As the first cohort of the Workgroup, this group of Students and Co-Ops are exploring and refining how individuals from seemingly disparate areas of expertise can collaborate effectively. This cohort's Co-Ops are conducting research in a variety of disciplines ranging from steganography and social media to food inequality.

Throughout the Summer term, we were pleased to welcome a class of STAR students and high school interns who conducted research with the Workgroup and other members of the ExCITe community.

Jump to each of the project descriptions

Stego MashUp Social Media App
The Drexel - Mantua Food Connection
App-Lab Android Initiative
Environmental InterACTION

Strata Social Steganography App

Project by: Kevin Jablonowski, ExCITe Assistant

Strata is a mobile app that both puts simple data security and a new form of social expression in the palm of your hand. The app uses steganograpy — the science of hiding information in plain sight — to let users layer and package their media in a new way. For instance, you could create a package about your time at the beach by snapping a picture of the waves, recording a short sound clip of the seagulls, and writing text about how delicious the salt water taffy is, and fusing these media together as distinct layers of a complete story. The package is much like a tree: at first we can only see the outer layer, the bark, but when we view the tree in cross-section we can see all the layers of rings that make up the tree trunk. Similarly, when someone views the package online it will only appear to be the outermost layer of media; but Strata changes your perspective and allows you to dive into the layers that make up the package.

This will primarily target users of other social media, but will be of particular interest to people who like to experiment and be creative with photography, storytelling, and social identity. This technology will not only be available to casual users as an interesting new way to connect and interact with each other, but also will offer artists an opportunity to take advantage of layered digital media as a new creative outlet, as well as offer authors and storytellers a new way to engage their audiences in the story.

ExCITeCast

Project by: Alexis Carlsson, Civic Innovation Co-Op

ExCITeCast is a monthly podcast bringing Drexel students and Philadelphians together through news and discussion from the intersection of design, technology, and entrepreneurship. This projects intends to create public awareness of the workspace and current research, projects, and events within the ExCITe Center, Drexel University, and Philadelphia. Stakeholders will become more activated as the social capital of the ExCITe Center is built through audience listening and content creation. In order to expand the possibilities of collaboration within the workspace, the student body must gain a stronger, workable knowledge of the interdisciplinary space. We will also discuss opportunities for engagement surrounding each featured topic.

App-Lab Android Initiative

Project by: Katherine Cykes, Mobile Developer

The goal of this project is to teach the basics of Android Development to beginners through the development of a knowledgebase of teaching tools and resources for the Android platform. The knowledgebase will consist of video commentary tutorials that present the concepts of how to build programs for Android phones. The target base for these tutorials is anyone who seeks to learn about developing for Android devices, with no programming experience required. Through expanding the knowledge base of the App Lab, we may reach out to a broader community of new developers.

Environmental InterACTION

Project by: Apollonia Heinz, Product Design Co-Op

My project aims to sensitize people to how their choices impact the environment. Through research I will seek to discover how personal choices affect the environment and which of those choices people have the most control over. Through creating a product or system that helps people more easily make the better choice for the environment, I will inspire people to make the right decisions for the environment.