REU Site: Automotive Technologies at the Technische Universitaet Darmstadt and Virginia Tech

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EEC-0552832Jan J. BohnThis award will establish a new international Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at the Technische Universitat Darmstadt (TUD), Germany with a smaller feeder and preparation REU Site on the same theme at Virginia Tech (VT). The program will concentrate on undergraduate students who have an interest in automotive technologies related to the fields of mechanical engineering, mechatronics, computer science, collaborative engineering, and their intersections. Students who are selected for the program must show a definite potential and aptitude for graduate studies and research careers in science and engineering. The program will include the option for students to conduct research at VT one summer, and then continue this work at the TUD the following summer. At the end of the summer, the students will present their work at a dual site conference with live two-way video between the two REU locations.The objectives of this dual-REU site are: (1) to provide positive student research experiences; and (2) to enhance and broaden the interface of the transatlantic faculty collaborations as the REU students transition their research from VT one summer to the TUD the subsequent summer. It will also: (1) expose U.S. undergraduate engineering students firsthand to the globalization of the engineering profession; (2) show them that they can positively participate in, contribute to, and benefit from this globalization; (3) help them grow as engineers and people by giving them exposure to two engineering cultures; (4) encourage them to pursue graduate studies and possibly research careers; (5) provide U.S. industry and government agencies with future employees that are internationally competitive, and globally engaged; and (6) provide a predictive model that best matches an individual student with the most effective mode of global exposure, for the benefit of future international REU programs.