Student travel and networking grant for SMASIS 2008

这笔赠款将为新的美国机械工程师学会（ASME）智能材料，自适应结构和智能系统（SMASIS）会议的前三年的学生出勤，学生网络和学生辅导活动提供支持。通过使用NSF的支持将实现的目标是：1）通过鼓励来自代表性不足的社区的学生参与，促进学生参与会议，2）促进学生与会者之间的技术和知识交流; 3）为当前的学生建立一个同行和导师网络，他们对推进智能材料和自适应结构领域有共同的兴趣。实现目标1的活动将包括与每年靠近会议地点的HBCU和社区大学校园的学生工程团体直接联系，并通过支付学生注册费鼓励学生出席。实现目标2的活动将是所有学生与会者到会议附近的一个场地（如科学中心）进行实地考察，在此期间将促进学生网络。 实现目标3的活动将包括确保学生与来自行业，政府和学术界的领先专业人士互动的计划活动。 拟议活动的智力价值在于提供一个论坛，让学生作为同行社区积极参与关于智能材料和自适应结构的技术交流。 拟议活动的更广泛影响包括促进HBCU和社区学院学生参与这一技术主题，并丰富学生的辅导和联网机会。

This grant will to provide support for student attendance, student networking and student mentoring activities for the first three years of the new American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems (SMASIS). The objectives to be achieved through the use of support from the NSF will be 1) to promote student participation at the conference by encouraging participation of students from underrepresented communities, 2) to foster technical and intellectual exchange among student attendees; and 3) to develop a network of peers and mentors for current students who have a common interest in advancing the field of smart materials and adaptive structures. Activities to achieve objective 1 will include direct contact with student engineering groups at HBCUs and community college campuses that are located close to the conference venue each year and encouraging student attendance by covering student registration fees. Activities to achieve objective 2 will be a field trip for all student attendees to a venue near the conference such as a science center during which student networking will be facilitated. Activities to achieve objective 3 will include program activities to ensure students interact with leading professionals from industry, government and academia. The intellectual merit of the proposed activities lies in providing a forum to rigorously engage students as a community of peers in technical exchange about smart materials and adaptive structures. The broader impact of the proposed activities includes promoting participation in this technical subject matter of students from HBCUs and Community colleges, and in enriching student opportunities for mentoring and networking