REU Site: Engineers for Exploration

探索工程师（E4E）本科生研究经验（REU）网站吸引来自计算机系统研究的广泛学科的本科生，这些学科的动机是探索和科学发现中的现实挑战。该网站为加州大学圣地亚哥分校提供了一个亲密的指导研究环境，并与我们的合作伙伴组织的科学家、探险家和工程师进行了结构化的合作。过去和现在的项目包括与圣地亚哥全球动物园、斯克里普斯海洋学研究所、墨西哥国家自然保护区委员会、伯利兹研究和环境教育基金会、美国农业部、国家地理学会、哈布斯海洋世界研究所、国家海洋和大气管理局以及加州狼中心的合作。参与者为保护、文化遗产和探索创造技术，并由世界各地的现场参与者、科学家和探险家部署，在伯利兹、开曼群岛、多米尼加共和国、危地马拉、墨西哥和蒙古进行研究探险。该网站的目标是来自不同背景的参与者，他们没有机会参与这类研究。参与者在一个多层次的指导项目中工作，与教师、科学家、博士后学者和研究生互动。当与社区建设活动相结合时，这是一个积极而难忘的经历，鼓励参与者继续进行进一步的研究培训。在为期十周的暑期项目中，探索工程师（E4E）网站的参与者与科学家、探险家和工程师密切合作，开发技术，这些技术通常侧重于遥感，包括机器人、计算机视觉、数据分析、机器学习和可视化。例如，之前的参与者设计、制作原型并部署系统，以创建危地马拉玛雅考古遗址El Zotz的大规模可视化，跟踪不同加勒比岛屿上濒危鬣蜥的孵化，并记录墨西哥下加利福尼亚州红树林的生态特征。这个REU网站的主要目标是让本科生参与者接触到现实世界的实际研究项目。参与者在夏季全职工作，构建最终将由科学家、研究人员和探险家在野外部署的技术。该技术的发展将参与者的本科课程中的技术和技能与现实世界的问题结合在一起，从而在理论和实践之间提供了良好的联系。他们希望，接触前沿的应用研究将激励他们考虑读研，成为下一代的研究人员。为了实现这一总体目标，REU网站有四个具体目标：1)让参与者参与智力刺激的多学科项目；2)在科学家和探险家的指导下提供现实世界的项目；3)招募和吸引来自各种工程背景的高素质学生；4)培养博士后学者、研究生和REU参与者之间的指导、领导和团队合作技能。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Engineers for Exploration (E4E) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site engages undergraduate students from a broad range of disciplines in computer systems research motivated by real world challenges in exploration and scientific discovery. The site provides an intimate mentored research environment at the University of California San Diego and a structured collaboration with scientists, explorers, and engineers at our partner organizations. Past and present projects include collaborations with the San Diego Zoo Global, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Mexican Comision Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas, Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education, US Department of Agriculture, National Geographic Society, Hubbs SeaWorld Research Institute, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the California Wolf Center. The participants create technology for conservation, cultural heritage, and exploration and are deployed around the world by site participants, scientists, and explorers for research expeditions in Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, and Mongolia. The site targets participants from diverse backgrounds who do not have the opportunity to participate in this type of research. The participants work in a multi-tiered mentoring program interacting with faculty, scientists, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students. When coupled with the community building activities, this makes a positive and memorable experience, encouraging participants to pursue further research training. During the ten week summer program, Engineers for Exploration (E4E) site participants work closely with scientists, explorers, and engineers to develop technology that generally focuses on remote sensing with elements in robotics, computer vision, data analytics, machine learning, and visualization. For example, previous participants designed, prototyped and deployed systems to create large scale visualizations of the Maya archaeological site El Zotz in Guatemala, track endangered iguana hatchlings across different Caribbean Islands, and document ecological characteristics of mangroves in Baja California, Mexico. The primary goal of this REU site is to expose the undergraduate participants to real-world, hands-on research projects. The participants work full-time during the summer to build technology that will ultimately be deployed in the field by scientists, researchers, and explorers. The development of this technology brings together the techniques and skills from the participants' undergraduate classes with real-world problems, and thus provides a sound connection between theory and practice. The hope is that exposure to cutting-edge, applied research will motivate them to consider graduate school and become the next generation of researchers. To accomplish this overall goal, the REU site has four specific objectives: 1) Involve participants in intellectually stimulating, multidisciplinary projects, 2) Provide real-world projects with mentorship from scientists and explorers, 3) Recruit and attract a diverse population of top quality students from a variety of backgrounds in engineering, and 4) Develop mentorship, leadership, and teamwork skills amongst the post-doctoral scholars, graduate students, and REU participants.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.