Rensselaer’s Academy of Electronic Media is developing a first-of-its-kind “mobile studio” for engineering students. Using wireless technology, the studio will allow combined lecture and lab work anywhere on or off campus.

“With the latest mobile technologies, our students will be able to, at any time and anywhere, explore engineering principles, devices, and systems that have historically been restricted to specific laboratories or classrooms,” says Don Millard ’91, Academy director. “The idea is to take the untethered world of technology and apply it to engineering education so that we no longer have to be dedicated to a particular facility to provide engaging, interactive learning.”

The new teaching model will be developed utilizing support from a Hewlett Packard (HP) Technology for Teaching grant of $65,819 in computing equipment and funding. The equipment includes 20 high-performance Tablet PCs, which have ultralight portable touch screen computing pads that allow users to draw, type, and access the Internet, and serve as personal digital assistants. A wireless network, digital camera, printer, and specially designed cart for the tablets also is part of the HP grant.

The mobile studio, being tested this fall, will serve as a pilot program for a circuits course designed for sophomores and juniors.

Millard also will use the grant to develop hardware and software that integrates a scope, multimeter (a device that measures electrical currents and resistance), and function generator (a device that produces electrical signals)—turning the Tablet PC into a mobile laboratory instrumentation suite. “Using the PC to provide similar functionality to that of typical engineering equipment will no longer require us to dedicate bench space that we currently use for housing the many individual units,” Millard says.

“Our objective is to expand the studio model so that students can use technology to learn in physical environments that offer greater flexibility for student learning,” Millard says. “Those environments may include residence halls, library conferencing areas, the Union, and other non-classroom environments that are no longer restricted by locations with wired network access or specialized equipment.

Published December 1, 2004