The MathWorks News & Notes - October 2006

MathWorks Headlines - Students and Competitions

As part of its ongoing commitment to education in science, math, and engineering, The MathWorks sponsors outstanding graduate researchers and supports student competitions worldwide.

Studentships

The MathWorks has established studentships at four universities with world-renowned engineering departments: Oxford University, Cambridge University, the University of Stuttgart, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The studentships provide financial support and other resources to help talented and committed graduates obtain their Ph.Ds. They also create connections with the young scientists and engineers who are the future of technology.

Candidates, who are nominated by a professor, must be graduates of exceptional talent who use MathWorks tools in their research and who work in one of several specified fields, which include signal, image, and video processing; modeling and simulation; real-time embedded control systems; and the theory of dynamic systems.

“The MathWorks studentship lets me focus my research on a novel and challenging area,” says Ulrich Muenz, the 2006 University of Stuttgart recipient. Muenz is working on networked cooperating systems, in which the interactions between dynamical systems are controlled through communications networks.

The MathWorks remains involved with the students by way of internships, a mentor program, invitations to company events, and access to MathWorks technology.

Competitions

The MathWorks provides funding, software, trainers, mentors, and judges for a wide variety of student competitions, including the following:

Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility
Hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, GM, and industry sponsors, Challenge X invites students to reengineer a Chevy Equinox to achieve low emissions and high fuel economy. www.challengex.org

Smart Radio Challenge 2007
Global contestants produce a software defined radio application that addresses a critical communications problem, such as the unification of communication systems for first responders in emergency situations. www.radiochallenge.org

Formula Student
Teams from across Europe and around the world design and produce a single-seating race car to compete in performance and endurance test events hosted by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the U.K. www.imeche.org.uk/formulastudent

AIAA Design Competitions
University students solve real-world design problems in a variety of aerospace vehicles and systems. www.aiaa.org/content.cfm?pageid=210

DARPA Grand Challenge Global teams design and build auto­nomous ground vehicles to race in a challenging urban setting. www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/index.asp

Intelligent Model Car Design Contest
Korean university students design, build, and race intelligent model race cars. http://race.acelab.org

FIRST Competitions
Multinational student teams design and test a robot capable of performing a specified task. www.usfirst.org/robotics