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Teaching Practicum in 5-12 Digital Literacy & Computer Science @ FGMS-Vaansh Mansharamani
No full textIn the Spring of 2025, I completed a teaching practicum in Digital Literacy and Computer Science at Forest Grove Middle School, where I taught four sections of Grade 8 Computer Science for Innovators and Makers. This experience provided me with valuable insights into teaching, curriculum design, classroom management, and student engagement within the context of physical computing and problem solving. To document and reflect on my growth as an educator, I created an e-portfolio showcasing lesson plans, student work, teaching strategies, and alignment with CAP (Candidate Assessment of Performance) elements. The portfolio serves as both a record of my practicum and a resource for future instructional planning
Market Entry Strategies for a Medtech Startup
No full textOur project helped Taiwan-based Maxima Biotech identify key market factors that affect a company’s ability to enter a foreign market and develop a template for market entry. To assist in Maxima’s mission to supply quality, affordable healthcare to the world, our team developed different market entry and patent mapping strategies. The project resulted in a market readiness analysis framework and a patent retrieval program. The market readiness analysis framework consists of three key stages: Understand the Market, Obtain Access, and Engage the Market. Our patent retrieval system collects the status of relevant patents (currently 156), allowing Maxima to actively monitor patents of international competitors
Harnessing Potential: Assessing the Feasibility of an Outdoor Climbing Business in Himachal Pradesh, India
No full textThis report explores the feasibility of developing a rock climbing business in Chowki of Parvati Valley in Himachal Pradesh, India. Through engaging with tourists, locals and business owners in tourist areas and Chowki, and online research, we analyzed the main factors that determine feasibility. We concluded the venture is feasible, and have developed a financial model and business plan using our research for the company’s early years of operation. Additionally, we assembled a list of recommendations that will drastically improve the business’s chance of success while benefiting the local community, economy, and ecosystem
Designing a ,How To Learn a Language Module’ for Refugee Children and Teenagers – Building an Educational Academy for Refugees
No full textThe ongoing global refugee crisis has left millions of families navigating the challenges of resettlement, often with limited support. For many, integration into a new home—including access to education, employment, healthcare, and social services—is severely hindered by language barriers. These obstacles are especially acute for refugee youth, who must learn to communicate in an unfamiliar language while simultaneously adapting to new cultural norms, systems, and environments. Despite this complexity, many existing language-learning programs still follow a rigid, one-size-fits-all model, which assumes that all learners share the same background, learning pace, and emotional readiness. In collaboration with Right to Refuge (R2R), our project responds to this gap by creating a culturally grounded, learner-centered English language instruction module for refugee youth aged 14 to 18.. This module was shaped through an iterative and collaborative process. We conducted in-depth literature reviews, analyzed four precedent English language curricula, and interviewed educators, linguists, and refugee advocates with first-hand experience in the classroom. We also tested our prototypes in Berlin-based language cafés to gain feedback from actual refugee learners across a range of proficiency levels. Interviews revealed that learners are not only acquiring a new language but are also adapting to unfamiliar public systems and environments. Without access to vocabulary for basic navigation—such as school procedures, doctor visits, or public transit—students can quickly become disengaged and overwhelmed. To address this, we paired each grammar-focused lesson with vocabulary drawn from everyday life in Germany. Our ten thematic units cover domains such as greetings, school, family life, immigration, transit, food, leisure, and emergency healthcare, ensuring that language instruction is immediately relevant and applicable. The module is guided by principles of cultural sensitivity, by embedding regional vocabulary and lived experiences; emotional safety, by incorporating mindfulness and low-stakes, relationship-building activities; cognitive scaffolding, through structured grammar progression and multimodal learning strategies; and pedagogical flexibility, allowing teachers to adapt pacing and content based on classroom dynamics. Our goal was not simply to teach vocabulary and grammar, but to design a flexible, human-centered learning experience that acknowledges the emotional, cognitive, and social realities of young refugees. By stepping away from standardized, prescriptive curricula, we created a dynamic module that integrates personalized instruction, gamified activities, and AI-generated visuals and feedback—all grounded in real-life situations that refugee learners encounter in their new communities. Our work affirms that language instruction for refugees must do more than transmit information—it must build trust, foster confidence, and promote integration. Culturally responsive and trauma-informed education is not a luxury—it is a necessity
SMARTER LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
No full textEnvironmental conditions in classrooms play a critical role in shaping students' health, cognitive function, and academic performance. A novel environmental data collection and analysis system was developed and deployed to take detailed samples and provide informative visuals of temperature, humidity, air quality, noise, and lighting. Perceptions of environmental factors were evaluated through outreach surveys and one-on-one interviews. Recommendations were proposed to the Universidad de Cádiz to help address deficiencies found in ambient classroom conditions and promote student well-being and learning
Mining Backscatter Correlations for Soil Moisture Approximation
No full textThe ability to assess sub-surface soil volumetric water content (VWC) has many advantages in agriculture, construction, and paleohydrology, both as a means to warn of vehicle immobilization and addressing potential floods. The proficiency to accurately categorize VWC at a stand-off to re-route and avoid probable hazards is paramount. In this work, we constructed a soil testbed, saturated under varying controlled stages until capillary action is achieved, an important indicator for boggy soil. The soil is probed with an air-coupled step-frequency continuous-wave (SFCW) radar operating in the UHF-L band continuously throughout the duration of the experiment. Mono- and bi-static reflection, transmission, and attenuation radar backscatter data is collected to find the optimal forward looking antenna configuration to acquire low clutter hydrological parameters. Correlations were mined and integrated with machine learning to develop a stand-off VWC approximator. This equation ultimately obtained a soil moisture prediction average accuracy of 91.5% at 10 inches beneath the soil surface
Multi-layer Motion Planning with Kinodynamic and Spatio-Temporal Constraints
No full textThis dissertation presents a novel, multi-layered planning approach for computing paths that satisfy both kinodynamic and spatiotemporal constraints. The three-part framework first establishes potential sequences to meet spatial constraints, using them to calculate a geometric lead path. This path then guides an asymptotically optimal sampling-based kinodynamic planner, which minimizes a Signal Temporal Logic (STL) robustness cost to jointly satisfy spatiotemporal and kinodynamic constraints. The research addresses significant challenges in robot motion planning, particularly for systems with complex dynamics and time-sensitive mission requirements. By decomposing the planning problem into layers, the approach efficiently manages the combinatorial explosion of possible paths while maintaining probabilistic completeness and asymptotic optimality guarantees without requiring steering functions. Extensive experiments with a velocity-controlled Ackerman-car model demonstrate significant efficiency gains compared to other approaches. The method successfully generates complex path maneuvers, including crossovers, which previous methods had not demonstrated. The results validate the effectiveness of the layer-guided approach in temporal logic motion planning, showing reduced computation time and improved solution quality across various scenarios. This work contributes to the field of robotics by enabling more efficient and expressive motion planning capabilities, with potential applications in autonomous vehicles, delivery robots, and other systems requiring complex spatiotemporal behaviors
Quarry Concert Hall Design Competition
No full textThis project showcases the design of a sustainable outdoor amphitheatre that brings public use and recreation to an abandoned quarry, promoting environmental wellbeing and land restoration. The land was originally excavated to expose limestone resources and for cement production. Therefore, it has been left unusable and dangerous to the public. Through many precedent studies and a site/climate analysis, the team developed a design of an amphitheatre that encompasses many amenities while also providing a recreational space that promotes land reclamation. The amphitheatre was designed in Revit, while our acoustic shell was developed in SketchUp. By using Rhinoceros and Grasshopper, an acoustics and structural analysis was performed. The team prioritised the acoustic analysis, accessibility concerns, water management, land restoration, and structural analysis of the stage, to develop a cohesive and organic design concept. The proposed design includes a stage with a C50-strength coniferous timber acoustic shell, 5,000 guest seats, a restaurant and bar, facilities on each of the three seating levels, ADA-compliant paths and parking lots, a retention pond to hold excess rainwater, and millions of square feet worth of land restoration
Robotic Pooper Scooper
No full textThe abundance of natural waste and litter in recreational areas is a persistent issue with harmful effects on environmental and human health. This project focuses on the design, manufacturing, and testing of an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) to identify and pick up waste in public parks. The robot uses a path-planning algorithm complemented by ultrasonic sensors to navigate its environment with live obstacle detection. The robot also utilizes a computer vision algorithm to identify waste, and a scooper to deposit the waste in a storage bin. This paper describes the research and ideation that contributed to the robot’s design, as well as the manufacturing and testing processes that were performed to develop the final robot. The paper also includes suggestions for future improvements to the robo
Quilt Designer: Programming Language Technologies for Creativity Support
No full textWith the rise of technological advancements and society’s dependence on software, computer programming has become an integral part of various fields. From commercial development to aiding researchers, programming has been perceived as a technical tool used solely by professionals to solve computational problems. Our project aims to challenge this generalization by demonstrating that programming is a tool that can be used for personal enjoyment and creativity. To explore how programming can be applied for creative expression, we created a custom programming language that can be utilized to generate quilt designs. By merging computer programming with the art of quilting, our project aims to bridge the gap between technical coding and creativity such that programmers may gain experience coding for reasons beyond technical skill. Overall, we demonstrate how coding can be used in a non-traditional way, and redefine its future role as a tool for creativity