REU Site in Automotive Manufacturing Systems

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EEC-0648112Jorge F. ValenzuelaThe award provides support for a three-year REU Site at Auburn University. The program will engage 10 undergraduate students each year for three years in an 8-week summer program. The REU site will focus on automotive research related to manufacturing systems such as operations management, computer simulation, occupational safety, ergonomics, quality control, scheduling, reliability, and supply chain management. These areas are critical for the survival of the automotive industry in the Southeast, particularly in Alabama. The program will include seminars on research methods, safe laboratory practices, research ethics, intellectual property, and commercialization techniques. To enhance the hands-on research experience, a variety of professional development activities have been incorporated in the program. These include: 1) workshops on resume and cover letter writing; 2) job searching; 3) interviewing techniques; 4) oral presentations, and 5) technical report writing. The objectives of the program are to: a) expose qualified students to diverse engineering research experience and prepare them for future engineering careers; and B) motivate qualified undergraduate engineering students to conduct research and to solve challenging problems that involve technology, people, and capital.This REU site program will ensure a supply of well trained engineers in the growing automotive industry in the Southeast and will encourage further development of this industry within the region, which has historically been economically and educationally disadvantaged. Recruitment efforts will be targeted to underrepresented minorities, women and persons with disabilities.This award is co-funded by the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EHR/EPSCoR).