Dr. Harold T Evensen
Contact Info
Campuses and Colleges
- UW-Platteville
- Engineering, Mathematics and Science
Department Info
Biography
About
The 7th Annual UW-Platteville Holiday Toy Hack was a success! It was held on Saturday, November 16, 2024 in the Huff Family Innovation Center in Sesquicentennial Hall. This year, 68 volunteers modified 62 electronic toys so that they can be activated with an external switch! Combined with toys from other efforts on campus, we are distributing 84 toys this year! These toys are donated to families, schools, clinics, and others. This enables kids with special needs, who may not be able to manipulate the toys otherwise, to interact and play! Past recipients include Platteville Public Schools, Hiawatha Elementary School, Variety - the Children's Charity of Wisconsin and families reached through The Arc of East Central Iowa and the Marshfield Clinic. (See the videos below for more info.)
None of this would have been possible without student volunteers - and we had volunteers from all across campus, who came and learned and/or shared some skills:
- Special Education, Elementary Education, and Education
- Engineering Technology Management and Applied Engineering Technology Management
- Cybersecurity and Computer Science
- Chemistry, Psychology, Social Sciences and English Literature
- Every engineering discipline (Civil, Electrical, Environmental, Industrial, Mechanical, Software, and Engineering Physics)!
- ...and special thanks to staff from Education, Engineering Physics, and Mechanical Engineering!
Also making this possible are donations, which are used to purchase toys, tools, wires, connectors, and switches; see UW-Platteville Foundation -- search for Toy Hack Project. (and thank you!)
* Any questions? Please feel free to email Prof. Evensen.
Recipients, past and future, please feel free to contact Prof. Evensen with any feedback.
We are looking to identify individuals and organizations, and the type of toys they would like that would require some adaptive modification.
Articles and Photos! NEW! 2024 photos are here. Photos from 2023 are linked here. The university's article on the 2022 event is linked here.
Videos! See our toys in action.
Educational Background
Dr. Evensen earned his PhD and Master of Science in Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics from Michigan Technological University.
Dr. Evensen's thesis work was in the area of experimental plasma physics and nuclear fusion. While working as a postdoctoral research associate in the Electrical Engineering department at the University of Washington, he worked on automation applied to DNA sequencing.
Professional Background
My more recent research areas include:
- Carbon nanotube-based electronics: self-assembly of semiconducting carbon nanotube films, and application of these to electronics and sensors.
- Automated rotational grazing (video here): funded by the Dairy Innovation Hub, this project tries to automate the movement and tracking of a dairy herd. This has been a lot of fun. This effort with automated rotational grazing is with a local organic dairy farmer. I've enjoyed working with students from EP, ME, EE, CSSE and ITS, and learning about dairy farming along the way!
- Industry 4.0 / Mechatronics / Internet of Things:
- I've been working with several students in our "I40" lab, on advanced automation, including machine vision, robot arms, smart sensors and cloud-based data collection.
- Two students made a tic-tac-toe game with a FANUC robot arm; video is here.
- I've been working with several students in our "I40" lab, on advanced automation, including machine vision, robot arms, smart sensors and cloud-based data collection.
- Also, we've been working with faculty and industry advisors to develop curriculum related to the Internet of Things, and related areas.
- I am continuing research done during my 2021-22 sabbatical with Professor Mike Arnold's Advanced Materials for Energy and Electronics group. My students and I are presently working on nanolithography of graphene nanoribbons.