As the spread of COVID-19 crisis persists and universities shift into remote learning with almost no access to laboratories, many students, staff and faculty members are scrambling to adapt to the new reality. Yet, in spite of the existing challenges and uncertainties, many students at Sonoma State University stay committed to their projects and scholarly works. Among them is a team of engineering students, who has stepped up its efforts to continue its joint project with Petaluma Bounty Farm in Petaluma, CA.
In spite of lack of access to laboratories, instruments or ability to purchase any parts, the students have been meeting via Zoom every Friday to discuss their project and how to design and implement a low-cost Smart Greenhouse at the Farm.
"I miss being in the classroom. By working on this project and interacting with the rest of the team on Zoom, I feel like I am learning new stuff and I really enjoy the opportunity it has provided me. I do appreciate the distraction!", expressed Nathan Candler, a sophomore engineering student, who is living alone in his tidy suite on campus.
"I would rather work in the lab but I understand it is important to be safe and stay at home. Being a part of this project keeps me engaged and feeling like we are helping our community. In this project my task is studying and simulating the structural design of our project, and I update the team every Friday via Zoom", points out Rania Saba, a junior engineering student.
"I do most of the coding with a few parts I have at home. Although, I cannot buy any major parts, such as gears or motors, but I build paper models of them to understand how they can be placed next to each other. It is hard to visualize everything but this helps me be more imaginative and detail oriented", suggests Andres Rivera, a sophomore engineering student.
Alexander Sneed, a senior engineering student, noted "I miss our being in the lab and bouncing ideas off of each other; I even miss going to my classes and listening to my professors! I am still getting used to remote learning. I like the way our team is progressing and diligently working on this project. It seems like we are working on it harder than before when COVID took off!"
"We are fully aware of the challenges that our students are confronting during the shelter-in-place and remote instruction. It is inspiring to see that in spite of these challenges, our SSU Engineering students are still so committed to their research and continue to work together, meet online, and come up with creative ways to carry on complex projects with minimum guidance or resources", added Dr. Mohamed Salem, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at Sonoma State University.