A project in embedded systems design and development: a partnership with area high school scholars

The project described in this paper is on a partnership program between Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU), Kennesaw Mountain High (KMH) School, and South Cobb High (SCH) School, all in Cobb County, Georgia. The project is driven by an overarching goal of establishing a community-based partnership, which focuses on an integration of education, research, and training in the design and development of embedded systems. The motivation for the project stems from the plausibility of 1) extending embedded system research/knowledge to high school (K-12) students and 2) enhancing their interests and opportunities in the field. The project involves several high school students and computer science and computer engineering technology undergraduates and graduates. The college students serve as role models, working side-by-side with the high-school students. The students are trained in the design and development of hardware/software systems for embedded applications. The project, dubbed as a Community-based Partnership for Integrated Research and Education (COPIRE), is housed in the COPIRE research laboratory at SPSU.