Renewable Energy Systems Opportunity for Unified Research Collaboration and Education (RESOURCE)

University Of California-Davis, Davis CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Renewable Energy Systems Opportunity for Unified Research Collaboration and Education (RESOURCE) program will provide two-year fellowships to 25 PhD students in engineering disciplines over a five-year project. The intellectual theme for the project will be on the development of sustainable, energy efficient renewable energy technologies including solar, wind and biofuels. Graduate fellows will partner with 50 sixth grade school teachers to create innovative curriculum and educational tools that promote interest in renewable energy technologies and associated STEM disciplines. Fellows and teachers will collaborate on communicating STEM subjects to technical and non-technical audiences, leadership, team building, and teaching. This will enrich the communication of fellows? research and will also improve their ability to communicate to different educational communities including those from different cultural backgrounds. The intellectual merit of the project is that it will create the model for a new approach to educating engineering graduate students, while helping GK-12 teachers develop the awareness of the university as a source of new content for renewable energy classroom lessons and laboratory experiments. It is anticipated that several of the training elements developed through this program will be incorporated as an integral part of other STEM graduate programs at UC Davis and research universities across the nation. The broader impact of the project is that it directly addresses the national policy imperative to increase the participation of US citizens, particularly women and underrepresented minorities, in engineering studies and careers. Overall, RESOURCE will enhance the pedagogical impact of graduate education to society.