The Bridge - Issue 2, 2019 - 25

GREAT IMPEDANCE MATCH FOR KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER:
Amateur Radio as Part of Electrical and Computer Engineering Education

On campus, student amateur radio operators
offer a unique resource to their institutions. Many
operators are CPR and First Aid trained, and routinely
keep up-to-date in their technical and emergency
preparedness training. Many college amateur radio
clubs operate radio repeaters, which provide widearea coverage for radio operators in the area, often
providing backup power for use in disasters or simply
power outages [5]. Many also are trained in handling
radio messages using the Incident Command
System (ICS), allowing them to be integrated
into their campus emergency plans. Students are
often encouraged to volunteer while in college,
and amateur radio offers a unique opportunity for
volunteering that combines technical knowledge
with public service.

Feature

CONCLUSION
The value of the FCC amateur radio license to the
Electrical and Computer Engineering curriculum
is clear through the many examples shown in
this article. The technician license exam has a low
barrier of entry and provides excellent educational
benefits to ECE faculty and students. Countless
amateur radio projects and activities can be used
to enhance the educational experience and provide
direct, hands-on learning to improve comprehension
and retention. Amateur radio not only improves the
student experience, but also can benefit greatly the
community through public service and volunteerism
outside of the classroom. The authors hope that this
article inspires you to explore the many opportunities
that amateur radio can bring to the engineering
curriculum and show how the ECE and amateur
radio communities can work together to benefit
each other.
REFERENCES
1. College and University Amateur Radio Clubs, Amateur
Radio Wiki - The Online Encyclopedia for HAMS, Accessed
3/25/2019. (Available at http://www.amateur-radio-wiki.
net/index.php?title=College_and_University_Amateur_Radio_Clubs).
2. ARRL Collegiate Amateur Radio Initiative, "Concise List
of University College Call Signs R2.pdf," Facebook Page,
ARRL, Accessed 3/25/2019. (Available at https://www.
facebook.com/groups/ARRLCARI/files).

Fig. 10: Cal Poly University students, staff and alumni radio operator
volunteers for the 2018 Wildflower Triathlons.
Left to right, back row: Dan Malone (K6HPB), Jamari Ducre
(KM6NPT), Andrew Musselman (KI6UOC), Davide Lanfranconi
(KM6FLL), Clinton Dague (NR6T), Ethan Chao (KM6ESV),
and AJ Fite (N7AJ). Front row: Allen Takahashi (N6KDM), Jack
Gallegos (KK6YWG), Jissell Jose (KM6GKN), Celestial Rodriguez
(KM6MKR), Marcel Stieber (AI6MS) and Arianne Olarig
(KK6QFQ). Photo Credit: Allen Takahashi (N6KDM).

3. Dennis Derickson, Marcel C. E. Stieber, and Stanton
Chueng Wu, "First Year Amateur Radio Licensing for
Electrical Engineering Students", Proceedings of the 2016
ASEE National Conference, 2016, New Orleans, LA.
(Available: https://peer.asee.org).
4. Licensing, Education, & Training, ARRL, Accessed
3/25/2019. (Available at http://www.arrl.org/licensing-education-training).
5. Electrical Engineering Department, CalPoly, "CPARC Club
Responds to SLO Power Outage" Accessed 3/25/2019.
(Available at http://www.ee.calpoly.edu/news/cparc-clubresponds-slo-power-outage/).

HKN.ORG

http://www.amateur-radio-wiki.net/index.php?title=College_and_University_Amateur_Radio_Clubs http://www.amateur-radio-wiki.net/index.php?title=College_and_University_Amateur_Radio_Clubs http://www.amateur-radio-wiki.net/index.php?title=College_and_University_Amateur_Radio_Clubs https://www.facebook.com/groups/ARRLCARI/files https://www.facebook.com/groups/ARRLCARI/files https://peer.asee.org http://www.arrl.org/licensing-education-training http://www.arrl.org/licensing-education-training http://www.ee.calpoly.edu/news/cparc-club-responds-slo-power-outage/ http://www.ee.calpoly.edu/news/cparc-club-responds-slo-power-outage/ https://hkn.ieee.org/ https://hkn.ieee.org/

The Bridge - Issue 2, 2019

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