The EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) in IEEE initiative had a record year in 2025, funding 48 projects involving nearly 1,000 students from 17 countries. The IEEE Educational Activities program approved the most projects this year, distributing US $290,000 in funding and engaging more students than ever before in innovative, hands-on engineering systems.
The program offers students opportunities to engage in service learning and collaborate with engineering professionals and community organizations to develop solutions that address local community challenges. The projects undertaken by IEEE groups encompass student branches, sections, society chapters, and affinity groups including Women in Engineering and Young Professionals.
EPICS in IEEE provides funding up to $10,000, along with resources and mentorship, for projects focused on four key areas of community improvement: education and outreach, environment, access and abilities, and human services.
This year, EPICS partnered with four IEEE societies and the IEEE Standards Association on 23 of the 48 approved projects. The Antennas and Propagation Society supported three, the Industry Applications Society (IAS) funded nine, the Instrumentation and Measurement Society (IMS) sponsored five, the Robotics and Automation Society supported two, the Solid State Circuits Society (SSCS) provided funding for three, and the IEEE Standards Association sponsored one.
The stories of the partner-funded projects demonstrate the impact and the effect the projects have on the students and their communities.
Matoruco agroecological garden
The IAS student branch at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Colombia worked on a project that involved water storage, automated irrigation, and waste management. The goal was to transform the Matoruco agroecological garden at the Institución Educativa Los Garzones into a more lively, sustainable, and accessible space.
These EPICS in IEEE team members from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Colombia are configuring a radio communications network that will send data to an online dashboard showing the solar power usage, pump status, and soil moisture for the Matoruco agroecological garden at the Institución Educativa Los Garzones. EPICS in IEEE
By using an irrigation automation system, electric pump control, and soil moisture monitoring, the team aimed to show how engineering concepts combine academic knowledge and practical application. The initiative uses monocrystalline solar panels for power, a programmable logic controller to automatically manage pumps and valves, soil moisture sensors for real-time data, and a LoRa One network (a proprietary radio communication system based on spread spectrum modulation) to send data to an online dashboard showing solar power usage, pump status, and soil moisture.
Los Garzones preuniversity students were taught about the irrigation system through hands-on projects, received training on organic waste management from university students, and participated in installation activities. The university team also organizes garden cleanup events to engage younger students with the community garden.
“We seek to generate a true sense of belonging by offering students and faculty a gathering place for hands-on learning and shared responsibility,” says Rafael Gustavo Ramos Noriega, the team lead and fourth-year electronics engineering student. “By integrating technical knowledge with fun activities and training sessions, we empower the community to keep the garden alive and continue improving it.
“This project has been an unmatched platform for preparing me for a professional career,” he added. “By leading everything from budget planning to the final installation, I have experienced firsthand all the stages of a real engineering project: scope definition, resource management, team coordination, troubleshooting, and delivering tangible results. All of this reinforces my goal of dedicating myself to research and development in automation and embedded systems and contributing innovation in the agricultural and environmental sectors to help more communities and make my mark.”
The project received $7,950 from IAS.
Students give a tour of the systems they installed at the Matoruco agroecological garden.
A smart braille system
More than 1.5 million individuals in Pakistan are blind, including thousands of children who face barriers to accessing essential learning resources, according to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. To address the need for accessible learning tools, a student team from the Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) and the IEEE Karachi Section created BrailleGenAI: Empowering Braille Learning With Edge AI and Voice Interaction.
The interactive system for blind children combines edge artificial intelligence, generative AI, and embedded systems, says Kainat Fizzah Muhammad, a project leader and electrical engineering student at MUET. The system uses a camera to recognize tactile braille blocks and provide real-time audio feedback via text-to-speech technology. It includes gamified modules designed to support literacy, numeracy, logical reasoning, and voice recognition.
The team partnered with the Hands Welfare Foundation, a nonprofit in Pakistan that focuses on inclusive education, disability empowerment, and community development. The team collaborated with the Ida Rieu School, part of the Ida Rieu Welfare Association, which serves the visually and hearing impaired.
“These partnerships have been instrumental in helping us plan outreach activities, gather input from experts and caregivers, and prepare for usability testing across diverse environments,” says Attiya Baqai, a professor in the MUET electronic engineering department. Support from the Hands foundation ensured the solution was shaped by the real-world needs of the visually impaired community.
SSCS provided $9,155 in funding.
The student team shows how the smart braille system they developed works.
Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, is among Europe’s most polluted cities, particularly in winter, due to thick smog caused by temperature changes, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO reports that the city’s air contains particles that can cause health issues without early warning signs—known as silent killers.
A team at Sts. Cyril and Methodius University created a system to measure and publicize local air pollution levels through its What We Breathe project. It aims to raise awareness and improve health outcomes, particularly among the city’s children.
“Our goal is to provide people with information on current pollution levels so they can make informed decisions regarding their exposure and take protective measures,” says Andrej Ilievski, an IEEE student member majoring in computer hardware engineering and electronics. “We chose to focus on schools first because children’s lungs and immune systems are still developing, making them one of our population’s most vulnerable demographics.”
The project involved 10 university students working with high schools, faculty, and the Society of Environmental Engineers of Macedonia to design and build a sensing and display tool that communicates via the Internet.
“By leading everything from budget planning to the final installation, I have experienced firsthand all the stages of a real engineering project: scope definition, resource management, team coordination, troubleshooting, and delivering tangible results.” —Rafael Gustavo Ramos Noriega
“Our sensing unit detects particulate matter, temperature, and humidity,” says project leader Josif Kjosev, an electronics professor at the university. “It then transmits that data through a Wi-Fi connection to a public server every 5 minutes, while our display unit retrieves the data from the server.”
“Since deploying the system,” Ilievski says, “everyone on the team has been enthusiastic about how well the project connects with their high school audience.”
The team says it hopes students will continue to work on new versions of the devices and provide them to other interested schools in the area.
“For most of my life, my academic success has been on paper,” Ilievski says. “But thanks to our EPICS in IEEE project, I finally have a real, physical object that I helped create.
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to make this project a reality and be part of something bigger.”
The project received $8,645 from the IMS.
Society partnerships count
Thanks to partnerships with IEEE societies, EPICS can provide more opportunities to students around the world. The program also includes mentors from societies and travel grants for conferences, enhancing the student experience.
The collaborations motivate students to apply technologies in the IEEE societies’ areas of interest to real-world problems, helping them improve their communities and fostering continued engagement with the society and IEEE.
You can learn how to get involved with EPICS by visiting its website.
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