Brookdale STEM Fellowships by New Jersey Space Grant Consortium
A NASA-Sponsored Program
Cohort 9 (2022-2023)
Abbey Isaac
Major: Biology
Mentor: Dr. Siobain Duffy
Anthony Nesbitt
Major: Physics
Mentor: Dr. Raul Armendariz
Eddy Perez Carrillo
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Mentor: Kevin Squire & Dr. Christopher Ochs
Nicole Cassandra Tagle
Major: Chemistry
Mentor: Lori Uffer & Tom Riley
Previous Cohorts and Projects
Cohort 8 (2021-2022)
Jack Arteaga
Major: Computer Science
Helping the Visually Impaired with Object Detection
Those who have visual impairments are at times restricted in movement due to the inability to distinguish objects in front of them. Object detection, a computer vision technique, can be used to detect and avoid objects. Using off the shelf hardware and a pre-trained object detection model, an object avoidance system was built to facilitate the navigation through a space for a visually impaired user. The system can process a live video feed where it can detect and calculate the distance of objects in the database from the camera/user. Once a certain distance threshold is crossed an alert is triggered communicating an object is ahead. This paper evaluates the current approaches to object detection and demonstrates how it can be implemented in an object avoidance system to help the visually impaired. *The objective of this paper is to determine if off the shelf hardware and object detection techniques can be used to provide live object avoidance of everyday household items to the visually impaired.
Presentations and Reports
Poster Presentation
Project Report
PowerPoint Slides
Christine Mayo
Major: Mathematics
The Physics of Flight
This project aimed to investigate the cube-square law to understand the physics of flight and predict the size of the wings required for increasingly large creatures, and if there was an upper limit to a flier’s size. I studied the relation between lift and gravity, with the square-cube law as context; this led me to research wing loading. I investigated how Bernoulli’s principle and Newton’s third law of motion contribute to flight and learned about thrust and its effect on lift for certain angles of attack. I also researched the largest flying creatures known to have existed on earth.
Presentations and Reports