Education & Outreach

Dr. Sharma collaborates with INVESTING NOW program at Pitt. He has given seminars to non-engineering students and faculty at Pitt as part of the outreach. He also recruits undergraduate students through SSOE’s summer research experience program. In addition, he has hired and advised female undergraduate students on various projects during Spring and Fall semesters.

The following educational and outreach activities show integration of NSF-funded Research (NSF CMMI Award: 1462876, NSF GARDE Award: 1511139, and NSF CNS Award: 1646009).

Laboratory demonstration to middle school students (Summer 2017); approximately 10-12 students in grades 5-8 (10-13 years old)

Laboratory demonstration to Investing Now students (Summers 2016); more than 30 high school students

Summer workshop for Investing Now students (Summer 2015); approximately 15 high school students

Closed-loop Control Methods for a Hybrid Neuroprosthesis, Panther Rounds Speaker (UPMC Mercy), Oct. 21, 2015.

Shared control of functional electrical stimulation and an electric motor in a hybrid neuroprosthesis, Department of Sports Medicine, Mar.1, 2016.

Mentoring undergraduate students
Various projects designed by undergraduate students (and senior design teams) in the laboratory.

As shown in the figure on the left.
A) A tele-rehabilitation System.
B) Motorized leg extension machine.
C) A Knee Clutch System

High school students have worked in Dr. Sharma’s laboratory during summers working different projects that included

  1. programing a Baxter robot and syncing it with electromyography signals (Summer 2017)
  2. using a Raspberry Pi system for interfacing MATLAB with a stimulator (Summer 2016)