REU Site: Integrated Bioengineering Research, Career Development, and Outreach Experiences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

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This renewal REU site will provide research experiences for ten undergraduate students per year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. A diverse cohort of students from groups traditionally underrepresented in engineering and from institutions with limited research opportunities will be recruited to increase access to high-quality research opportunities and mentors in engineering. Students will work in laboratories tackling projects in various aspects of bioengineering. They will engage in a “Boot Camp”-style training for foundational technical skills and pursue professional development opportunities. Students will contribute to broadening awareness of bioengineering by developing “Stories in Bioengineering” and hands-on activities for middle-school age girls. The integrated experience will not only guide a diverse cohort of undergraduate students through a research project, but will also raise their social awareness and capacity to see broad options for engineering careers.To develop a diverse, inclusive, and globally engaged engineering workforce, we must engage students at early stages of their educational careers who might not otherwise have a research opportunity. For this REU site renewal, participants will perform research in bioengineering. The objectives of the proposed project are to: 1) engage thirty undergraduate students from populations underrepresented in engineering (e.g., disadvantaged backgrounds, underrepresented minorities, women) in bioengineering research wherein they are guided towards independence in solving open-ended problems, 2) aid students in developing their societal awareness in engineering design and their professional skills and confidence, and 3) facilitate high-quality mentored experiences between the REU participants, faculty advisors, and graduate student mentors that extends beyond the duration of the REU program. Students will begin with a bioengineering techniques training “Boot Camp”, followed by weekly workshops addressing research, communication, ethics, mentoring, and graduate school as well as socially directed engineering design and innovation will help the students’ gain professional skills and personal confidence, critical for the students’ success in research. The REU participants will develop “Stories in Bioengineering” videos and hands-on activities for middle-school age girls with broad public dissemination.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.