Projects

Projects, Outreach, & Research:

  • Design4Justice and DJSD Lab in Virtual Reality – Video Summary

Leadership + Technology + A2J = Empowerment

http://https://youtu.be/S2zacpJrTzw

If interested in learning more, contact Prof. Allain sjallain@psu.edu

Watch the student videos below:

  • Fall 2021 ENGR 497 Design4Justice Course – Applying virtual reality to a Family Law Clinic setting to foster better understanding of civil justice and close the access to justice gap

Project Empowerment

Seated in Serenity: The Intake Empowerment Space

Student team Sierra Hicks, Brian Rivas, and Haroula Tzamaras designed a virtual reality (VR) scene as part of the ENGR 497:Design4Justice course led by Prof. Allain in collaboration with Penn State Law’s Family Law Clinic. This VR scene was brought to life with the collaboration and support of YOUTOPIAN, industry collaborator. The script and slides of the family law clinic intake process video were developed by Courtney Stevens, Grace Ward, and Jennifer Barker from the Family Law Clinic, voiceover by Sierra Hicks. The voiceover of the 360 video of Courtroom 1 in Centre County is Tracy Ortega.

 

  • Fall 2021 ENGR 497 Design4Justice Course – Applying virtual reality to a Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic setting to foster better understanding of civil justice and close the access to justice gap

Project Veterans Legal Assistance

Student team Houssein Alkatheri and Uche Iwudike designed a virtual reality (VR) scene as part of the ENGR 497:Design4Justice course led by Prof. Allain in collaboration with Penn State Law’s Veterans and Servicemember Legal Clinic. This VR scene was brought to life with the collaboration and support of YOUTOPIAN, industry collaborator. The VR scene contains a video developed by Michael Houlihan, law student in the legal clinic explaining the process fo file the initial disability claim.

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  • Penn State’s 2021 Drawdown Scholars Program – Research Symposium – Enabling Community Resilience in Environmental Justice Communities

Inspired by the nonprofit organization, Project Drawdown, the Penn State Drawdown Scholars program has brought together undergraduate students from many different disciplines and institutions to work closely with Penn State faculty mentors, staff, and graduate students to advance transformational strategies for reversing global warming. Chantal Reyes and Surya Lee presented their results on environmental racism and community resilience during the Drawdown Scholars Research Symposium. Check out their project results and video:

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  • Spring 2021 Design4Justice Course – QRVA: Quick Response for Veterans Assistance

A student team conformed by Sabrina Rosta, Suryoday Basak, and Wenbo Liu developed QRVA as part of the ENGR 897:Design4Justice course in collaboration with Penn State’s Veterans and Service Members Legal Clinic. With this project they participated in Georgetown Law’s IronTech Invitational competition on April 30, 2021. Check out their project video below:

 

Georgetown Law’s Iron Tech Invitational – April 2021 – Institute for Technology, Law & Policy

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  • DC Youth Rehabilitation Act Reform – A Quantitative Analysis. Learning Factory Showcase Spring 2021

As part of their capstone project in the Learning Factory, an interdisciplinary team of undergraduate students from the College of Engineering analyzed how reforms to the Youth Rehabilitation Act and Incarceration Reduction Amendment Acts impact various age groups with regards to sentence lengths and whether or not the types of crimes being committed by young, 15 to 21 year old D.C. residents have changed with reform. The project was sponsored by Prof. Sandra Allain, DJSD Lab Director and Patrice Sulton, Director of DC Justice Lab, and advised by Prof. Marc Rigas. Check out their project results and  video below:

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  • Integrating Law, Policy, and Engineering: Digital Badges for Sustainability. Learning Factory Showcase Fall 2020

This project is supported by a seed grant from the Leonhard Center for Enhancement of Engineering Education in the College of Engineering. Main PI Prof. Sandra Allain, Co-PI’s Prof. Esther Obonyo and Prof. Rachel Brennan.

As part of this project an interdisciplinary team of undergraduate students from the College of Engineering guided by Prof. Sandra Allain and advised by Prof. Chris McComb, contributed to the design through their capstone project: Design of Micro-Credentials for capacity building in Sustainability. The team was awarded 2d place for Best K-12 Engagement at the Fall 2020 Learning Factory showcase. The design proposed will be subject to further review by the faculty team, the Leonhard Center, and the Office for Digital Learning for its implementation. Check out their project results and video below: