REU Site: Extension of Knowledge to Small-Scale-Engineering: Integration, Interface and Interpretation (INT3)

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EEC-0649076Ranganathan KumarThe award provides support for a three-year REU Site at the University of Central Florida (UCF). This program will provide research experiences for 10 undergraduates per year in the area of small-scale engineering. The program is categorized into three layers of learning experiences that focus on integration, interface and interpretation (INT3) aspects of knowledge that will be obtained from the research environment. The primary objectives of the program are to: 1) expose the students to interdisciplinary small-scale-engineering research; 2) offer the students the opportunity to interact with faculty and attend various seminars/workshops; 3) present a research environment that is not intimidating or overwhelming and that encourages the involvement of students from underrepresented minority groups; and 4) prepare students for graduate school and/or other professional careers. The seminars/ workshops offered to the students will cover the following topics: 1) library and database searching; 2) graduate school and career preparation; 3) making effective technical presentations; and 4) entrepreneurship. Additionally, experts from local industry (e.g. Siemens Westinghouse, Lockheed Martin, Harris, Disney) and faculty experts from UCF will be invited to lecture on topics relevant to small-scale engineering. To aid in developing communications skills, the participants will be integrated into faculty research groups where they will participate in regular group meetings and make presentations on the status of their individual projects. The participants will also present results of their research at a final conference. .