SCI: REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Network and Communication Systems

该项目在田纳西理工大学(TTU)建立了一个新的本科生研究体验(REU)网站，专注于网络和通信系统。它的目的是为TTU和全国其他大学的本科生提供研究机会。六名在网络和通信系统方面具有专业知识的教职员工将担任导师。每年将根据现有项目中概述的相容的兴趣和技能挑选10名学生，重点是从以本科为主的机构和代表性不足的群体招聘。将为所有与会者组织为期八周的夏季会议。在本课程中，学生将首先完成为期两周的入门课程和实验体验，以熟悉关键概念和研究工具。随后，学生们将从教职员工确定的项目列表中选择一个具体的研究项目，并与一个由教职员工和研究生组成的专注的小型研究团队密切合作，再持续六周。此外，TTU的一些参与者也将在秋季和春季学期继续他们的研究。这一年的研究经验将使他们能够进行更实质性的研究任务，从而获得更丰富、更充实的经验。还将组织与当地和地区/农村高中和社区大学的更广泛的外展活动。该计划将为参与的本科生提供重大好处，使他们及早接触网络领域，这是21世纪的关键增长领域，并帮助他们在专业和项目管理技能之外，发展网络和通信系统领域的研究和技术技能。预计这一经历将激发他们对研究生学习和研究的兴趣。该计划将对社会产生广泛影响，帮助在关键新兴领域加快培养世界级研究人才，这对保持国家在该领域的领先地位至关重要，并在高中和社区大学层面培养对网络技术的认识(和兴趣)。这将促进工程和计算机教育的长期入学人数的增长，为整个社会带来许多长期的好处，并增加代表不足的群体对工程和计算研究的参与，从而响应国家科学基金会宣布的目标，即通过代表不足的选民增加研究参与率，并为建设更多样化的全国劳动力做出贡献。

This project establishes a new Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site focused on network and communication systems at Tennessee Technological University (TTU). It is designed to provide research opportunities to cohorts of undergraduate students from TTU as well as other universities nationwide. Six faculty members with expertise in network and communication systems will serve as mentors. Ten students will be selected each year based on compatible interest and skills outlined in available projects with emphasis on recruiting from predominantly undergraduate institutions and under-represented groups. An eight-week long summer session will be organized for all participants. During this session students will first complete a two-week introductory course and lab experience to familiarize themselves with the key concepts and research tools. Subsequently, the students will choose a specific research project from a list of projects identified by the faculty and work closely with a small, focused research team of faculty and graduate students for additional six weeks. Furthermore, some participants from TTU will continue their research during the fall and spring semesters as well. This year-long research experience will enable them to carry out more substantial research tasks and thereby gain a more enriching, fulfilling experience. Broader outreach activities with local and regional/rural high schools and community colleges will also be organized.This program will provide significant benefits to participating undergraduate students by providing them an early exposure to the networking field, a crucial growth area in the 21st century and helping them to develop research and technical skills in the network and communication systems area in addition to professional and project management skills. It is also expected that this experience will stimulate in them an interest in graduate studies and research. The program will have a broad impact on the society by helping to accelerate the training of world-class research talent in key emerging areas, vital towards maintaining a national preeminence in the field, fostering increased awareness of (and interest in) networking technology at the high school and community college levels. This will promote growth in long-term enrollment in engineering and computing education, yielding many long-standing benefits to society at large and increased participation of under-represented groups in engineering and computing research, thereby responding to the NSF's stated goal of increasing research participation by under-represented constituencies and contributing to building a more nationally diverse workforce.