REU Site: Green Energy Technology Undergraduate Program

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This three year renewal Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site program, Green Energy Technology for Undergraduates Program (GET-UP) at Rutgers University was developed to address the national need for environmentally friendly power and to this end, enrich the population of STEM professionals that are prepared to tackle the technical challenges associated with this national need. The proposed program will broaden its impact via recruitment of students who may not have an opportunity to engage in undergraduate research, such as (but not limited to) underrepresented minorities and women, students from two-year colleges, veterans, and first-generation college and economically disadvantaged students. The intellectual focus of GET UP centers around three thrusts: nanotechnology and materials, renewable and sustainable fuels, and devices and energy management systems and civil structures for energy generation, conversion and storage. New components have been added to the program to enhance GET UP fellows' self-efficacy in STEM: an industrial advisory board and a workshop and study on gender implicit bias for programmatic transformation. The goals of GET UP are to: (1) engage undergraduate (UG) students in innovative "green" science and engineering research over 10 weeks during the summer, (2) provide UG scholars with professional development and academic enrichment programs and (3) foster UGs' understanding of science, technology and engineering and math (STEM). REU scholars will spend the majority of their time conducting research, while the remaining time will be allotted for professional and academic development, seminars, field trips, and social events aimed at developing student-faculty interaction and student-student communication. Students will be supported during the academic year through e-mentoring and funding for publication of papers and travel to technical conferences.