SIG – Smart Buildings and application of IoT

Internet of Things (IoT) is a system that connects sensors, machines, computing devices, etc. together to collect data without much human involvement. IoT allows a very massive amount of data to be collected, which were not available in the past. The data collected can then be used to enhance operation efficiency and performance of a system. The system then becomes “smart” in the sense that the system can now make decisions that are more optimized and intelligent without much human interaction. A home/building/city becomes smart when IoT is adopted in its maintenance and daily operations. IoT and smart city are still in infancies that there are not many real implementations. A complete IoT application consists of various components including sensors, power electronics, information processing, communication network, data analytics, data visualization, and data security etc. A lot of projects can be developed from these elements to provide experiential learning to our students.