REU Site: Research Opportunities in Bioinspired Robotics

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This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site program at the University of Maryland (UMD)College Park offers new and exciting summer research opportunities to diverse and talented cohorts of undergraduates, from institutions with limited or no research opportunities in the field of bioinspired robotics (defined as robots that are inspired by natural systems such as insects, birds, mammals, and reptiles). Bioinspired robots will be used to target the efforts of first responders after a natural disaster and provide a number of tasks to assist humans (e.g., carrying extra goods, repairing damaged goods, building structures, etc.). However, designing, fabricating, and applying these robots is a long-term scientific and engineering challenge. Each summer, this REU site will provide 10 undergraduates with resources and opportunities to begin tackling some of these challenges. The program will collaborate with UMD's Women in Engineering program and the Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering to better recruit and assess the impact of this program on women and underrepresented minority students who traditionally suffer from the "leaky pipeline" in which percentages of these students decrease as they move up through the ranks of research positions. This problem will be addressed by focusing on career and academic development (seminars and graduate student mentors) in addition to providing a new network of role models through a diverse mentoring pool. A more diverse group of highly educated researchers in this critical research field will create a larger workforce to solve the nation's toughest environmental, technical, and national security challenges.Bioinspired robotics offer a truly interdisciplinary systems research challenge that encompasses biology, materials, mechanical design, control, sensors and actuators, power, and electronics. To provide the collaborations necessary to solve some of these challenges and encourage students toward future research careers, the program will: 1. Define diverse teams of faculty, graduate student mentors, and undergraduate researchers. 2. Provide exciting research topics covering many aspects of bioinspired robotics. 3. Encourage collaboration and discussion through non-traditional means, including social media forums like Facebook and informal lunch talks among students. 4. Offer tutorial and professional development seminars in addition to field trips to local labs. 5. Assess project success through short-term, long-term, quantitative and qualitative metrics. The discoveries made during these collaborations will be communicated to the broader scientific community via publications and presentations.