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A group of multicultural students from different engineering disciples teamed up to do a study of common interest. The idea was to bring together these students of various backgrounds and ethnicities and increase tolerance, better cultural understanding amongst them, and increase team work and comradery. The project which was of common interest among the students was a smart garden, vertical, hydroponic, with applications to global and universal, even in space. A hydroponic system solves/removes the need for a mass consumption of water, and or the need for a specific soil. An indoor smart system where the environment is controlled means that any crop can grow anywhere and is not constrained to a particular region for growing. Educating and teaching the population in third world communities would definitely have a significant positive impact on those people. In brief the study will address; 1. What: (Multinational Student Project, Vertical Garden, Hydroponic, Smart (Digital & Automated).) 2. How: (Vertical structures, Water Tank, Irrigation System to each tank, Sensors and robots, Controlled environment) 3. Why: (Less land, Vertical), No soil (Hydroponic), Less water (Hydroponic), No pesticides (Smart), Higher food yield per crop (Smart), Year round food yield (Smart), Yield even outside of native environment (Smart), Global and Universal Applications, Faster food yield (Smart), Higher food quality (Smart). The plant growing process is digitized/made smart by incorporating multiple sensors to monitor every aspect of the plant's growth, as well as having climate control in the environment under which the plant is growing. All of these techniques are implemented to battle the challenges that the world is currently facing. Less land becomes available to farms with a growing population, water scarcity, people moving to cities, and therefore larger cities and increased apartment living. This problem can be solved by vertical farming. A lot of water is presently used to grow food and not all soil or environments are fit for growing certain crops, or in some cases any crops at all. Background: Motivating and promoting interest in teaching engineering subjects is always a challenge for undergraduate engineering students especially for junior and lower level students. To solve this issue we brought social awareness to members of the group, as well as tolerance and responsibility with this approach. It also emphasized to the students a tolerant and an openminded world, now and forevermore. A group of multidiscipline, multinational, multicultural undergraduate students at Salt Lake Community College, majoring in Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Computer engineering are working on a project involving vertical farming, hydroponic watering, and making the plant growing process smart. Food and its availability is of major concern in all nations, especially the underdeveloped communities. Students get exposed to different engineering disciplines, and learn how to work in a multicultural team and become socially responsible in an ever increasing connected world. Each student also becomes a teacher to other students at times discussing his specialty and field of engineering. To grow a vertical farm sound structures hold multiple growing pots for plants one on top of another. A hydroponic method is utilized to water plants and provide plants with the necessary nutrients. That is; nutrient solution is funneled through pipes in order to deliver water and nutrients directly to the plants without the use of soil. Nutrients can also be provided via certain biological living organs and/or fish in the tank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the proposed quantitative analyses of phosphate along selected sites of the Yangtze River (the Shanghai tributary). Phosphates are major nutrients in the eco-system; consequently, excessive phosphates result in algal bloom that changes dissolved oxygen levels in the aquatic system. The research initiative identifies five sites selected for their differences in population densities and land utilization. Samples from each site will be analyzed for phosphate content to ascertain if there are correlations between population densities and land utilization with respect to phosphate content. Samples were acquired from sparsely populated environments, industrial environments, and densely populated area. The samples were en-route to the United States; consequently, analyses of the sample started early February and have been performed for phosphates during February which are included in this paper. The early research projects of this nature / type during the freshman year of the student college-years motivates and increases the student's interest in science and engineering disciplines and encourages them to pursue further education in these fields. This paper will focus on the Preliminary Phosphate Study (FIA) and discuss the results of the experiments and the detection conditions performed. Future work would involve measurement of other nutrients such as nitrate and potassium levels and comparisons made to see if there is correlation between the nutrients and the sites tested so far in this work. Also future paper would discuss and present how this type of early research study increases interest, teamwork, leadership abilities in the freshman minority and international students. Background: The study presented in this paper discusses the research performed by an international student dealing with the data collected from his hometown, while studying science and engineering at a College in the USA, performing the research under the direction and guidance of the faculty at the college in the USA. The research project involves an international student from China, studying the amount of phosphates and any other toxic material in Zhejiang River (within 10-20 miles of Shanghai, China) and its environmental impact on rural and urban areas, and any other possible unforeseen and unexpected impacts. Food and its availability is of major concern in various regions of the world, especially in the underdeveloped communities. Furthermore if the water is used downstream for farming, there might be additional concerns. This also impacts the quality and life of aquatic creatures (especially fish) and wildlife. The water samples are taken at various locations of the river. They are then shipped to the college in the USA. The laboratory experiments are performed to analyze each sample at this college. The laboratory results are analyzed and conclusions are drawn based on the data from the lab experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]