REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Fluid Power

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The NSF Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) is a network of researchers, educators, students and industry working together to transform the fluid power industry?how it is researched, applied and taught. CCEFP research projects are organized in three thrusts that achieve the following societal benefits: creation of new fluid power technology that, with improved efficiency, will significantly reduce petroleum consumption, energy use and pollution; creation of new fluid power technology that, with improved effectiveness, will make fluid power clean, quiet and safe for its millions of users; and creation of new fluid power technology that, with improved compactness, will exploit its attributes in a new generation of human scale devices and equipment. The CCEFP?s education and outreach program is designed to transfer this knowledge to diverse audiences?students of all ages, users of fluid power and the general public. Through its strategic planning process, CCEFP has identified the following important goals for the next five years: doubling fluid power efficiency in current applications and in new transportation applications, increasing fluid power energy storage density by an order of magnitude, and developing new fluid power supplies that are one to two orders of magnitude smaller than anything currently available. The CCEFP fills a void in fluid power research that existed for decades. Until the Center was established, the U.S. had no major fluid power research center (compared with thirty centers in Europe). Fluid power researchers, who were previously disconnected, are now linked through the CCEFP. The demand for engineers and scientists continues to grow, but the number of mechanical engineering students graduated each year remains constant. Within this group, the number of women and underrepresented minority engineers, including engineers with disabilities, remains small. Attracting and retaining these groups can significantly address the shortage of skilled engineers. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The Division of Engineering Education and Centers (EEC) supports the NSF Engineering Research Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP), which will establish a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site Program that will engage 14 undergraduate students in 10-week summer research experience in fluid power research. Goals of the CCEFP is to change the face of fluid power by exposing a diverse body of students to the transformational research underway in hydraulics and pneumatics in the hope that they will become the academic and industry leaders of the future. This REU site will take advantage of CCEFP?s unique ability to leverage the power and potential of its broad menu of research initiatives, the opportunities afforded to pursue these projects in well-equipped laboratories at seven universities, and the subject matter expertise of its faculty. Highlights for REU participants include: immersion in one of the CCEFP 24 cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional research projects and four test beds under the supervision of faculty and graduate student mentors, access to state-of-the-art fluid power research facilities, participation in the bi-weekly CCEFP webcasts on fluid power research and professional development topics, an intensive two-day fluid power training boot camp at the outset of the program, a guest invitation to attend the next NFPA Workforce Summit and CCEFP Annual Meeting, interaction with industry leaders from the CCEFP 55 member companies. REU students will have the opportunity to present their research results at a variety of internal, industry and professional events as well as electronic media. One way that CCEFP strives to change the traditional face of the fluid power industry to better reflect the composition of our country's population at large. Recruiting efforts will focus on identifying underrepresented students in the sciences and engineering including women, racial and ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, and recent war veterans.