Physical Facilities intern transforms internship with unique device

Jay Knepp, a junior majoring in computer engineering, looked at an internship with Physical Facilities as a way to gain some work experience and help improve campus. What he didn't know was that he would help develop a device that the department will continue to use for important, ongoing data collection activities. (Purdue University photo/Mark Simons) Download image

Internships within Purdue departments help students develop needed skills and work experience, while also helping them tap into their creativity and problem-solving skills. 

Jay Knepp, a junior majoring in computer engineering, looked at an internship with Physical Facilities as a way to gain some work experience and help improve campus. What he didn't know was that he would help develop a device that the department will continue to use for important, ongoing data collection activities. 

As part of his assignment to collect, analyze and propose enhancements to campus night time light levels, Knepp was asked to measure lighting throughout the West Lafayette campus.

At first, he used a hand-held light meter, pen and paper and a map to take readings every 15 to 20 feet. He would then return to the office and input all of the data.

He soon realized that he could use the things he was learning in computer engineering to develop a device that would increase his efficiency. 

"As a computer engineering student, I recognized that this might be something of a microcontroller problem," Knepp says. "I work with those in my major and decided to build something that could not only help me, but would benefit Physical Facilities as well."

When Knepp approached his Physical Facilities internship advisor with his idea for an innovative approach to this task, his advisor encouraged him to pursue it, and he began work on a prototype.

Using relatively simple equipment, including a small, inexpensive Raspberry Pi computer, Knepp constructed a portable light level meter that collects data as he pulls it along. The device continuously takes readings that he can then upload into the computer at the office instead of inputting it by hand. He wrote all of the computer code needed for the light meter.

The device, which is about the size of an average smartphone, rolls on a frame he built on soapbox wheels. He says the wheels help reduce vibrations that throw off the GPS location. He originally used a skateboard to pull the device along, but the vibrations caused too many problems with the GPS.

Knepp tested the device and realized that it would save countless hours of work.

"By hand I could take approximately 50 light level readings every two hours," he says. "With the device, I can take 1,600 readings in just one hour."

Knepp has plans to build another identical device, with documentation on how to modify it, to leave with Physical Facilities.

Dave Musi, a director in Physical Facilities who helps coordinate the internship program, says the goal of the internship program in Physical Facilities is to provide students with a real-world learning environment that also allows them to exercise the skills and knowledge they already possess.

"We always want our internships to offer a challenge," Musi says. “While measuring light levels on campus may seem like a mundane task, it’s important to gather this data to help inform future development and infrastructure modifications. Jay not only embraced this task, but he developed a more efficient way to address it, which is exactly the attitude and initiative we like to see in our interns.”

Knepp is grateful for the opportunity and challenge that the internship provided.

"Going in, I didn't really expect to do a whole lot of things specific to computer engineering," he says. "But, as the project evolved and expanded upon itself, I realized that I was working with embedded system design, software engineering, database management and data acquisition. All of these things are very essential skills for someone in my major. It goes to show that this University has all of the right opportunities to help its students succeed."

The number of interns Physical Facilities hires each year varies. The department works with academic units to recruit interns, but some available positions may also be posted on the Center for Career Opportunities website.

Writer: Megan Huckaby, 765-496-1325, mhuckaby@purdue.edu