REU Site: Renewal of Summer Internships in Nanomaterials, Nanomechanics, and Leadership Training in Engineering

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This three-year REU site will provide 9 talented undergraduate students with research opportunities in labs that bridge the gap between science and engineering, and provide them with top-notch leadership training in engineering. Program recruitment will target a diverse group of participants from a broad spectrum of colleges throughout the nation, especially minority-serving and small colleges without strong research infrastructure and experience. Women participants will be provided custom-tailored leadership training specific to them. Eight faculty members and nine graduate students from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry/Biochemistry will serve as mentors. Research topics will be theoretical, computational and/or experimental, involving short, challenging, self-contained, cutting-edge problems in nanoscience and nanoengineering. The program includes seminars and workshops to expose interns to nanoscale engineering as well as professional development, emphasizing research, team building, leadership, and graduate studies. The complementary social program includes tours of regional research and industrial facilities, and group outings to local areas of interest in collaboration with the other UA REU programs. The interrelationships of the engineering process and its management within the life cycles of technology, innovation, products, and systems will be an essential part of the REU program. The basic functions of management relative to their implementation in technical organizations will be examined. Strategies for leading engineering teams and technical organizations will be explored, particularly as they affect individual and organizational productivity and creativity.This REU Site will build on the successes of the previously funded (EEC – 1359086) REU Site and will focus on nanomaterials, nanomechanics, and leadership training of undergraduate students. The project objectives are: 1) to engage undergraduate students with opportunities to conduct nanoscale science and engineering research; 2) to allow students to self-assess their interest in graduate school; 3) to increase the number of future professionals in nanoengineering; 4) to enable the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville (UAF) to become, and be recognized as a nationally top tier undergraduate and graduate program, and 5) to equip students to become future leaders and managers of technology driven organizations in the United States. Each year (of the three year project) a different group of nine undergraduate students will conduct research at the UAF campus as part of this ten-week summer internship program. Nine faculty members (including the PI) and graduate students from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry/Biochemistry will serve as mentors. Recruitment of summer interns will concentrate on five groups: 1) institutions where research opportunities in STEM are limited; 2) minority institutions; 3) women; 4) persons with disabilities, and 5) UAF programs. All participants will present their research findings both orally and in a written report, sometimes leading to scientific publications.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.