The Purdue University and GERI Logos

General Information

Centered at Purdue University, the Gifted Education Research and Resource Institute (GER2I) is an innovative center dedicated to the discovery, study, and development of human potential. Founded by John Feldhusen in 1977, GER2I’s mission is holistic development of giftedness, creativity, and talents among individuals throughout their life-span. This is accomplished through enrichment programs for gifted, creative, and talented youth; graduate programs for future scholars and leaders; professional development and coursework for educators of gifted, creative, and talented students and cutting-edge research in psychology and education related to giftedness, creativity, and talent development.

GER2I Courses

  • Toy Design (Rising 7-8 Grade Students)
  • Smart Toys & Robots (Rising 9-12 Grade Students

As someone who has a distinct passion for empowering our Youth, I was chosen to lead both our Toy Design course for middle school students, and our Smart Toys & Robots course for high school students in conjunction with the Gifted Education Reserach & Resource Institute (GER2I) at Purdue University. During the summers of 2017, 2018, and 2019, I not only lead this initiative, but designed the Smart Toys & Robots course, where those students were exposed to a myriad of STEM concepts (Fabrication, Programming, Electronics, and much more) and helping the students create an interconnected toy network using a mixture of everyday materials (cardboard, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, etc.), circuits, and much more. The 14 students’ final project involved working in a group of 3-4 to build a Battlebot whose primary function was to pop a balloon located on the rear end of their opponent’s robot, while being controlled completely through Wifi communication.

My efforts in this endeavor were not only helpful in implementing this high school-level course but has set the foundation for the ME 496 course, titled: Design and Prototyping of Smart Things, that was taught during the 2018-2019 academic year with Sophomore-level students in the School of Mechanical Engineering. Since I designed and started teaching this course, it has become a very successful and popular course for the GER2I program. A student who recently applied to and was accepted to Purdue’s First-Year Engineering program stated to my advisor, Dr. Ramani, in an email that

“I have been coming back to GERI for four years now and it was by far the best class I have taken. I truly have learned a lot. It is an amazing experience, Terrell is an excellent instructor and so is Pashin my coach. Pashin and Terrell taught me about circuits, augmented reality, and the use of CAD software.”

The course has been halted since the COVID-19 pandemic began, so I have not gotten the opportunity to continue working in this capacity since 2019. However, I look forward to seeing the tradition of this course continue during the summer of 2022 when the program is brought back to Purdue. I hope to return as a guest lecturer or in some small capacity after my graduation.

Group picture from GERI 2017 Group picture from GERI 2018 Group picture from GERI 2019
Flyer from the GER2I Summer Obstacle Course Challenge.
Flyer from the GER2I Summer Battlebots Challenge.