REU Site: Preparing RF Engineers for Communication, Imaging and Sensing (PRECISE)

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Radio frequency (RF) technologies in microwave, millimeter-wave and terahertz frequency bands has ubiquitous presence in modern electronics. Wireless communication has enabled game-changing technology through LTE and 5G campaign, which is ultimately responsible for the modern internet, big-data and cloud computing boom. Smart electronics, Internet of Things (IoT), wearable technology, all critically rely on continuous innovations in this area. RF technology is also critical to the Nation’s progress through weather monitoring, study of long-term climatic changes, enemy detection and neutralization. Specifically, the Nation’s weather radars, space probes, network of enemy detection radars and aspects of defense technology constitute critical infrastructure and requires innovations. Based on this urgent need of research and innovation in RF technologies, this REU Site project at Florida International University (FIU) is aimed at providing research experiences to undergraduate students through the Preparing RF Engineers for Communication, Imaging and Sensing (PRECISE) REU site.Within this site nine students at early stages of their college experience will be recruited to provide them an immersive research experience within the general theme of RF-microwave-THz technologies for numerous commercial and defense applications for nine summer weeks. The participating students will have the opportunity to work on level-appropriate projects of cutting-edge research topics to contribute towards applications in wireless communication, sensing and imaging. FIU’s unique geographic location, combined with its targeted efforts will help to recruit students from historically underrepresented groups and from colleges without substantial research capabilities in the field, which is one of the major goals of the project. The proposed program also includes research seminars given by FIU faculty and researchers and engineers from industrial partners as well as professional development activities to help students acquire critical soft skills and to help in graduate school applications. PRECISE’s broader impact is geared towards generating workforce to support the proliferating job market in RF technologies within commercial, national and defense sectors. This enhanced research experience through PRECISE, will increase interest among undergraduate students and help address this urgent need. FIU is the largest Hispanic Serving Institution in the US and ranks first in number of awarded Hispanic engineering BS/MS degrees. Thus, the program allows participating students’ exposure to diversity at FIU, which is crucial for their future career growth.This site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.