A Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) is a method for elevating higher education. It involves the active participation of both undergraduate and graduate students in extensive, multidisciplinary project teams, which are characterized by their ambitious, long-term nature and faculty leadership. This program aims to increase experiential learning experience students while serving the community.
Vertically Integrated Project
Why a VIP?
It offers a platform for student teams to become actively involved in faculty research. Faculty members use the platform for a variety of reasons including:
- Improve undergraduate student collaboration.
- Utilization of students to develop new innovate ideas
- Increases the ability to leverage multidisciplinary talent from across the university.
- Ability to leverage this talent for both Community (Industry & Societal) benefit creating broader impacts.
The common thread among all these teams is that they are established at the request of faculty members.
VIP Features
Faculty-defined
The projects are shaped by the faculty advisor's vision.
Long-term commitment
Projects are expected to span at least 4 years.
Large-scale
Projects are substantial enough to accommodate 5-10 students.
Multidisciplinary
All VIP teams embrace a multidisciplinary approach to problem-solving.
Our Current Projects
Automated food delivery system for under served communities
Proposal
Apply human-centered design methods to conceptualize and prototype an end-to-end food delivery system to improve local food pantry operations. This is a systems-design challenge that will focus on efficiencies across the entire value chain, from the food source(s), to retrieval and inventory, sorting and packing, staging, and delivery to client.
Goals
This is a systems-design challenge that will focus on efficiencies across the entire value chain, from the food source(s), to retrieval and inventory, sorting and packing, staging, and delivery to client.
Sponsors
- Toyota Mobility Organization
- Initiative for Electrified and Autonomous Mobility (IEAM) an EDA University Center
Community Partners
- Gleaners
- Hawthorne Community Center
- God's Bounty
- Old Bethel
- Soutwest Community Center
Faculty | Advisors
- Lou Enzi
- Youngbok Hong
- Hazim El-Mounayri
- Priyanka Manthripragada
Town of Cumberland
Proposal
Help improve transit desert within town.
Goals
Create a strategy plan for town that will accommodate/facilitate desired aspirational growth.
Sponsor
- Allison Transmission
Community Partners
- Town of Cumberland