REU Site: Sustainable Design

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

EEC-0647387 Eric Beckman The award provides support for a three-year REU Site at the University of Pittsburgh. The REU site will engage 14 undergraduate students each year for three years in a 12-week summer program. The undergraduates will form design teams to tackle research projects that focus on problems in the design of sustainable neighborhoods, namely green construction, the sustainable use of water, distributed energy systems, etc. The overall goals of the program are to: 1) teach undergraduate engineers to incorporate sustainability as a constraint in designs; 2) teach engineering undergraduates to work in design teams that progress from initial reliance on faculty and graduate student advisors to reliance on team members over the course of the program; and 3) teach undergraduate engineers how their research impacts people and the planet. To enhance the hands-on research experience, a variety of activities have been incorporated. These include: team building and leadership workshops; modules on sustainable design and effective communications; a series of sessions on ethics; and a number of social activities. Recruitment efforts will be targeted at four populations: 1) engineering and science students attending primarily undergraduate institutions in the region; 2) ten minority serving institutions with which the Assistant Dean for Diversity has negotiated articulation agreements; 3) the University of Texas-El Paso and the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez; and 4) students who participate in Engineers without Borders and Engineers for a Sustainable World.