RET Site: Research Experience for Teachers in Manufacturing for Competitiveness in the United States (RETainUS)

该奖项为田纳西理工大学（TTU）工程现场教师研究经验（RET）项目提供为期3年的持续资助，该项目名为“RET现场：美国制造业竞争力教师研究经验（RETainUS）”，由Mohamed Abdelrahman博士指导。由TTU制造研究中心主办的工程现场教师研究经验（RET）将为30名数学和科学高中教师（每年10人，为期3年）提供为期6周的制造研究多学科夏季经验，并有学年后续计划。该计划将通过改变教师对制造业的理解以及制造业与数学和科学课程的关系，有助于保留和推进美国的制造业基础。该计划旨在通过实践经验和现实世界的问题来提高教师对研究和开发过程的理解，这些问题涉及：a)推进传统制造工艺（如金属铸造）的最新技术；B)制造业的新趋势，如快速成型，c)新兴技术，如纳米材料和燃料电池和特殊涂层材料的制造，以及d)为制造过程服务的通用技术，如智能优化。将特别关注少数民族和服务不足人口集中的县和学校。除了与在职教师合作外，RETainUS还将向职前教师展示令人兴奋的工程研究世界，以及如何将其独特地融入学习环境。

This award provides funding for a 3 year continuing award to support a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering Site program at the Tennessee Technological University (TTU) entitled, "RET Site: Research Experience for Teachers in Manufacturing for Competitiveness in the United States (RETainUS),"under the direction of Dr. Mohamed Abdelrahman. This Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) in Engineering Site hosted by the Center for Manufacturing Research at TTU will provide a total of 30 math and science high school teachers (10 per year for 3 years) with a 6-week multi-disciplinary summer experience in manufacturing research with an academic year follow-up plan. This proposed program will contribute to retaining and advancing the manufacturing base in the U.S. through meaningful changes in the teachers' understanding of manufacturing and how it relates to the Math and Science Curriculum. This program aims at improving the teachers' comprehension of the research and development process through hands-on experience and real world problems that relate to: a) advancing the state of the art in conventional manufacturing processes such as metalcasting; b) new trends in manufacturing such as rapid prototyping, c) emerging technologies such as nanomaterials and manufacturing of fuel cells and special coating materials, and d) enabling technologies serving manufacturing processes in general such as intelligent optimization. Special attention will be given to counties and schools where minorities and underserved populations are concentrated. In addtion to working with in-service teachers, RETainUS will expose pre-service teachers to the exciting world of engineering research and how to uniquely incorporate it into the learning environment.