REU Site: Leveraging Computational Tools for Enhancing Engineering Innovation

REU 网站：利用计算工具增强工程创新

• 批准号: 1358750
• 负责人: Christoffer Turner
• 金额: $ 33.62万
• 依托单位: University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-05-01 至 2017-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1358750&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Site; Leveraging; Computational; Tools

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This award from the Division of Engineering Education and Centers supports a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site program at The University of Alabama. The program is intended to engage nine undergraduate students per summer for ten weeks in engineering research projects that have a strong computational thrust. Most of the research projects also have an experimental component, either directly or through collaboration, and by tightly coupling the computational research with the experiments, the pace of engineering innovation can be enhanced. By introducing undergraduate researchers to computational tools early in their research careers, they will gain a broader knowledge of available research techniques, their problem solving approaches will be expanded, and they will develop a deeper appreciation of the length-scales and time-scales relevant to different natural phenomena. Faculty mentors from three different academic departments will be participating in the program, so students will learn about the techniques and approaches relevant to a wide range of engineering challenges. Through weekly group meetings, invited seminar speakers, and visits to local facilities, the students will begin to understand the information-passing that can be made amongst different modeling techniques, and they will become familiar with national high-performance computing resources and rapid prototype techniques. Ultimately, this experience will engage students in challenging and meaningful computations-based research experiences, providing a rich pipeline of talented engineers that can contribute to current and emerging engineering challenges.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: This award from the Division of Engineering Education and Centers supports a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site program at The University of Alabama. The program will engage nine undergraduate students per summer for ten weeks in computational engineering research projects. The program theme resonates with many of the national thrusts, ranging from the Materials Genome Initiative to new frontiers in neuroscience and computational ecology. Furthermore, these hands-on experiences will allow the REU students to make more informed decisions about their preferred balance of experiments/simulations in future graduate research projects and careers. The summer program is designed to help the REU make real-world impacts in science and engineering, by educating students about technology-transfer issues, computer-based research applications in the private sector, and the leadership skills needed for long-term success. To this end, there will be regular interactions with the newly-created National Water Center on The University of Alabama campus, Oak Ridge National Lab, and the students will benefit from a one-on-one leadership coaching program. Post-program sustainability will be enhanced with big-brother/big-sister pairing between REU students and current graduate students, as well as return visits to campus for completing manuscripts or for conducting critical experiments.

技术摘要：该奖项由工程教育和中心部颁发，支持亚拉巴马大学的本科生研究经验（REU）项目。 该计划的目的是每年夏天在具有强大计算推力的工程研究项目中吸引9名本科生，为期10周。 大多数研究项目也有实验部分，无论是直接还是通过合作，通过将计算研究与实验紧密结合，可以加快工程创新的步伐。 通过在本科生研究人员的研究生涯早期引入计算工具，他们将获得更广泛的知识，可用的研究技术，他们的解决问题的方法将得到扩展，他们将开发的长度尺度和时间尺度相关的不同的自然现象的更深层次的赞赏。 来自三个不同学术部门的教师导师将参加该计划，因此学生将学习与各种工程挑战相关的技术和方法。 通过每周的小组会议，邀请研讨会发言人，并参观当地设施，学生将开始了解信息传递，可以在不同的建模技术，他们将成为熟悉国家高性能计算资源和快速原型技术。 最终，这种经验将使学生参与具有挑战性和有意义的基于计算的研究经验，提供丰富的人才管道工程师，可以为当前和新兴的工程挑战做出贡献。非技术总结：工程教育和中心部的这个奖项支持亚拉巴马大学的本科生研究经验（REU）网站计划。 该计划将每年夏天在计算工程研究项目中吸引9名本科生，为期10周。 该计划的主题与许多国家的推力，从材料基因组计划在神经科学和计算生态学的新前沿共鸣。 此外，这些实践经验将使REU学生能够在未来的研究生研究项目和职业生涯中对他们首选的实验/模拟平衡做出更明智的决定。 暑期课程旨在帮助REU在科学和工程领域产生现实世界的影响，通过教育学生技术转让问题，私营部门基于计算机的研究应用以及长期成功所需的领导技能。 为此，将与新成立的国家水中心在亚拉巴马校园，橡树岭国家实验室的大学定期互动，学生将受益于一对一的领导力辅导计划。 项目后的可持续性将通过REU学生和当前研究生之间的大哥哥/大姐姐配对，以及回访校园完成手稿或进行关键实验来增强。