November: Surviving on caffeine, denial, and hoping the semester ends before our energy does. We’re halfway there!
We write Stevens history HOBOKEN, NJ | NOVEMBER 15, 2024
VOLUME CXXI No. 11
The student newspaper of Stevens Institute of Technology, and creator of Attila the Duck. www.thestute.com TikTok @thestute Instagram @thestute facebook.com/stevensthestute NEW STUTE EVERY FRIDAY • EST. 1904
ENGR 122 autonomous robot project changing to an autonomous boat race BY AVA WANG, OUTREACH CHAIR This week, The Stute had the pleasure of interviewing Louis Oh, the Schaefer School of Engineering & Science Lab Manager and Researcher. Oh provided updates on the research and efforts that have gone towards the development of the new ENGR 122 design project, set to launch in Spring 2025. ENGR 122 Field Sustainable Systems with Sensors, often referred to as ‘Design 2’ or ‘D2’ by students, is a part of the engineering design spine. This design course is a 100-level class offered before the engineering disciplines split off into major-specific coursework– meaning that all engineers who graduate from Stevens have completed the course. The early design projects are significant unifying experiences for Stevens engineers and a staple on underclassmen students’ resumes as they begin their search for internships and jobs. For the past few student cohorts, the culminating design project of the ENGR 122 course has been an autonomous robot, where students have been tasked with designing and constructing a 3D-printed robot capable of receiving LiDAR communication via an MQTT server. Students were expected to develop a basic linear
algebra function to direct the robot along a course to reach four target locations while avoiding obstacles detected by ultrasonic sensors. The success of the student’s work was graded upon objective completion: reaching all four targets in under three minutes accounting for 100/150 points, with -5 point deductions for every collision. Additional points were awarded for every second under the three minute mark, and deducted for every second over. The highest scorers from each course section moved onto the course-wide Gallois Autonomous Robot Competition taking place concurrently with the Innovation Expo. Cash prizes of $1000, $500, and $250 were up for grabs for the teams with the three highest scores. In Spring 2025, the ENGR design project will shift to a new autonomous boat chase-and-catch style competition. Oh informs that inspiration for the change was rooted in a desire for more variation in the projects from year to year, as there were concerns about project repetition and design stagnation. The new project objectives aim to swap things up and keep ideas fresh, while placing a larger emphasis on the ‘systems’ portion of the ENGR 122 Field Sustainable Sys-
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ABBY JACOBS FOR THE STUTE
Hoboken PATH to close February 2025 for repairs BY JOSEPHINE CHOONG, STAFF WRITER The Hoboken PATH will close from January 30 at 11:59 p.m. until February 25 at 5 a.m. During the closure, there will be critical repairs and improvements made to the station. While the closure will be a major inconvenience for many students, additional travel options will be available between New York and Hoboken. The extended closure allows for three repair projects to happen simultaneously. First, the PATH will
replace its in-station tracks and the Hoboken Interlocking, a system of tracks and switches allowing the two tunnels to access the tracks. Without the extended closure, those repairs would require four complete weekend shutdowns and an additional 50 consecutive days of reduced services. Meanwhile, 4,500 linear feet of track will be fixed in the two tunnels leading to the station. Finally, the concrete walking spaces through the station will be repaired, and staircases between the station’s mezzanine and platform levels will be replaced.
Center for Quantum Science and Engineering develops sensing AI in tech breakthrough
Your feedback is the secret ingredient in the Fall 2024 Dining Survey
BY EVAN PAPAGEORGE, HEAD COPY EDITOR
Every semester, the Office of Residential and Dining Services (RDS) sends out a mass email encouraging the student body to complete a comprehensive dining survey. As a student, it is important to understand how the survey is created and whether or not your opinions are taken into consideration. The Stute spoke with Madison Goslin, Senior Marketing Specialist for Dining Services, to understand how the voice of the student body impacts dining on campus. The dining survey is created by a third-party company, Innovative Hospitality Solutions (IHS). Stevens has little to no say about what is asked on the survey because IHS’s job entails auditing the school as well as maintaining the quality and service of the dining experience on campus. Once the survey results are in, IHS creates a lengthy presentation with all the statistics and presents it semesterly to the RDS Office. Goslin also creates her own presentation and highlights the largest issues that arose in the current semester. They both propose certain changes based on the student body’s responses and
Researchers within the Charles V. Schaefer School of Engineering and Sciences have developed an innovative AI-powered quantum sensing method that enables artificial intelligence to discern surface textures. This breakthrough, achieved by a team at the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (CQSE), marks a step toward giving AI a sense of touch, a complex capability beyond current vision-based systems. AI has demonstrated proficiency in seeing and interpreting visual information through computer vision and object recognition for years. However, replicating the human sense of touch has yet to be discovered. “AI has more or less acquired the sense of sight,” explains Yong Meng Sua, a Research Assistant Professor of Physics, “but it has not developed a human-like sense of touch to differentiate, for instance, the roughness of newspaper paper versus the glossiness of magazine paper.” The team, led by CQSE Director and Physics professor Yuping Huang, has over-
come this limitation using a unique blend of quantum optics and artificial intelligence. Working alongside doctoral candidate Daniel Tafone and Luke McEvoy ‘22 M.S. ‘23, they crafted a sophisticated setup that uses a photon-emitting laser and an AI model capable of analyzing surface textures with remarkable accuracy. Their method, recently published in Applied Optics, involves shooting a rapid series of light pulses at a surface, which then reflect to the sensor, carrying distinctive patterns of “speckle noise.” Traditionally seen as a hindrance to clear imaging, these noise patterns provide a wealth of information that reveals fine details about the surface’s topography when processed by the team’s AI model. The method allowed the researchers to analyze variations in texture as subtle as a few micrometers, even down to surfaces smoother than the width of a human hair. “We use the variation in photon counts across different points of illumination on the surface,” Tafone said. This approach allowed them to accurately analyze
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Hoboken PATH to close 2025 for repairs Learn more about what renovations are being made to Hoboken PATH. Research & Conferences and Greek Spotlight Discover greek life philantropy and the recent SWE conference and research symposium
Diabetes? World marathons? Nicotine use decreasing? Read about what’s going on in the world of science. Read answers from the Stevens community to our weekly Roving Reporter, plus solve our weekly puzzle and sudoku.
BY JIYA JAISINGHANI, LAYOUT EDITOR
create a joint solution plan to fix the enumerated problems. IHS also works with many other colleges and universities across the country, so when some aspect of the dining experience is ranked unusually low, they can also compare those results to other campuses to find an explanation. Goslin assured that the relationship with Innovative Hospitality Solutions allows for changes in the best interest of the school and its students. Stevens can not simply make decisions to change certain aspects to the dining halls, since they have to run it by IHS and IHS has to run their changes by Stevens. The survey consists of seven categories that IHS believes to be what makes or breaks the dining experience at a university. These seven categories include Communication/Outreach/ Marketing, Customer Service and Hospitality, Dining Atmosphere, Food Quality and Variety, Hours of Operation, Ordering Technology, and Value and Promotions. The survey goes down the list of categories and asks if the student is satisfied or dissatisfied with the overall experience in all of the dining halls. It then goes
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The new stairs will have improved visibility and will be wider and safer. These upgrades are a part of the PATH Forward program, a $430 million investment to improve the 116-year-old PATH system. The two-year project will focus on enhancing speed and service reliability, as well as address the lingering corrosive seawater damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Other improvements include floor reconstruction, wall tiling, LED light upgrades, and a new fire system installation. The rehabilitation was approved
by the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office to preserve the station’s historic character. Kevin O’Toole, Port Authority Chairman, recognizes the challenges the closure brings. “The PATH system is a vital connection in our region, and this work is crucial to ensuring it remains safe, reliable, and efficient for the thousands who depend on it every day,” O’Toole states. “We appreciate the patience and understanding of our riders as we work to strengthen this essential in-
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Stevens Chefs receive Hoboken grant to encourage sustainable cooking
OUTDOOR GARDEN BOX AT 1036 PARK, PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSICA BRIGANTE
BY EVAN PAPAGEORGE, HEAD COPY EDITOR
Hoboken recently deployed a groundbreaking community-driven initiative to address food waste and sustainability through cooking. The Green Cooking Initiative, led by the Stevens Chef Living Learning Community (LLC) through the Office of Residential Education, focuses on culinary arts and transforms how residents think about food waste and its environmental impact. This project, funded by the Hoboken Youth Climate Action Fund, empowers young cooks to make a difference by reducing waste and promoting sustainable cooking practices. The Green Cooking Initiative takes place at the Stevens Chefs’ house at 1036 Park Avenue, where
students passionate about cooking often prepare meals from scratch. The initiative is turning outdoor garden boxes into a year-round herb and vegetable garden to reduce waste. Plans include a semi-permanent greenhouse and a composting program. These changes will provide fresh cooking ingredients and recycle food scraps back into the garden, minimizing waste and enriching the soil. According to residents, led by Resident Assistant Jessica Brigante, the garden will also foster a sense of community and shared responsibility for sustainability, encouraging residents to think about food as part of a closed loop that benefits both people and the environment. The Hoboken Youth Climate Action Fund, which
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