REU Site: Intelligent Energetic Systems Engineering (INTENSE) REU

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The three-year renewal REU Site: Intelligent Energetic Systems Engineering (INTENSE) at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMIMT, New Mexico Tech) will engage 8 undergraduate students each year in unique research related to robotics, smart materials, explosives, rocket propellants, drones, and shock physics. A distinct need persists for more U.S. citizens with research experience to fill science and engineering positions across the country, particularly for the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Energy (DOE), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) complexes and associated industrial bases. Students involved in this REU site will develop skills and research experiences to potentially fill these hiring needs. During the summer research experience each student participant will complete an individual research project with mentorship from NMIMT faculty, building their skills, knowledge, and exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The students will investigate the interdisciplinary engineering and science of intelligent systems and energetic systems, including specific projects to explore aerodynamic drone design and control, and development of additively manufactured rocket propellants. Participants will be exposed to cutting edge research facilities at NMIMT and at prominent national facilities through tours of Sandia National Laboratories and White Sands Missile Range. Students will be recruited from institutions with limited undergraduate research opportunities, especially in the Southwestern U.S. region. The INTENSE REU will have focused recruitment from groups underrepresented in STEM careers including Hispanic, Native American, and Veteran populations, supporting NMIMT’s Hispanic Serving Institution status. The three-year renewal REU Site: Intelligent Energetic Systems Engineering (INTENSE) at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMIMT, New Mexico Tech) will engage 8 undergraduate students each year in unique research related to robotics, smart materials, explosives, rocket propellants, drones, and shock physics. The INTENSE REU objectives and impacts are to increase interest in STEM research and graduate studies, increase technical knowledge of Intelligent and Energetic Systems, expand participants’ “Engineering Toolbox”, increase exposure to STEM career opportunities, enhance STEM opportunities for minority and under-represented populations, and develop long-term social and mentoring relationships and opportunities with student cohorts and faculty mentors. Each summer, eight students will participate in a ten-week program conducting research in laboratories with faculty and graduate student mentors. Energetic systems topics including explosives, propulsion, shock physics, and high-rate impacts are taught at extremely few universities nationally, with NMIMT being a recognized national leader in the field. INTENSE REU participants will be exposed to ongoing unique research that is being performed through a range of federal funding mechanisms, including collaboration with federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs). Participants will broaden their engineering “toolbox” through hands-on research and a series of group Toolbox Development Activities covering topics including: library resources, experiment planning and data analysis, graduate school applications, entrepreneurial engineering, and technical communication. REU participants will build peer and mentor relationships through social, group, and mentoring activities which will enhance life-long learning. They will present their research to the community though a technical poster conference held at NMIMT at the end of each summer. Mentor training for faculty and graduate students will improve relationships, increase research effectiveness, and provide long-term connections with REU students. Targeted recruitment will engage students from underrepresented groups in STEM research with the goal of increasing persistence in STEM fields and expanding the diversity of the national workforce.This Site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the National Science Foundation 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.