At least one or a maximum of two students are expected to be offered opportunities to be engaged in research in 2019 summer.
Program Duration: May 20 to August 2, 2019
Stipend: Selected student will conduct research activities full-time, 40 hours per week for 11 weeks. Students receive a summer stipend of $4500 plus a housing allowance ($600) i.e. a total of $5100, based on successful completion of the program.
External students (i.e. students from outside Purdue) may request on-campus housing at Hilltop apartments . Hilltop apartments are double occupancy, and SURF will make roommate assignments. To be considered for assistance, you must complete the Visiting Student section of the online application.
Majors: Students from listed majors are welcome to apply.
Desired Qualifications and Experience: The student of interest is expected to have good coding skills with Javascript/Python and R and have passion/experience in either developing web applications or applying software and engineering fundamentals to solve real-world problems in agricultural domain.
How to apply: The process of application and deadlines is as outlined for College of Engineering’s SURF Program. External applicants (outside of Purdue) are encouraged to apply.
Potential Projects: Students interested in following opportunities are welcome to follow the application process listed on SURF Program website, however, other options can also be explored by reaching out to Prof. Saraswat:
Project 1:
Data Visualization and Analysis for IoT Based Smart Irrigation System
It is reported that currently almost 33 percent of the global population is affected by water scarcity and by 2030, this figure is expected to climb up to almost 50 percent. Around 60 percent of the water used for irrigation is wasted, either due to evapotranspiration, land runoff, or simply inefficient, primitive irrigation application methods. This realization has brought attention to smart irrigation – powered by the internet of things (IoTs) – that can be a better way of managing water stress on a global basis. In this project, the SURF student will customize commercially available software to analyze and visualize data, perform calculations/combine new data, run time-based calculations, plot functions for visual understanding and perform sophisticated analysis by combining data from several field nodes. The SURF student will work with Project Supervisor and a staff programmer.
Programing skills in any language with some experience in statistics is desired.
Majors: Agricultural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Computer Science or related disciplines
Project 2:
Building Software for Environmental Modeling
Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department has contributed several tools for environmental modeling community. It is a challenge to review and understand old codes with minimum documentation. This project involves modernizing an environmental modeling software written primarily in Perl. In this project, the SURF student will first assess the current application, create a plan for the new iteration in collaboration with the project supervisor, get a head start on developing the new application and document the process. The SURF student will work with a staff programmer.
Programing skills in any language with some experience in frontend and backend web development is desired.
Majors: Agricultural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science or related disciplines
Useful links:
Talking to Purdue Faculty for Exploring Research Opportunities
How to Plan and Prepare for Your Meeting with Purdue Faculty