2026 Electrical Engineering Summer Research Program
This summer, the Electrical Engineering program at Sonoma State University brought together nine students - six undergraduate electrical engineering students, two high school students, and one graduate student - as part of the 2026 EE Summer Research Program.
The program provided students with an opportunity to gain hands-on engineering experience by working on meaningful, real-world projects with practical design constraints. Throughout the summer, students worked in teams and gained experience in areas such as embedded systems, wireless communication, sensor integration, circuit design, 3D printing, testing and debugging, and technical documentation.
This summer, the students focused primarily on two projects:
Copeland Creek Pedestrian Counter: Students developed a low-power pedestrian counting system designed to monitor trail usage along Copeland Creek. The project involved evaluating different sensing technologies, developing the electronics and embedded software, designing and 3D-printing enclosures, and testing the system under real-world conditions.
EmergiNet - Emergency Communication Network: Students also contributed to the development and testing of EmergiNet, a wireless emergency communication network intended to improve communication in off-grid and remote communities during emergencies. The project uses long-range wireless communication and mesh networking to extend coverage and provide an additional communication option when conventional communication infrastructure may be unavailable.
Both projects gave students the opportunity to move beyond classroom exercises and experience the iterative nature of engineering—designing, building, testing, troubleshooting, improving, and documenting a working system.
The program concluded with students presenting their work through project posters and sharing what they accomplished during the summer.
We sincerely thank the Dean’s Office, the Provost’s Office, and CEI for providing the funding that made the program possible. We also thank Christina Thao for arranging the final poster presentations, Shahram Marivani and Autumn Gahagan for their continued operational support, and Nicole Myers for her guidance and assistance with the projects.
Most importantly, we thank all of our summer research students for their hard work, enthusiasm, teamwork, and contributions throughout the program.