Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering

Jisan Research Institute

Jisan Research Institute (JRI) is located in Pasadena, California, near the Center for Neuromorphic Systems Engineering (CNSE). JRI is a research laboratory that provides, as part of its mission, research opportunities for students aged 13-18 wishing to work on cutting-edge research alongside active scientists. Founded by CNSE alumnus Dr. Sanza Kazadi, JRI mentors students who pursue independent research and write papers that are published in peer-reviewed conferences and journals. Student research projects at JRI include swarm robotics, evolutionary systems, and fuzzy logic—all areas of CNSE research.

JRI and Caltech have jointly created a novel outreach model. In addition to providing scholarships for three students in 2004 (all were underrepresented minority students), the CNSE was able to provide support for a postdoctoral fellow who served as both a researcher and an instructor/mentor at JRI. As part of her duties, Dr. Olga Koroleva has built her own research group which is currently doing swarm engineering research. The model allows outreach programs to have a very tight coupling between their core research activities and their educational outreach activities, with both activities supported by outreach funding. During the summer of 2003, JRI also hosted two high school teachers through CNSE's NSF-funded Research Experiences for Teachers program.

During 2004, 20 JRI students successfully submitted their work to four international conferences and one international journal. Among these, nine JRI students were invited to attend the summer 2004 IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems in Budapest, Hungary, to present the results of their research. To date, JRI has helped Caltech recruit several students. One of these, Yan Qi, later won a Presidential Scholarship, a very prestigous award for top undergraduates, at Caltech.

To learn more about this topic:
Visit the education and outreach page at the Center for Neuromophic Systems Engineering at: http://www.erc.caltech.edu/Education/index.html#jisan

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Students aged 13-18 work oncutting-edge research
alongside active scientists at JRI.

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Last modified: January 30, 2005