Latest Announcements

Rural Reimagined recognizes and congratulates Jamison Boyd, Thomas leisure, Evan Sells, Jarett Tice, and Simon Winters from the Computer Science Program on presenting their Capstone project at Tennessee Tech’s Engineering Expo. Their project was titled “Tennessee State Parks AR Integration,” with its main goal being to create an augmented reality application for the Tennessee State Parks.  The app they designed “allows visitors of the Frozen Head State Park to view a Civilian Conservation Corps camp that once stood in the park” and features a park map, FAQ, and a gallery. Congrats to this team for their hard work, which directly impacts our rural areas, and completing their Capstone successfully. To read the whole story, visit tntech.edu/grand-challenge/news/articles/20220510-csstudents-research.php. Wings up!

Rural Reimagined recognizes and congratulates Billy Carico, Elijah Cunnigham, Peyton Johnson, Colin Lafever, Carlos Medrano, and Nicholas Vlahakos from the Computer Science Program on presenting their Capstone project at Tennessee Tech’s Engineering Expo. Their project was titled “Electronic Clinical Record,” and the group was tasked with creating a new electronic clinical records system to replace a current paper recordkeeping system. To do this, they adapted their base software, Bahmni, with the needs of Predisan Health Ministries, a Honduran non-profit medical organization, in mind. Congrats to this team for their hard work, which directly impacts these rural areas, and successfully completing their Capstone. To read the whole story, visit tntech.edu/grand-challenge/news/articles/20220510-csstudents-research.php. Wings up!

Rural Reimagined recognizes and congratulates Cameran Green, Conall Fisher, Andrew Al-Halawani, Lukas Motykowski, and Jacob Ford from the Computer Science Program on presenting their Capstone project at Tennessee Tech’s Engineering Expo. Their project titled “EduNet” was sponsored by Rural Reimagined’s Michael Aikens and Kinsey Simone. These students researched ways to directly transform rural education through the development of EduNet, a website that allows teachers in the Upper Cumberland area to post ideas, resources, and allow communication among educators about receiving said resources. This group of students partnered directly with Rural Reimagined and designed a great project. Congrats to all of them for completing their Capstone successfully. To read the whole story, visit https://www.tntech.edu/grand-challenge/news/articles/20220510-edunet.php. Wings up!

Rural Reimagined (RR) recognizes horticulture major Ethan Johnson for earning the Rural Reimagined award of $750, with an additional $500 in technical assistance from the Center for Rural Innovation at the 2022 Eagle Works competition for his idea of Johnson Farms. Johnson’s award-winning idea was an automated farm which could produce year-round produce for local markets. Johnson emphasized the potential impact of his idea: “This farming method helps solve the problem of feeding additional people. All organic and weekly picked produce will be able to give any plant the ability to be sold at the market year-round.” Regarding Eagle Works, Johnson states, “A professor showed me that anyone has the chance to win Eagle Works, and I hope that future competitors can also see that.” Congratulations, Ethan! For more information on how you can get involved with Eagle Works next year, contact Andrea Kruszka at akruszka@tntech.edu. Wings up!

Rural Reimagined recognizes and congratulates students from the College of Interdisciplinary Studies on presenting their rural-related projects at Tennessee Tech’s 2022 Research and Creative Inquiry Day.  These students researched  ways to directly transform rural living through their projects, which included topics such as  planning educational woodland workshops, developing forest health curricula, researching needs for further STEM education, and providing the Bridgestone Nature Reserve at Chestnut Mountain with geographic information systems, wind power initiatives, solar power generation systems, and solar energy. In total, 23 undergraduate students participated as co-authors or collaborators on these projects and represented the schools of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Studies. View the full story here: https://www.tntech.edu/grand-challenge/news/articles/2022-interdisciplinarystudents-ruralresearch.php, or email Kinsey Simone at sw-kbsimone@tntech.edu for more information. Wings up!

The Baja SAE competition event is coming back to Tennessee Tech, and we need more volunteers to help host the nearly 1300 participants! The event May 12-15 at the Hyder-Burks Agricultural Pavilion. Volunteers can help with competition events like land maneuverability and others, plus parking, hospitality, and more. The greatest need for volunteers is during the four-hour endurance race on Sunday, May 15. Food and drinks for volunteers will be provided at no charge, as will free t-shirts, while sizes/supplies last. Volunteers will be right there to see all the action as over 90 race for the top spots! Volunteers must be at least 18 years old, and signing up is easy. Just use this link: https://www.bajasae.net/page.aspx?pageid=c259d2e2-8846-4f87-b659-d9d824051f8a.  Email questions about volunteering to Dr. Kris Craven (kcraven@tntech.edu) or Dr. John Tester (jtester@tnech.edu).

TCRI and Rural Reimagined congratulate Brandon Pierce for winning the 2022 TN Tech Eagle Works competition! Twelve student-led teams pitched their ideas to a Shark-Tank style panel in efforts to win part of the prize pool worth over $13,000 in donor-funded scholarships. Pierce entered his business, Pure Legacy- Future Innovators, and received first place in the competition. Operating under Pierce’s Pure Legacy LLC company, Future Innovators is a non-profit STEM education company that provides free STEM materials to community events, centers, and STEM events, as well as free one-on-one tutoring. Pierce says, “I wish I had something creative to participate in as a kid. Future Innovators will not only provide a creative outlet for children in this area but will also supply the need for STEM trained workers in today’s labor force.” Congratulations to Brandon Pierce for his win at TN Tech 2022 Eagle Works! TCRI encourages all students to bring their ideas to Eagle Works 2023. #LiveWingsUp!