REU Site in Novel Advanced Materials and Processing with Applications in Engineering

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This three year REU Site program at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) will involve faculty in four departments of the College of Engineering, and the Departments of Physics and Chemistry in cooperation with industrial interest groups to address needs in the areas of nanotechnology, material sciences, bio and biomedical engineering. The goals of this REU Site program are to:1) introduce and engage 10 undergraduate students for 10 summer weeks each year with equipment and methods used in cutting-edge research, 2) improve technical communication skills; 3) foster understanding of the scientific method used in todays research; 4) direct and enhance the students' creativity and originality into novel systems of technology and experience the exciting rewards from successful research, and 5) expose them to multiple disciplines in research and help them understand the interactive roles in research.The students will participate in research in novel advanced material systems in engineering, experience theexcitement of doing state-of-the-art research, enhance written and oral technical communication skills, expand their creativity and originality into new areas of technology, develop into outstanding candidates for graduate programs, and promote interdisciplinary technical skills needed in the future engineering workplace. The program will also foster intellectual synergies between the REU participants and the cohort of teachers participating simultaneously in the Research Experiences for Teachers (RET)-Site Chicago Science Teacher Research (CSTR) Program.Participants will be recruited from regional community colleges, universities with high minority enrollments (i.e.,Chicago State and U. of Puerto Rico), and universities across the nation. The REU participants will expand their creativity and originality into new areas of technology, develop into outstanding candidates for graduate programs, and develop interdisciplinary technical skills needed in the future engineering workplace. Internal and external program evaluation and assessment will ensure the continued improvement and dissemination of program outcomes. Students will participate in a REU Annual Symposium at the end of the year, submit final reports to the UIC Journal of Undergraduate Research, and attend site visits to industrial partners and national labs.The site is co-funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.