REU Sites: Research Experiences for Underrepresented Undergraduates in Smart Environments

Washington State University, Pullman WA

Investigators

Abstract

Title: Research Experiences for Underrepresented Undergraduates in Smart Environments PIs: Behrooz Shirazi and Diane Cook Institution: Washington State University The goal of this REU site program (REU-SE) is to broaden undergraduate research in underrepresented groups, particularly Hispanics from the Pacific Northwest region. The Pacific Northwest has recently witnessed a rapid growth in its Hispanic population, reaching 37% of the population in South Central Washington State. State officials have decried the low enrollment of Hispanics in four-year colleges and say the situation is nearing crisis levels. The REU-SE program's aim is to attract the targeted Hispanic student groups to engineering careers and graduate education. The research theme of this REU program is smart environments. This is an exciting area of research that draws from a variety of engineering fields and finds application in home automation, health monitoring, and energy conservation. Because the students will be living in apartments that also serve as test sites, they will be fully immersed in the project and given abundant opportunity to interact with other faculty, graduate students, and REU students in the program. Our approach to broadening participation of undergraduate students in engineering research is based on the proposition that by engaging students in interesting applied research early in their baccalaureate studies, we will instill a strong sense of confidence, achievement, and belonging in the fields of CS/CE/EE in the targeted student groups. In addition to getting engaged in research, the REU participants will be trained in literature searching, technical reading and writing, and presentation skills. The participants will be closely mentored by the PIs, the faculty mentors, and the graduate student mentors. They will also be invited back to the program to serve as mentors for future REU participants. While the focus of the REU-SE program is on attracting and retaining underrepresented Hispanic students to the computing and electrical engineering fields, the model proposed here is broadly applicable to other student groups and other disciplines. In addition, the program will have a positive impact on increasing the number of students who will pursue their advanced degrees, beyond baccalaureate. Because of a strong planned recruitment effort and a strong mentoring component in REU-SE, we expect the "word of mouth" effect to spread the knowledge of the benefits of the program among the targeted populations, resulting in broadening participation in CS/CE/EE research programs for many years to come.