REU Site: Integrated Bioengineering Research, Career Development, and Outreach Experiences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute

这个更新的REU网站将为伍斯特理工学院每年10名本科生提供研究经验。将招募来自传统上在工程学方面代表性不足的群体和研究机会有限的机构的不同类别的学生，以增加获得高质量研究机会和工程学导师的机会。学生将在实验室工作，研究生物工程的各个方面的项目。他们将参加“训练营”式的基本技术技能培训，并寻求职业发展机会。学生将通过发展“生物工程故事”和为中学女生开展实践活动，为拓宽对生物工程的认识做出贡献。这种综合体验不仅将通过研究项目引导不同的本科生群体，还将提高他们的社会意识和能力，让他们看到工程职业的广泛选择。要培养一支多元化、包容和参与全球的工程劳动力队伍，我们必须让学生在教育生涯的早期阶段参与进来，否则他们可能没有研究机会。对于这次REU场地更新，参与者将进行生物工程方面的研究。拟议项目的目标是：1)吸引30名来自工程学代表性不足的人群(如弱势背景、代表性不足的少数族裔、女性)的本科生参与生物工程研究，在生物工程研究中引导他们在解决开放式问题方面走向独立；2)帮助学生发展他们在工程设计方面的社会意识及其专业技能和信心；以及3)促进REU参与者、教师顾问和研究生导师之间超越REU计划期限的高质量指导体验。学生将从生物工程技术培训“训练营”开始，然后是每周一次的研讨会，内容涉及研究、沟通、伦理、指导和研究生院，以及社会导向的工程设计和创新，这将帮助学生获得专业技能和个人信心，这对学生的研究成功至关重要。REU参与者将通过广泛的公共传播，为中学年龄的女孩制作《生物工程故事》视频和动手活动。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This renewal REU site will provide research experiences for ten undergraduate students per year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. A diverse cohort of students from groups traditionally underrepresented in engineering and from institutions with limited research opportunities will be recruited to increase access to high-quality research opportunities and mentors in engineering. Students will work in laboratories tackling projects in various aspects of bioengineering. They will engage in a “Boot Camp”-style training for foundational technical skills and pursue professional development opportunities. Students will contribute to broadening awareness of bioengineering by developing “Stories in Bioengineering” and hands-on activities for middle-school age girls. The integrated experience will not only guide a diverse cohort of undergraduate students through a research project, but will also raise their social awareness and capacity to see broad options for engineering careers.To develop a diverse, inclusive, and globally engaged engineering workforce, we must engage students at early stages of their educational careers who might not otherwise have a research opportunity. For this REU site renewal, participants will perform research in bioengineering. The objectives of the proposed project are to: 1) engage thirty undergraduate students from populations underrepresented in engineering (e.g., disadvantaged backgrounds, underrepresented minorities, women) in bioengineering research wherein they are guided towards independence in solving open-ended problems, 2) aid students in developing their societal awareness in engineering design and their professional skills and confidence, and 3) facilitate high-quality mentored experiences between the REU participants, faculty advisors, and graduate student mentors that extends beyond the duration of the REU program. Students will begin with a bioengineering techniques training “Boot Camp”, followed by weekly workshops addressing research, communication, ethics, mentoring, and graduate school as well as socially directed engineering design and innovation will help the students’ gain professional skills and personal confidence, critical for the students’ success in research. The REU participants will develop “Stories in Bioengineering” videos and hands-on activities for middle-school age girls with broad public dissemination.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.