Intro

Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates (DREU) is a program that seeks to encourage underrepresented students to attend graduate school. DREU does this by pairing the student with a mentor to guide and assist the student in completing a research project over the summer. This experience mirrors the graduate school experience very closely. The hope is that participation in this program will help the student determine if graduate school is right for her (or him) and if so gives her (or him) a competitive advantage when applying.

I joined DREU because I am interested in learning about how the research process works. I also hope to get an idea of whether graduate school is the right path for me. I will work this summer at University of Alabama under the tutelage of Dr. Monica Anderson.

Research Project

Our project will consist of creating a prototype of a home automation system operated using vocal commands. The purpose would be to assist the elderly (and eventually those with special needs) to allow them to stay in their homes. The goal is to create a user-friendly interface so simple that even those who have a hard time with the most basic of technology can intuitively engage with the program. We will have to utilize machine learning so that the system can adapt and grow with each user, thus shifting the learning curve from the user to the technology.  If we have time, we would like to add an expressive avatar to the system to make it more personal for the user.