RAPTOR ROBOTICS LR-2 Trojan
Raptor Robotics is working on a first-of-its-kind rover that could aid in landmine detection – the LR-2 Trojan, that can carry out precision-based movements and tasks, from placing seeds to dismantling improvised explosive devices. The team and its leader, Andrew DeLuca, were featured in Drexel NEWS.
RESPONSIVE URBAN ENVIRONMENTS in Lecco, Italy
For Fall 2022, Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis led an Intensive Course Abroad to the northern Italy town of Lecco where the students investigated the Gerenzone River to propose interventions that would make the area more accessible for the residents and to create community areas that would engage them in meaningful outdoor activities. One of our students wrote an incredible blog for the College of Engineering.
AGE-FRIENDLY GRANT
Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis was featured in Dragon Discoveries – Research Highlights from Drexel Engineering.
In January 2022, Virtual Shoes: Using Virtual Reality to Enhance Safety and Foster Better Design for Older Adults in the Built Environment was funded by the AgeWell Collaboratory at Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. This research effort is being led by Donald McEachron, PhD, teaching professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems; Adam Zahn, MS, director, Global Engagement, Office of Global Engagement; Eugenia Victoria Ellis, PhD, AIA, professor emerita, College of Engineering & Westphal College of Media Arts & Design; and Nicholas Jushchyshyn, MFA, program director, Virtual Reality & Immersive Media, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. The project is an international, intergenerational, virtual exchange that will begin at Drexel and proceed to the Politecnico di Milano in Italy. It will utilize virtual reality to allow older and younger adults to experience each other’s perceptual environments, enhance navigational skills and improve architectural design. This project will allow each generation to walk in each other’s shoes for the betterment of all.
FARMWORKS
Imagine the carbon savings if cities could grow their own fruit and vegetables year-round in specially built indoor farms downtown, rather than have to ship their food from other parts of the country. In Number 12 – Indoor Food Machines of Drexel Magazine (How to Save the World – Drexel Magazine) you’ll discover why and how this can happen. The dLUX light lab has been collaborating with the Farm Works to develop V-LIFE: value-added localized integrated farming enterprise. As a food production facility, the Farm Works is the integration of an extremely high yield next generation indoor farm and an automated food manufacturing and distribution facility.
RESPONSIVE URBAN ENVIRONMENTS RESEARCH INITIATIVE
11 September 2020 the College of Engineering published the article “Intensive Study Abroad Class on Sustainable Cities Goes Online” which chronicles the path of a course that was launched in 2018. This global course and research initiative on Responsive Urban Environments is a collaboration between Drexel University and the Politecnico di Milano. Read the article here on the College of Engineering website.
13 December 2019 Drexel Now reported that Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis, AIA will travel to Italy with Drexel’s President Fry to spread the word about Drexel’s capabilities for research, partnerships and civic engagement as part of the really dynamic city of Philadelphia. Read the article here at Drexel Now.
24 April 2017 Drexel Now reported that Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis, AIA led the interdisciplinary effort of a group of Drexel colleagues to sponsor a block of locally focused films on April 22 at 1:30 p.m. as part of the Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival.
AIA URBN DESIGN & HEALTH RESEARCH CONSORTIUM
21 April 2017 dLUX received pilot funding in the amount of $25,000 from the Urban Health Collaborative at the School of Public Health to promote urban health research at Drexel University. The research entitled “Circadian Lighting for Improved Health and Wellbeing for the Older Adults at Casa Farnese” is led by Dr. Donald L. McEachron from the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems who will serve as the PI on the project. The collaboration includes Dr. Elizabeth W. Gonzalez from the College of Nursing and Health Professions and Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis, AIA from the College of Engineering and the Westphal College. This study will determine if dawn simulation properly applied can improve sleep quality, health and general well-being in older adults in an urban environment.
1 March 2017 Environments for Aging Expo highlighted the presentation given by Drs. Eugenia Victoria Ellis and Donald L. McEachron from Drexel University and Professors David A. Kratzer and Robert Fryer of Philadelphia University. The talk was entitled ““Designing for the Senses: Principles for a Biophilic Adult Daycare Center for Enhanced Wellbeing”. Highlights from the presentation can be seen here: Environments for Aging.
COP22 – United Nations Conference on Climate Change
1 February 2017 Drexel Now published the article Climate Change Workshop Tackles Solutions to a Global Problem on the post-COP 22 conference held at Drexel University where Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis, AIA presented “The Role of the Built Environment in Climate Change.”
16 December 2016 Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis, AIA was highlighted in a Drexel Now article that discussed the university’s participation in COP22 at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change that was held the end of October/first of November in Marrakech, Morocco. Dr. Ellis participated as an Observer at this Conference of the Parties and made the presentation “Light, Energy and Health” to the Research and Independent Non-governmental Organisations for the side event New Directions in Climate Change Research and Implications for Policy.
DREXEL WATERSHED CONSORTIUM
5 April 2016 Drexel Now announced that Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis will receive a $30,000 grant for a year to study the use of some of Philadelphia’s 40,000-plus vacant lots for stormwater management via the creation of green stormwater infrastructure or organic farms to cut down local food insecurity – See more at: DWC Drexel Grants
28 March 2016 Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis was mentioned in Dr. Lisa B. Nelson’s blog on Healthy Living: Natural Light: A Missing Ingredient for Health?
HEALTH IN PLACE – Disruptive Women in Healthcare
24 March 2016 during the Aging Audaciously event, “Prevention Wisdom Kicked up a Notch,” Disruptive Women co-hosted with the Congressional Families Cancer Prevention Program at the Library of Congress, Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis spoke about how light in the built environment affects circadian rhythms and our ability to sleep well and be healthy. See more at: Aging Audaciously: Prevention Wisdom Kicked up a Notch Recap
9 December 2015 Drs. McEachron and Ellis publish In Synch – Growing Older with the Rhythms of Life for Disruptive Women in Healthcare.
PHILADELPHIA ENVIRONMENTS – Nature, Circadian Light and Accessibility
14 October 2015 The Drexel Snapshot chronicled the inauguration of Philadelphia’s first boathouse along the Schuylkill River in DESIGNING AND BUILDING PHILLY’S FIRST PUBLIC BOATHOUSE. The boathouse was a Senior Design project led by Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis for the college of Engineering’s EPICS program. The Bartram’s Garden boathouse will bring boating back to the river through community boating programs and its annual River Fest celebration. Programming activities around the boathouse will help support the City’s sustainability efforts to improve the quality of the Delaware River Watershed by introducing canoeing and kayaking to the river, stimulating environmental knowledge by encouraging interaction with the waterfront, as well as facilitating community engagement with the Schuylkill River.
20 April 2015 Drs. McEachron and Ellis present at the Health Care Design Environments for Aging Conference in Baltimore, Maryland: “Day and Night—Better Indoor Environments for Improved Health Outcomes in Older Adults” Highlights from the presentation can be seen here: Environments for Aging
23 February 2015 by Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering:
“Eugenia Victoria Ellis and Engineering Students Work on Community Projects Related to Design and Public Health”
10 February 2015 Drexel NOW:
“A Natural Match: Drexel Research Team Connects Urban Design to Public Health”
15 December 2014 American Institute of Architects:
“Architects, AIA Foundation and Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Name Members of First Design and Health Research Consortium”
9 April 2014 by LIFX:
“The Lighter Side of Circadian Rhythms”
10 October 2013 by American Society of Interior Designers:
“Q&A with Dr. Eugenia Victoria Ellis”
10 July 2013 by Britt Faulstick for Exel Drexel University Research Magazine:
“The Power of Light”
1 March 2013 by Britt Faulstick:
“Guiding Light: Can the Quality of Assisted-Living Home and Hospital Life be Improved With the Flick of a Switch?”
11 February 2013 by Dr. Donald L. McEachron:
“It’s About Time”
22 January 2013
“Health Through Light: GBA Product Innovation Grant Recipient Update”