Dr. Song and his mu-Net lab conduct various outreach and engagement efforts, from broadening the research participation of underwater technologies in the professional societies to promoting K-12 STEM in local/regional schools. The mu-Net lab participates in the College-led E-Day each year, showcasing the lab research to the local students and families. Furthermore, Dr. Song has been taking leadership roles in multiple impactful initiatives. The highlights include two NSF workshops in underwater wireless, the MATHCOUNTS Tuscaloosa initiative, the 2021 ROV summer camp, and the Chinese faculty/staff association; see below for details.
NSF workshops in underwater wireless
With the NSF support, Dr. Song co-organized two workshops in 2018 in the area of underwater wireless communications. The 2018 March workshop had sixty participants from the international communities in North America, Asia, and Europe that consistently invest in the underwater wireless communication research. A JOE editorial, co-authored by the PI and colleagues, was published to share the
workshop consensus and vision. The 2018 November workshop had about thirty participants to discuss future directions for the community infrastructure. The participants agreed on a strong need for community-shared, open-source infrastructure.
NSF underwater wireless workshop: website: https://uwa.ua.edu/
MATHCOUNTS Tuscaloosa
In 2018, Dr. Song launched the MATHCOUNTS Tuscaloosa chapter with the support of local communities. Since then, Dr. Song has organized annual MATHCOUNTS competitions and STEM demos; see the details at https://mathcounts.ua.edu/. Each year, six to eight local middle schools participated in the competitions. About half of the contestants are female students. At least 30% are African Americans. About ten female undergraduate students from Alpha Omega Epsilon, a STEM major Sorority, volunteer their time at the MATHCOUNTS event, helping with registration, proctoring, and STEM demos. The MATHCOUNTS initiative was awarded Outstanding Faculty/Staff-Initiated Engagement Effort by the Council on Community-Based Partnerships at the University of Alabama in 2019, citing the project’s impacts on local STEM education.
ROV summer camp and competitions
During July 13-15, 2021, Dr. Song and his lab organized the ROV summer camp, supported by Dr. Xiaoyan Hong and Lina Pu from the Department of Computer Sciences. The camp taught a group of middle/high students to basics of electronics and robotics through fun activities. During the three-day program, the young students assembled their remotely operated vehicles and participated in robotics competitions in a swimming pool.
Starting in fall 2021, Dr. Song’s lab has been supporting the robotics team at the Northridge High School. Three undergraduate students meet with the high school students every week and teach them to assemble ROVs. At the end of semester, a pool/ROV/pizza party was organized to test the ROVs in water. We all had fun.
Chinese Faculty/Staff Association (CFSA)
In 2019, multiple faculty members, including Dr. Song, launched the Chinese Faculty and Staff Association (CFSA) at the University of Alabama. Since then, the CFSA organizes seminars to welcome the new faculty, discuss career developments, or share teaching/service resources throughout the academic year. When the horrific 2021 Atlanta shooting rampage transpired, our community reacted with shock and sorrow. The CFSA executive committee and the Korean faculty group supported the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at the University of Alabama for the #StopAisanHate event.
Please visit the University Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for various affinity groups, https://diversity.ua.edu/affinity-groups/, including CFSA.