What Do Robot Librarians, Glass Micro-Balloons, and Self-Contained Urban Farms Have in Common?

Those Innovations Will Be Among 70 Projects Demonstrated for the Public at NYU Tandon's 2018 Research Expo in Downtown Brooklyn

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NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Apr 24, 2018, 10:04 ET

BROOKLYN, N.Y., April 24, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The NYU Tandon School of Engineering will showcase for the public 70 informative and timely research projects by faculty and students, along with interactive, family-friendly tech activities, at its 2018 Research Expo.

The annual public exhibit will be held on Friday, April 27, 2018, from 1 to 4 p.m. on the commons of the MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn.

The Research Expo, to be held Friday afternoon, April 27, on the commons of MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn, exhibits the strongest research produced by every academic department of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. One of the 2017 highlights were mobility devices for the elderly, a Design for America project demonstrated by Rodney Lobo ’17 (M.S. industrial engineering) and Dawn Feldthouse ’17 (M.S. NYU Langone Healthcare Informatics). The Expo is free and open to the public.

This year's expo will feature exhibits that illustrate the scope of engineering and the applied sciences – and their potential for improving the world. The most exciting work being done in labs and prototyping facilities will come alive for spectators of all ages, and projects developed for and by the students in NYU Tandon's many K12 STEM Education programs will be of special interest to even the youngest attendees, their parents, and teachers.

Highlights will include:

Small-scale autonomous vehicles capable of communicating for cooperative cruise control
Innovative concrete with half the weight and double the strength of conventional forms of the material, thanks to the inclusion of glass micro-balloons
A demonstration of how Internet-of-Things (IoT) technology can be used to ensure that packages are delivered safely and securely
A robotic librarian that alerts the human one when a book is shelved improperly
Customized 3D-printed prosthetics that can be manufactured quickly and affordably
A chance to interact with a swarm of spheroid robots
A totally self-contained and self-sustaining urban farm
Controlling neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's with protein engineering

Dean Katepalli R. Sreenivasan said, "Our annual Research Expo is a chance to demonstrate to the public that engineers and applied scientists are impacting society in positive ways. Here at NYU Tandon, we're developing practical solutions to problems we all face, and we want to inspire others, particularly young people, to join us in becoming inventors and innovators."

Vikram Kapila, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NYU Tandon and academic organizer of the event added, "The Research Expo will no doubt be as fun and educational as it is each year, and it will certainly open our visitors' eyes to the important work being done right here in Downtown Brooklyn. If it sparks a love of science and a desire to further explore the STEM fields in our attendees, the event will have truly met our objectives."

About the New York University Tandon School of Engineering
The NYU Tandon School of Engineering dates to 1854, the founding date for both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute (widely known as Brooklyn Poly). A January 2014 merger created a comprehensive school of education and research in engineering and applied sciences, rooted in a tradition of invention and entrepreneurship and dedicated to furthering technology in service to society. In addition to its main location in Brooklyn, NYU Tandon collaborates with other schools within NYU, one of the country's foremost private research university, and is closely connected to engineering programs at NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai. It operates Future Labs focused on start-up businesses in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn and an award-winning online graduate program. For more information, visit http://engineering.nyu.edu.

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Note: Images from 2017 available at http://dam.engineering.nyu.edu/?c=2078&k=2178863887; video at http://engineering.nyu.edu/multimedia/videos/2017/04/2017-research-expo

SOURCE NYU Tandon School of Engineering