From El Camino College: El Camino College student Johnson Chou thinks the world of home gardening could use a high-tech upgrade.
Johnson spent this past summer working on a wireless system capable of using sensors to monitor soil moisture, humidity, temperature, light intensity and air quality and improve the health of a plant. Johnson’s research project was part of a summer program through UCLA, which tasked student researchers with exploring the concept of the Internet of Things using the Intel Edison platform.
“The concept is really exciting,” said Johnson, who enrolled in ECC in 2014 after serving four years in the U.S. Air Force as an aerospace ground equipment maintainer. “The Internet of Things is a new way of understanding the world we live in; from trivial things like a sensor letting you know when food is about to go bad to medical breakthroughs like learning how our body really functions.”
Johnson was supported through the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates, known as the UCLA Wireless Health Research and Education grant. He was awarded a stipend and lodging on campus, and matched with a UCLA professor’s lab, along with graduate and undergraduate student mentors.
With everything from weekly workshops about graduate school and research to industry talks led by members of Northrop Grumman or Disney’s Imagineering, Johnson said he learned a lot.
“We were required to present our ideas to improve our presentation skills at each week’s progress report meetings, at the Southern California NSF Convention, and at our final poster symposium,” said Johnson. “Overall the partnership with UCLA was more than what I was expecting and I’m very grateful to have such an opportunity.”
Johnson is a Torrance resident and 2010 graduate of South High School. Now a full-time student and part-time service member of the Air National Guard, he is taking an active role in his education through ECC’s Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program where he has participated in a variety of events. He hopes to transfer to UCLA next fall to earn a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, and eventually his master’s degree. His future plans include a career as a software engineer and systems engineer.
“Attending ECC and participating in MESA, I feel confident that I am well prepared and challenged with a solid foundation to tackle upper division courses when I transfer,” he said.
Photo courtesy of El Camino College
