Author: STEM Writing Retreat for Neurodiverse Grad Students

Flyer for Level Up Writing Retreat. All information contained in article text.

Are you trying to get started on that paper or journal article, but you feel stuck and don't know how to get started? Are you having trouble making time for writing in your busy schedule? It's time to break out of the writing anxiety cycle and level up your writing productivity!

Our research suggest that one of the most effective tools for increasing writing productivity for neurodiverse graduate students is writing with others. Join us for a day of writing, discussion, and community building. Bring a friend and a current piece of writing to work on!

Please register if you plan to join us for breakfast or lunch!

When:
Friday, March 24
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (You may join us for all or part of the day!)
 
Where:
ESB 121 (The Engineering and Science Building Lobby, right next to the building entrance)
 
Schedule for the day:

9 AM - Continental Breakfast 

9:15-9:30 AM - Introductions and Mindfulness

9:30 - 11:30 AM - Come, Sit, Write with us!

11:30AM - 1 PM - Lunch & Learn (Food Provided): ChatGPT as a tool, the faculty perspective

PM - 4 PM - Stay, Sit, Write with us!

4 PM - Social Hour at Graduate Hotel 

Author: Neurodiversity Discussion Series for UConn Staff

Flyer with a spectrum of colors. Summarizes the details about the Neurodiversity Discussion Series for UConn Staff. Details provided in the article.

 

We are pleased to offer this year’s Neurodiversity Discussion Series exclusively for UConn Staff! Please share this invitation widely with others who might be interested!
Join us for a boxed lunch and great conversation! Space is limited to 20 participants per session, so if you are interested, please register to reserve your spot.

INCLUDE Program staff will briefly present information about each day’s topic to kickstart the conversation. The majority of the time will be dedicated to open conversation with UConn staff. Bring your questions, concerns, and ideas. We hope to learn from your experiences, too!

REGISTER HERE.

All sessions will be held in-person on the Storrs campus.
Room: Student Union 324.

Session 1:
Friday, 2/10 : 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Talking about Neurodiversity: Explore the ins and outs of talking about neurodiversity (breaking stigma, language/vocabulary, strengths-based language, identity vs. disability, how to talk to students about neurodiversity).

Session 2:
Friday, 3/10: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Navigating Campus Resources: Learn about campus resources to support and build community among neurodiverse students (INCLUDE program, student clubs/organizations, social media, academic accommodations, academic and social support, CSD, options for getting assessed for neurodiverse conditions). Explore ideas and brainstorm new solutions.

Session 3:
Friday, 4/14: 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Mindshift: Challenging Deficit-based Narratives: Learn about how deficit-based perspectives have shaped the conversation about neurodiversity. Discuss, discover, and create new ways to challenge deficit-based perspectives and adopt a strengths-based approach toward neurodiversity.

A boxed lunch will be provided. Please make us aware of any dietary restrictions.

**To request an accommodation related to participation in this event, or for inquiries about accessibility, please contact Connie Syharat (connie.syharat@uconn.edu).

Author: UConn Engineering Students and Faculty find Success in Renewable Energy Microgrid Design for Rural Ethiopia

By: Grace Seymour

Water turbine (approximately 1.4 kW of power output) on the Koga canal located in the region surrounding the study domain

STORRS - University of Connecticut students and faculty have found success in their research project conducted in rural Ethiopia that involves the installation of a renewable energy microgrid design. This design is used to grant rural communities throughout the country food, water, and economic security while in periods of severe drought. The study was recently published in the journal Sustainability, a collaboration between four departments at Uconn involving both graduate and undergraduate students. 

Stergios Emmanouil, a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Engineering at UConn explained that the research was primarily able to take shape from local interviews conducted by the research team within the areas in need: 

“We used interviews with local officials, students, and professors from Ethiopia as an input to the study of sustainable renewable energy microgrids for one of the rural societies in the area, known as a kebele,” said Emmanouil. 

A kebele can be defined as the country’s smallest farming community that usually holds between 60 and 90 households. The project focused on the Kudmi kebele, “where irrigation water originates at a nearby artificial reservoir on the Koga River,” according to the article’s abstract. 

Emmanouil explained that the research team was able to use the Kudmi kebele’s irrigation canals to install a groundwater pumping system to augment irrigation for crops grown by local farmers, which increases the food production within this community. 

“Through the optimization procedure, we managed to estimate how we can actually cover the needs for power through pumping water to irrigate and water the plants. Based on the energy coming from the microgrids, we found that we can cover other societal needs like cooking and heating,” explained Emmanouil. 

For a country such as Ethiopia where agriculture fuels its economy, sustainable energy is necessary to keep its communities functioning. The energy developed through this research not only helps farming necessities, but also improves the community’s needs for heating, cooking, and electricity. 

With the community’s needs being fulfilled through this microgrid system created by UConn engineering students and faculty, it was equally as important for UConn sociology students and faculty to acknowledge the social impacts of this project on the locals in the kebele.

According to the project’s abstract, the sociology research team found that many locals welcome this system with open arms due to the benefits of job opportunities and access to information that it offers. 

As UConn undergraduate students Natalie Roach, (Environmental Sciences and Human Rights,) Himaja Najireddy, (Physiology and Neurobiology, Molecular and Cell Biology, Sociology,) and Sophie Macdonald, (Mechanical Engineering) are wrapping up their research on this project, they can be proud of the environmentally friendly microgrid they have created as well as its smooth transition into the Kudmi kebele.

Author: Crumbling Concrete Research Development

The UConn Crumbling Concrete Foundations team, including CEE Professors Kay Wille and Marisa Chrysochoou, as well as James Mahoney of the Connecticut Transportation Institute, is now expanding their research to help affected homeowners in Massachusetts. Check out the news story here.

Author: UConn Today Toxic Algae Article

Christine Kirchhoff, Associate Professor and Castleman Professor of Engineering Innovation in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, has had her research on toxic algae published in the September 30 issue of Nature Sustainability. You can view the UConn Today article discussing this research here.

 

Christine Kirchoff pictured above. 

Author: Crumbling Concrete Research at UConn Earns More Funding

Grace Seymour

Researchers of NIST project in the lab pictured above.

STORRS - The University of Connecticut has been granted $1 million from The National Institute of Standards and Technology to continue its two-year-long research project on crumbling concrete. The areas of Northeastern Connecticut and south-central Massachusetts are struggling with premature deterioration in concrete foundations due to a mineral known as Pyrrhotite.

Pyrrhotite, pronounced (PEER-o-tight,) is found in sedimentary rocks that are common in New England and are mined to produce the aggregate that makes up concrete. The use of such aggregate from local quarries in previous decades now impacts hundreds of homes in the region, as the pyrrhotite reacts and causes expansion and cracking of the concrete foundation.

Last year, NIST awarded UConn $768,000 to begin its crumbling concrete research after the federal grant was secured by Conn. Congressman Joe Courtney. The purpose of the research is to study the factors that cause expansion and develop a risk assessment framework that will predict the extent and time frame for damage. Currently, the only solution available is to lift the entire structure and replace the entire foundation for a cost upwards of $250,000 per home. The purpose of the research team is to help prioritize homes at the highest risk for extensive damage, while others may remain safe for decades to come, with appropriate maintenance measures.

This year, Congress authorized another $2 million to NIST to support the research, $1M of which will continue to support the UConn research team.

Kay Wille, an associate professor at UConn who has been working on this project, explained some of the benefits that refunding this research will give to the public: “As of right now, concrete testing in an average-sized home costs close to $2,000. But with this federal funding, people in our area can now fill out an application to get concrete testing for free if they are dealing with premature crumbling,” said Wille.

This funding will also not only help aid homeowners in this testing and repair, but it will also assist with the evaluation of public structures such as schools, churches, and bridges that may be impacted by pyrrhotite. If you are a homeowner who is dealing with crumbling concrete and believe it can be an effect of Pyrrhotite, UConn has created a request form on its engineering webpage to get a discounted or free test of your home’s concrete.

Author: Wellness Journeys: Rest & Healing Workshop

Flyer for Wellness Journeys features light blue and gray splashes of ink on a blue background.

The AAASI and CEE INCLUDE program are teaming up to bring the insights of Asian and Asian American studies to all students to support a responsive and inclusive learning environment. 

Flyer text below:

This series of three workshops is aimed at supporting the wellbeing of all students. Inspired by Asian American art and culture, these wellness journeys provide a space for healing, reflection, and mutual support for everyone.

Please join the AAASI for a workshop that challenges the conventional wisdom on wellness by addressing histories of racism and microaggressions rather than distractions and escapism.

Register here.

Author: Improving Water and Food Security in Ethiopia Through Research with a People-Centered Approach

Water coming out of a faucet attached to a white wall.

Click on the link below to see what the UN has to say about the UConn Engineering Department’s Water and Food Security, Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) project! 

https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/improving-water-and-food-security-ethiopia-through-university-research-people

Author: Caressa Wakeman describes the power of the INCLUDE project

Caressa Wakeman pictured above.

Note: Audio transcript is located below.

Caressa Wakeman, a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Connecticut, has always felt like there was something wrong with her. Throughout elementary school and middle school, she had trouble with reading comprehension and writing. “I remember being in elementary school and middle school and being compared like, why can't you just focus or get good grades like your cousins, because I'm an only child.”

She would find out in her first year of PhD studies that she had ADHD. All of a sudden, everything clicked.

ADHD, officially known as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder isn’t exactly a rare diagnosis. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, around 10% of kids have ADHD. Behaviors associated with ADHD are commonly described as hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention. These behaviors usually continue throughout a person's life.

Unfortunately, the mismatch between these characteristics and the demands of the traditional classroom environment don't exactly make life easy. As Caressa described above, ADHD is often related to lower-than-expected academic performance. The United States Department of Education states that students with ADHD are at high risk of expulsion, failing grades, and dropout from undergraduate studies.

Mazzone et al discuss the social challenges that many students with ADHD face in addition to their academic struggles. Their study showed that people with ADHD scored consistently lower on all measures of self-esteem than people without ADHD.

Caressa says that she compounded and internalized negative sentiments that were gathered throughout her journey. “I felt like a failure, because there's this thing with ADHD about really internalizing failure, like it’s rejection sensitivity.”

Once in graduate school, however, she found a silver lining. Throughout the whirlwind of responsibilities and work that Caressa had to face, something called the INCLUDE project threw her a lifeline. Their message to her: We will support all students, accommodate diverse learning styles, and cultivate success in the engineering field. 

The INCLUDE project empowered Caressa and helped her change her perspective on what having ADHD really means. “I think what the neurodiversity movement and what the INCLUDE project is teaching me is that I'm not fundamentally damaged or flawed. The system is. So it's taking emphasis off of me, and putting it where it really lies. And it's the system that I'm in, that was making me feel like there was something wrong with me.”

The INCLUDE project embraces cognitive differences through the lens of neurodiversity, which moves away from the stigma and disability labels that autism and ADHD (among other neurological conditions that have been defined as disorders) carry with them. Rather than viewing neurodiverse students as broken or deficient, this perspective allows for an understanding of neurodiversity as a spectrum of cognitive variations that come with unique strengths and challenges.

The INCLUDE project implements I-Courses, which are redesigned Civil & Environmental Engineering courses that support a range of learning styles and are more individually tailored to the specific needs of the student. For students with ADHD, this sort of class is a boon. A study by Allsopp et al discusses how an individualized course structure for kids with ADHD and learning differences can promote success.

At the end of the day, the INCLUDE project can not only help neurodivergent students like Caressa succeed better with individualized learning, but can also destigmatize their diagnoses and make them feel more at home in the engineering community. Learn more at https://cee.engr.uconn.edu/include.

 

Listen to more of Caressa'a interview and story below.

 

Author: Professor Jang on Universal Design Learning

Portrait of Dr. Shinae Jang a woman with dark straight hair wearing a black suit jacket and a white collared shirt.

Professor Shinae Jang pictured above.

Note: Audio transcript is located below.

Shinae Jang is an Associate Professor in Residence and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Teaching statics and other classes, she always strives to find a way to make learning more accessible in her curriculum. Luckily, that isn’t too difficult when following the framework of Universal Design for Learning.

UDL is “a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.” As the founders of UDL explain on their website, the three most important components of this framework are: engagement, representation, and action and expression.

In her courses, Professor Jang utilizes a number of interventions in the UDL framework to include a diverse array of learning styles. In the area of representation of information, she tries to make information as accessible as possible. “All the files are accessible, so that students can read and listen at the same time as needed. I adapted a digital textbook with the same reason and I use captions for all pre-recorded videos.”

In the area of action and expression, students can find a multitude of ways to communicate their knowledge of what is taught in the course. One of the projects that Professor Jang presents is a music video about statics. In other cases, students can produce creative drawings of a concept and then present it along an accompanying report. Professor Jang also engaged students by letting them customize a project based on their own strengths, like painting or narrative building. This often ties in with engagement because when students are given multiple routes as to how they can proceed, they can be more motivated in the course.

The INCLUDE project has also been a learning experience for professors. Professor Jang briefly describes what that learning experience has been like. “It's kind of a team effort to kind of transform our department to that direction. Within that direction, we are attending a lot of workshops and training and many, many discussions and then that mechanism and that process kind of transformed me into a different person.”

 

Listen to more of Professor Jang's interview and story below.

 

 

With the implementation of the UDL framework in classes, students are sure to benefit from the increased accommodation of a wide range of learning styles.