contour maps, and as-built drawings of both the exterior and interior of building structures. The company tasked a Mechanical Engineering group with developing a mobile indoor-scanning platform for 3-dimensional mapping and visualization.

 

“We are really pleased with the way the CADeyes IntelliScan turned out,” said Ravi Javia. “The device is exactly what we expected it to be. CADeyes didn’t have a system for indoor scanning yet, so this is just what they wanted. Our group created something that delivered to their exact specifications.”

 

An Engineering Management group stayed close to Stevens for their project, working with the Athletics department on their website. They developed a highlights video package for Athletics events that would create a more interactive website experience.

 

Their display was a colorful, interactive board, complete with streaming video. Gene Kang stated that the board replicated exactly what they intend the website to look like beginning next year. Attila the Duck, Stevens’ mascot, hung out with the group at the Expo.

 

“We’re getting a lot of attention today,” said Kang. “But I think that’s because of Attila!”

 

Margaret Przeszlo, an ECE major, and her partner Kevin Fuhrman, worked on a project entitled Facemask. At the Expo, she stated: “Everything worked out so well! Last week our system crashed and we were afraid we wouldn’t have anything to show but we were able to work the glitches out. I guess that’s what Senior Design is all about, right? Real-life, real-working challenges – and finding solutions.”

 

That sentiment is definitely a recurring theme among the students.

 

"The hands-on Senior Design process is very helpful," says Biomedical Engineering student Dalia Shendi, whose "Heat Wave" Senior Design team created a portable device to re-warm patients suffering from hypothermia, with applications for both the U.S. Army and New Jersey Physicians. "Before Stevens, I had little real experience, and now I know I can research a problem, look at the market for a product, and build and test a successful prototype."

 

Chasing a Sailing Goal

Stevens Graduate Works to Compete in 2012 Olympics

Efe Kuyumcu was seven years old the first time he went sailing. Neighbors at a vacation village where he was with family offered to take the youngster out for an afternoon on the water. When he returned to shore the boy was hooked but it would be another five years before he sailed again.

“I thought about it a lot,” said Kuyumcu, a native of Turkey and recent Stevens graduate. “But the sailing club by us closed down and we soon moved to a different area.”

Fueled by determination and desire when Kuyumcu turned twelve he was able to return to the water. He was named to the Turkish junior national sailing team and competed heavily between 1998 and 2003, winning several prestigious competitions.

Things were moving along smoothly for Kuyumcu until he was grounded with an injury at the age of 18. It was at that time Kuyumcu began thinking about his future. Not only in the sport of sailing, but academically.

That is how he wound up in Hoboken, N.J. along the banks of the Hudson River at Stevens Institute of Technology. He decided to turn his passion for the water into a full-fledged career.

In 2006 he enrolled in the Naval Engineering program at Stevens and graduated this past December with a Bachelor of Science degree. Kuyumcu kept his thoughts in sailing and began a strict exercise regimen to heal his injuries and strengthen himself.

“In the morning I would do endurance exercises like running, cycling, and rowing,” he said. “During the day I would go to class and then have another work out.”

One thing he did not do, however, was sail.  Not only was it going to be difficult to find an Olympic Class Heavyweight sailboat that he could use on a regular basis while living in New Jersey, but also the swift currents of the Hudson River were not conducive for effective training.

So he focused on the exercise and also learned new things about sailing from his courses. Armed with the new information, when Kuyumcu finally got back on the water, he was a stronger, smarter sailor.

“It is now easier for me to understand the water, and make me a bit faster when sailing,” he said of his Naval Engineering knowledge. “Now I can factor in the elements from what I learned at Stevens.”

His hard work paid off and late last year Kuyumcu was re-elected to the Turkish Olympic Sailing Team of 2011. Over the next year and a half Kuyumcu and another athlete will compete and eventually, one will be selected to compete in the 2012 Olympics to be held in London.

While focused on those games, he is also setting his sights on the 2016 Olympics and a chance to represent his country – and Stevens – in Rio de Janeiro

When asked how his life has changed since his recent graduation, Kuyumcu says that he has maintained his exercise schedule only now he uses the time spent in class on the water.

It is when he is out there, alone on the water, that he is most focused these days. “It’s instinct, but it feels right. It’s why I keep going back to it,” he said. “It just feels right.”

Video: Dean Bruno on Port Security

President Raveché on Port Security

From Solutions for our Future:

Stevens Institute of Technology was awarded the responsibility of leading research and education in port security. This honor was the result of the impressive strength of Stevens and its university and industry partners, which include MIT, Rutgers University, the University of Miami, the University of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Monmouth University, and Lockheed Martin Corporation. The focus areas of the center's research include maritime domain awareness; space-based wide area surveillance; vessel detection, tracking, and monitoring; High Frequency Frequency radar for multiple applications; search and rescue; environmental monitoring; human and organizational factors influencing Marine Transportation System (MTS) security and coastal safety; resiliency; and MTS recovery and continuity of operations.

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Podcast: Sinking Ships Create New Reefs

From WCBS, an audio clip about research at Stevens' Davidson Laboratory:

Stevens to lead national research effort in Port Security

US Department of Homeland Security selects Stevens Institute of Technology to lead national research effort in Port Security

HOBOKEN, N.J. ― The US Department of Homeland Security has announced the selection of Stevens Institute of Technology as one of 11 universities to serve as important partners for conducting multi-disciplinary research and creating innovative learning environments for critical homeland security missions. These universities will partner to lead one of five new Centers of Excellence and each will receive a multi-year grant of up to $2 million per year, over a period of four to six years.

The five new Centers of Excellence, located across the country, will study border security and immigration; explosives detection, mitigation, and response; maritime, island and port security; natural disasters, coastal infrastructure and emergency management; and transportation security.

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Podcast: Dean Michael Bruno

Dr. Michael Bruno, Dean, School of Engineering and Science at Stevens Institute of Technology:

 

Dean Michael Bruno Profiled in Star-Ledger

These days, in his role as a top scientist and academic officer of a modern technical university, Michael Bruno must concern himself with giant issues of the day, like global warming and homeland security.

Photo by MITSU YASUKAWA

The First Family of Inventors

"For three generations the Stevenses of New Jersey applied their inventive genius to steamboats, railroads, naval warfare, and a host of other technologies." (American Heritage magazine) Read article >>