Calli Dunn: AUKUS NIUVT Scholars Program

Calli Dunn: AUKUS NIUVT Scholars Program

In the fall, I applied to the AUKUS NIUVT Scholars Program held in Australia over the winter J-term period and I was one of five students from URI, along with another 5 students from UCONN, selected to be a part of the program. I attended a series of lectures with my peers in the fall to prepare for the trip and was so beyond lucky to have been given the opportunity to go. Just after the new year, we traveled to both Adelaide in South Australia and Tasmania to do a series of engineering focused lectures, interactive labs, and projects through Flinders University, Australia Maritime College at the University of Tasmania, and University of Adelaide.

After quite the series of plane rides, we started off the first four days of our program in Adelaide at Flinders University. During the mornings, we attended lectures to gain a greater understanding of autonomous vehicles and robotic operating systems. In the afternoon, we explored various research labs and got to test what we learned with projects that both professors and students were working on. After we finished all of our work for the day, we explored the city of Adelaide and tried our best to soak up the last couple hours of sunlight. We saw a tennis match during the Adelaide International tournament, took the tram and train to multiple beaches, and tried all different types of food at some of the best restaurants the area had to offer. I was even able to convince a number of the students to go for runs around the city and on the beaches with me!

I was so lucky to have the ability to travel to the other side of the world and meet up with one of my teammates from Adelaide, freshman Kelsea Lawson. She was the best guide while our group was there, giving us recommendations for her favorite restaurants, beaches, and hikes. We were able to meet up one of the nights of my first week and I got the chance to see what growing up in Australia was like for her. She showed me where she went to school, where her lacrosse club was, her favorite beach in the area, and I even got the chance to meet her sister and pets, including the magpie Kelsea is holding in a picture below. On our last days before we left for Tasmania, we had a little bit more free time and walked through the wildlife center at Cleland National Park, hiked Mount Lofty, and relaxed at the beach in Port Noarlunga.

We spent the first week in Adelaide before we left bright and early to catch a plane to Tasmania. While our stay was short (only two days), we were able to experience a lot of what Tasmania had to offer. On our first day, we visited the Tasmanian zoo, swam in a freshwater basin known to locals as the "gorge," and conversed and networked with professors and important faculty members of the University of Tasmania over dinner. On the second day, we were able to put more of the theories we learned in class this past fall semester to the test in their massive wave tank. We changed the mechanics of the waves in the tank to find when the model boat would capsize. Additionally, we drove to another one of their campuses located on the water and had the chance to give commands to a fully autonomous surface water vehicle. We watched as it stayed on its programmed course and mapped the surrounding area underwater using sonar. Lastly, we attended a virtual boat tour of sunset on Sydney harbor during dinner that the professors put together for all of us before we left.

We flew back to Adelaide early on our third to last day and began wandering around the University of Adelaide campus, meeting various students working on summer projects and checking labs of different engineering backgrounds. On the second to last day in Australia, we spent the day at the University of Adelaide designing our own propellers for a small scale submarine and the night at the large oval stadium in the city watching a cricket match. On our last day, we tested our 3D printed propeller designs in their testing tank and soaked up the sun at Brighton Beach before packing our suitcases to head home.

Overall, I am beyond grateful to have been given this opportunity and the knowledge I have gained in the field of study that I am so passionate about. I am so thankful for all of the amazing students I met along the journey and the friendships that have grown as a result of it. More than anything else, I am extremely appreciative of the faculty at URI, UCONN, Flinders University, University of Tasmania, and University of Adelaide that worked tirelessly to make this program an unforgettable experience for all of the students.

Gallery: Calli Dunn: AUKUS NIUVT Scholars Program

Calli Dunn: AUKUS NIUVT Scholars Program

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