REU Site: Undergraduate Research in Human-Centered Computing

Clemson University, Clemson SC

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This award provides funding for a new Research Experiences for Undergraduate site focused on human-centered computing at Clemson University. The objective of the REU site is to provide talented undergraduate students genuine research experiences through immersion into the activities of and culture of a research lab. The project recruits students locally and nationally from undergraduate institutions with emphasis on minority and women students. Each year 10 students participate in on-going research being conducted in the Cybersociety Lab and the Virtual Reality and Eye Tracking Lab. The students receive 8 weeks of intensive training in the research areas, support from peer and faculty mentors, and professional development opportunities. The intellectual merit of this project lies in the potential contributions to the field human-centered computing of the research. The project has an excellent faculty leadership team that has an outstanding track record in advances in the timely and important areas studied within their labs. The topics are current and of interest to both students and the research community at large and well suited to undergraduate exploration. The broader impacts of the project include providing a quality research experience to undergraduate students, particularly women and students from underrepresented groups. The participating faculty members are committed to including under-represented minority students in their research. Thus this project has the potential to produce new computer science graduate students and faculty members and to advance discovery and understanding while promoting learning.