Students showcase high-tech creations Published Aug. 8, 2014 By 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Oh. -- The Air Force Research Laboratory Discovery Lab's Summer-at-the-Edge program will hold an open house Aug. 14 from 1 to 5:30 p.m., at the Student Union Apollo Room at nearby Wright State University in Fairborn. The open house will demonstrate technologies developed by Discovery Lab students, including 3-D printed, small unmanned air systems; sensors and smartphones; mobile applications; a cybersecurity demonstrator for embedded electronics; organic robotic telepresence; Google Glass; and more. Undergraduate students developed the technology in collaboration with government, industry and university partners as part of the Discovery Lab Summer-at-the-Edge student research program, the summer portion of a year-round student research intern program called Year-at-the-Edge. Year-at-the-Edge brings together multi-disciplinary, joint teams for intense collaboration on specific technology challenges or opportunities of interest to the Air Force and the Dayton region. Discovery Lab and its programs give students early, hands-on experience in team-based projects with the goal of accelerating today's technology innovations while growing tomorrow's technology innovators, said AFRL research director, Dr. Rob Williams. During the open house, Williams will give a presentation at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. on Discovery Lab's vision and strategy for a 1,000-student, 3-D virtual research and science, technology, engineering and math campus called Deep Horizons. According to Discovery Lab senior group lead David Brendel, Discovery Lab and its programs have been described by Air Force leadership as boot camp for engineers. "This is real stuff," said Brendel. "The Discovery Lab is the intersection between government and industry research interests and undergraduate students applying their skills to those projects. We develop the foundation for the product, and then someone else can take it to the next technology-readiness level. We prove that it can be done." The open house is free of charge and open to the public.