LITE

Mission: To offer broader learning experiences through multidisciplinary teams collaborating with community organizations and businesses to come up with creative solutions for real-world issues.

Project Summary: The LITE program (Leadership in Team Engineering) is a new establishment at the University of California Santa Barbara campus. Modeled after the National Epics program as well as the Stanford Design Institute, LITE incorporates innovative solutions to inspiring and educating students of all majors.Our First project is with the Santa Barbara Zoo. We were charged with the task of developing an interactive system that will enhance the experience of visitors, especially children. We believe that moving away from traditional static “animal billboards” will breathe new life into the experience of seeing live animals. The solution is a robust handheld that engages users with visual/audio effects along with intelligent questions that promotes discussion and critical thinking.

Active role: As program director and founder of LITE, I evangelized the educational merits of multidisciplinary teams and off-campus collaborative projects. Using current team-based programs like Stanford’s and UCSD’s as examples, I am working with several departments to develop a curriculum around the LITE program.

I am also active in finding sources of funding for the project as well as getting the word out to the school and community on the great new strides we are making. Currently I am gearing up a recruitment session to establish the first team of students who will work on this project.

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