Presenting her research paper entitled Integration of Renewable Energy into Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, senior Tanya Shiramagond is in Kansas City Wednesday for the Institute of Electronics Engineers International Smart Cities Conference (ISC2).

“My paper is about that electric vehicles need a source for their electricity; it’s about integrating renewable energy to supply the power for them,” Shiramagond said. “It was my final product with my mentor; we decided to write a research paper together. He kind of helped me out with the ideas and I wrote everything.”

Shiramagond’s paper was part of her end of year project in the Independent Study Mentorship course last year, where she was guided by Professor Wei-Jen Lee of the Department of Electrical Engineering at UT Arlington.

“It took persistence and determination for Tanya to find a mentor, but once she did, he provided guidance and helped Tanya narrow the focus of her research,” ISM teacher Karene Goff said via email. “Dr. Lee was instrumental in her ISM journey and without his knowledge, expertise, and belief in Tanya, her paper would not have been submitted or seen by the IEEE Smart Cities Conference Committee.”

Papers accepted into the conference are usually from students in master’s or PhD programs. This year, Shiramagond is the only high school student with a fully accepted paper.

“There are going to be different sections and different presentations going on, so I’m part of a two hour session and I’m one of the first to present,” Shiramagond said. “I’m just really honored to have this opportunity to be able to present in front of a bunch of people that are way more educated than I am.”

When Shiramagond first reached out to Professor Lee, he hesitated initially before agreeing to mentor her due to a busy schedule. He was soon impressed.

“I sent her some materials regarding the smart grid development and renewable energy integration as reading assignment,” Lee said via email. “To my pleasant surprise, she grasps the ideas of the core technology very fast. Instead of following the traditional format independent study, I challenged her to prepare a paper and submit and present it in a professional conference.”

In the ISM program, students work with a mentor in a field of their interest on a project, while developing skills of professionalism, communication, networking, interpersonal and interviewing skills, public speaking, and personal branding.

“Not every student writes an extensive research paper such as the one written by Tanya,” Goff said via email. “Each student makes a formal proposal of what they wish to design, create, develop, etc., related to their topic, for their final product in ISM. For Tanya, a research paper was something she wanted to complete to showcase what she had accomplished during ISM.”

Application to the ISM program is rigorous and competitive, but students that are accepted partake a unique course unlike any other science classes.

“Without ISM, I don’t think I would have ever gotten an opportunity like this, because I wouldn’t have even thought about reaching out to a professional just for my career goals,” Shiramagond said. “This class is an independent class, but it pushed me to reach out to people, and from that I gained this opportunity.”

This year, the conference welcomes more than 340 attendees from over 17 countries. The three previous ICS2 conferences were held in South America, Mexico, and China, with Casablanca hosting next year’s event.

“I’m looking forward to learning what other people wrote their papers about, because I’m going to see other presentations too,” Shiramagond said. “So I’m just looking forward to learning more about smart cities and more about technologies that they’re trying to implement.”

Students make up 35 percent of attendees at the event at which pioneers of the future in the engineering community share their research.

“I strongly believe that presenting paper at IEEE ISC2 means a lot for her future,” Lee said via email. “Smart and connected communities are the trend for the future city development. She will make significant contributions to the society if she pursues her career in STEM.”