REU Site: SUNFEST - Summer Undergraduate Research in Sensor Technologies

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

This three year REU Site program provides research opportunities to a group of ten motivated undergraduate students for 11 summer weeks each year . The intellectual focus of the program is sensor technology. The topics include sensor phenomena & materials, nano and micro-sensor technology, bio-inspired sensors, sensor systems for robotics and bio-medical applications. Projects are carefully selected based on the educational value and appropriateness for undergraduate students. In addition to the research projects, the program offers a series of enhancement activities to help students become more confident as a researcher, including workshops on doing research, reading and writing technical papers, giving presentations, preparing for and applying to graduate school, workshop on ethics in engineering, and diversity in the workplace & community building. Regular participation in research meetings, lunch clubs and seminars will further foster a collegial interaction among peers and advisors. Participants in the program will come to realize how their research impacts society through advances in sensor technologies, medical diagnostic devices, biomedical sensors, robotics, among others. Recruitment efforts will target undergraduate students from underrepresented groups and smaller colleges with no or limited research opportunities with the aim to increase the pool of engineering graduate students. The results of the research will be presented at a symposium that will be open to the public. In addition, a yearly SUNFEST report will be made available on the website, including individual slide presentations and reports. Students are encouraged to publish their work in technical journal and conference proceedings. This site is co-funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.