Chemical Engineering Research Experience for Undergraduates

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The Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at Penn State directly addresses the challenge of increasing enrollment of women and minorities in graduate engineering study. The key aspects of the program are: 1) the active recruitment of minorities and women by visiting selected target schools, and , 2) a student oriented research program that contains social as well as instructional aspects designed for successful integration of the participants into an exciting research environment. Faculty members from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Penn State have volunteered to support recruitment, instruction, and research supervision. The projects offered span a wide range of research, from plant tissue culture, to thermodynamics - held together by common chemical engineering principles. REU participants will be matched with projects prior to selection to maximize mutual interests and capabilities. The participants enroll for three credits of Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Research during the summer semester. An instructional program is integrated throughout the summer which initially focuses on logistics such as the library system and laboratory safety to give the students a quick start on research. Subsequent instruction covers research practice such as experimental design, statistics, and "keeping a laboratory notebook". To stress the importance of communication, an introductory and final oral presentation, as well as a final written report will be required of each student.