LEGO Engineering Club (2026 – Present)
I run a themed LEGO Engineering Club each semester, giving local elementary and middle school kids a hands-on introduction to engineering design and programming through project-based challenges built around that semester's theme.
Ran our LEGO Engineering Club for 40 elementary and middle school kids this spring, with an archaeology theme. Teams built and programmed some amazing inventions (including a ground-penetrating radar and communications hub), then demoed and presented their projects to parents at a final showcase. Will be running it again this fall!
Las Cruces Spooky Science Festival (2019 – Present)
I created and organize the College of Engineering's participation at the annual Las Cruces Spooky Science Festival — aimed at students from pre- through middle school, with more than 500 attendees eager to learn about STEM each year. We present our research through hands-on activities and promote NMSU STEM opportunities for the community.
Had a great day representing the College of Engineering at the 2025 Las Cruces Spooky Science Festival! Thanks very much to my undergraduate research students Cabe Robertson and Yair Barraza that helped out and did a great job explaining our projects to over 600 future engineers. This year, we had programmable robots stuck in a maze, snap circuits, and research demos.
The NMSU team had a lot of fun representing the College of Engineering at the 2023 Las Cruces Spooky Science Festival! We had a variety of demos for our research projects, created some 3-D printed halloween decorations, and brought along some VR headsets. This year I had some great helpers from the Young Women in Computer Science group. More than 500 interested participants came by our table!
Had a great day representing the College of Engineering at the 2021 Las Cruces Spooky Science Festival. We had fun explaining our research projects to future generations of talented engineering students as well as creating some cool 3-D printed halloween decorations!
We had fun explaining our research projects and got lots of good questions from future generations of engineers! Exhibits included (a spooky version of) Claude Shannon's ultimate machine, virtual reality demonstrations, 3-D printing, and robotics. Thanks to fellow ECE faculty Wei and Wenjie and students Xiaochen and Hunter for your engaging and enthusiastic explanations.
Annual Las Cruces "Touch-a-Truck" Event (2016 – 2018)
I organize the College of Engineering's participation in the annual Las Cruces "touch-a-truck" event. Aimed at students from pre- through middle school, this unique event gives children the opportunity to touch their favorite vehicles and learn from their operators — hands-on demonstrations of drones and robotic sensing cars explain aspects of engineering to eager learners. This event typically draws more than 1,000 participants from the Las Cruces area.
The 2018 Touch-a-Truck event was a huge success! Special thanks to Jesus and Arezoo for your time and engaging conversations with our future NMSU Aggies. Our NMSU student designed cars that successfully avoid obstacles using their sensors (often fast moving participants) were a big hit!
Had a great day representing NMSU with students from the College of Engineering at the 3rd annual Las Cruces Touch-a-Truck event. We had fun explaining our research projects and got lots of good questions from future generations of engineers! Thanks to Jesus, Arezoo, Nathan, and Douglas for your time and enthusiastic explanations.
In 2016, I was joined by fellow NMSU researchers Dr. Liang Sun and Dr. Andreas Gross (Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering), where we displayed various aircraft and communications equipment. Educational worksheets, hands-on experience, and descriptions of the vehicles and their research purposes were well received by the 1,000+ strong and diverse audience.
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Roadshow (Fall 2016)
I was a faculty participant in the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Roadshow, held on the NMSU campus in Sept. 2016. The roadshow was aimed at 8th grade middle school students from the Las Cruces area — approximately 500 students split into 10 groups of ~50 rotated through education stations covering the physics of flight, the subsystems of a UAV/UAS, and how UAS are used.
New Mexico STEM Advancement Program
Had a great time teaching an "Introduction to Probability" Workshop to undergraduate students from New Mexico regional universities, community colleges, and tribal colleges as part of the New Mexico EPSCoR STEM Advancement Program (STEMAP).
Short Courses / Workshops
For academic community outreach, I have developed several short courses based on my research interests, delivered to academics from different backgrounds and geographical locations. Get in touch if you'd like me to deliver one at your institution.
- "Introduction to Probability," 2-day short workshop (online), New Mexico EPSCoR STEM Advancement Program (STEMAP), June 2020.
- "Spatially Coupled LDPC Codes: From Theory to Practice," 1-day short course, 2017 European School of Information Theory, Madrid, Spain, May 2017.
- "GIAN Short Course: Advanced Topics in Coding Theory," 3-day short course, IIT Kanpur, India, October 2016.
- "Spatially Coupled Sparse Codes on Graphs: A Convolutional Coding Perspective," 1-day conference workshop, IEEE Military Communications Conference, San Diego, CA, Nov. 2013.