REU Site: Unmanned Aerial Systems with Real-World Applications in Oklahoma

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Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are becoming a fast-growing field with a wide range of applications in industry, military, meteorology, business, and recreational use, to name just a few. Advanced UAS with the capacity to navigate in clustered and adverse environments are essential for future generations and are expected to have a critical impact in the U.S. economy. This REU Site aims to advance knowledge of UAS through a series of fundamental research topics that focus on design and application of UAS. Furthermore, this Site aims to develop a new generation of researchers and engineers who will become leaders in this rapidly growing field. To achieve this goal the REU site provides mentoring and training to student participants in a positive, engaging, and challenging learning environment where they will be able to develop the technical and soft skills needed to become successful engineers and researchers. To encourage a workforce filled with new and innovative ideas, they will recruit a diverse group of students and place a concerted effort on recruiting students from underrepresented groups in STEM. The REU site will provide a 10-week summer research experience for a diverse group of ten students each year, over a 3-year period, with a series of research activities. Students will actively participate in research with real world applications that focus on sensors for navigation and controls to accurately assess vehicle position, employ UAS to fight climate change by gas leak hunting and detection of particulate matter, developing deployable structures based on novel materials for UAS, testing drone battery performance in harsh conditions, and developing computational tools to identify the most vulnerable failure spots. The primary goals of this NSF REU Site are: (1) To advance knowledge of drone technology that could have an impact for further development of UAS for various applications including in harsh and adverse environments; (2) To help students expand their knowledge on drone technology and develop research skills and strategies to aid their success in an engineering field; and (3) To recruit and mentor students from underrepresented groups and first-generation college students in STEM education to increase their sense of belonging and identity in the greater university and academic community. The school of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma is in an excellent position to host this REU Site. This REU site will take advantage of unique existing natural open labs including the nearby Kessler Atmospheric and Ecological Field-Testing Station, the Choctaw Nation Unmanned Aircraft System Integration Pilot Program (UASIPP) test site, and the Full-size Test Loop Station for methane detection.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.