Engineering Design Studio (EDS)

Electrical engineering and computer science students at MIT are accustomed to designing the circuitry or control algorithms for, say, a robot. But they have largely been left out of building the robot itself. Now, a teaching laboratory called the Engineering Design Studio (EDS) enables them to fabricate entire electronics-based systems.

The EDS has been in use since January 2014, during the Independent Activities Period, but will formally open April 1, 2014.

The students in EDS are making use of a game-changing technology called PSoC, or programmable system on a chip. Provided by Cypress Semiconductor, which sponsored the creation of EDS, the chips can both receive analog input -- from human touch or a temperature sensor, for example -- and process that input digitally for the desired application. Previously, these different capabilities required separate components, such as amplifiers, an analog-digital converter, and a computer.

PSoC is like having a whole parts store on a chip. It can be programed to be what theu user wants. Currently, these chips are in everything from smartphones to automobile control consoles to computer-network servers.

Cypress CEO T. J. Rodgers, who created the Cypress University Alliance in 2006 as a way to engage with engineering students and educators, says that his company’s alignment with MIT is strong. Patrick Kane, director of the Cypress University Alliance, works directly with MIT faculty and students.