Project54 participated in UNH’s Exploring High Technology Day today. We had 3 groups of 23-ish high school visitors come to the lab for a demonstration of the project. We had students from Londonderry, Bow, Newmarket, Portsmouth and some home schooled students. Andrew Kun, Project Director, introduced the project. Nate Purmort, Engineering Manager, explained the nuts and bolts of the project and gave the students hands-on demonstration of the system’s push to talk technology. Andras Fekete, graduate student, demonstrated the use of the handhelds and how they will be used in the field once deployed. Undergraduate student Mark Taipan highlighted the value of working in a program where he can apply what he learns and get paid! He also touched on his research project involving P54 and video cameras. Grad student Oskar Palinko set up and demonstrated our simulator’s newest feature, the eye tracker. Alex Shyrokov and Zeljko Medenica, also grad students, presented the simulator giving the students a variety of driving experiences including a snow storm. You would think we have had enough of the snow already! The demonstrations went well and we had 3 great groups of students. The students were involved, interested and had some thoughtful questions. It is the norm for students when trying out the simulator to perceive it as a giant video game, however, it is always nice when they recognize, or in this case ask the question, “how does this (the simulator) fit in with the project?”!!

Alex demonstrating the simulator and its value for researching distracted driving.

Oskar explaining the EyeTracker and its use for researching the visual habits of people while they are behind the wheel.

All in all it was a great day and we were thrilled to be part of it. We look forward to seeing some of these students in the future as UNH undergrads!

~Erika

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