REU Site: Tackling Some of the Grand Challenges of Engineering

普渡大学这个为期三年的REU现场项目将吸引12名本科生进行研究，这些研究将基于工程学的四大挑战：1)提供清洁水；2)恢复和改善城市基础设施；3)管理氮循环；4)开发碳封存方法。REU项目的目标是培养学生对其专业活动对环境的影响的知识，激发学生对环境工程及相关领域深造的兴趣，并为学生进入全球绿色经济做好准备。让本科生参与探索与环境相关的工程学重大挑战将促进工程和科学的许多学科的知识进步，并将有助于环境工程的新范式。REU Site计划有一个国际组成部分。结合普渡大学、圣母大学、印第安纳大学以及撒哈拉以南非洲的两所大学之间的现有合作，将确定具体的水项目。例如，位于莫伊大学校园附近的几个村庄和非正式住区的供水具有微生物病原体和氟化物浓度高的特点。为了解决这些问题，水处理系统将被设计并测试其去除或灭活微生物病原体和氟化物的能力。REU的学生将参与这些反应堆系统的开发和测试。在暑期结束时，参与者将前往目标村庄，与当地水务局合作，教育用户这些水处理系统的功能、建设和实施。为了建立一个支持REU参与者的队列社区，除了他们在研究小组中的工作外，学生们还将参加一系列特殊活动。这些将包括：每周两小时的REU队列会议，与工程专业人员计划的一系列互动，以及对社会和社区建设活动的支持。在研究计划结束时，学生将被要求对他们的研究工作进行口头和海报演示。此外，学生们还将被邀请在普渡大学的年度生态科学和工程研讨会上再次展示他们的海报。这个REU现场项目将帮助培养能够进入劳动力市场并满足国家需求的学生(环境工程)。普渡大学将与两年制和四年制大学合作，鼓励这些机构的本科生参与这一研究计划。PI将把重点放在招收工程学专业代表性不足群体的学生，包括女学生。本科生研究项目的成果将通过各种方式传播，包括学术出版物，也将作为案例研究、示范或与环境可持续发展有关的单元在本科生工程课程中传播。

This three year REU Site program at Purdue University will engage twelve undergraduate students in research which will be built upon four of the Grand Challenges of Engineering: 1) Provide access to clean water; 2) Restore and improve urban infrastructure; 3) Manage the nitrogen cycle; and 4) Develop carbon sequestration methods. The objectives of the REU program are to foster student knowledge of the environmental impacts of their professional activities, ignite student interest in advanced studies in environmental engineering and related fields, and prepare students to enter the global green economy. The engagement of undergraduates in exploring the environmentally-related Grand Challenges of Engineering will advance knowledge across many disciplines of engineering and science, and will contribute to new paradigms of environmental engineering. The REU Site program has an international component. In conjunction with existing collaborations among Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, Indiana University, as well as two universities in sub-Saharan Africa, specific water projects will be indentified. For example, several of the villages and informal settlements that are located close to the Moi University campus have water supplies that are characterized by high concentrations of microbial pathogens and fluoride. To address these issues, water treatment systems will be designed and tested for their ability to remove or inactivate microbial pathogens and fluoride. The REU students will be involved in development and testing of these reactor systems. At the end of the summer, participants will travel to the target village and work with the local water board to educate users as to the function of these water treatment systems, their construction and implementation.In order to create a supportive cohort community of the REU participants, the students will participate in a series of special activities, in addition to their work within a research group. These will include: a weekly two-hour REU Cohort session, a series of planned interactions with engineering professionals, and support for social and community-building activities. At the end of the research program, students will be required to make both an oral and poster presentation of their research work. In addition, students will be invited back to present their poster again at Purdue's annual Ecological Sciences and Engineering symposium.This REU Site program will help train students who can enter the workforce and meet an area of national need (environmental engineering). Purdue will partner with 2 and 4-year colleges to encourage undergraduates from these institutions to participate in this research program. The PI will place an emphasis on the recruitment of students from underrepresented groups in engineering, including female students. The outcomes of the undergraduate research projects will be disseminated through various means, including scholarly publications and also in undergraduate engineering curricula as case studies, demonstrations, or modules related to environmental sustainability.