REU Site: Summer Internships in Nanomaterials, Nanomechanics, and Leadership Training in Engineering

University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville AR

Investigators

Abstract

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: This three year REU site will provide 9 talented undergraduate students including underrepresented minorities with research opportunities in labs that bridge the gap between science and engineering, and provide them with top-notch leadership training in engineering. Women participants in particular will be provided a custom-tailor leadership training specific to them. Program recruitment will target a diverse group of participants from a broad spectrum of colleges throughout the nation, especially minority-serving and small colleges without research know-hows. Eight faculty members and nine graduate students from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry/Biochemistry will serve as mentors. Research topics will be theoretical, computational and/or experimental, involving short, challenging, self-contained, cutting-edge problems in nanoscience and nanoengineering. The program includes seminars and workshops to expose interns to nanoscale engineering as well as professional development, emphasizing research, team building, leadership, and graduate studies. The complementary social program includes tours of regional research and industrial facilities, and group outings to local areas of interest in collaboration with the other UA REU programs. The interrelationships of the engineering process and its management within the life cycles of technology, innovation, products, and systems will be an essential part of the REU program. The basic functions of management relative to their implementation in technical organizations will be examined. Strategies for leading engineering teams and technical organizations will be explored, particularly as they affect individual and organizational productivity and creativity. TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The objective of the proposed REU Site program is to provide a diverse group of 9 STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) undergraduate students with both computational and hands-on (experiment) experience in nanoscale-nanomaterials and nanomechanics research. Student participants will be hosted by various faculty members in well-equipped research laboratories. The intellectual focus of this research program will be to introduce students to nanoscale materials research and device application as an interconnected subject of study. The program will expose students to the different areas of research that embrace the basic background of a modern materials program. Notably, students will also receive a series of lectures on laboratory safety, research ethics, and leadership training in engineering. This unique leadership training program module presents an overview of the fundamental concepts underlying the leadership and management of engineering and other technical functions in the contemporary technology-driven organization. All participants will present their research findings both orally and in a written report, sometimes leading to scientific publications. "The site is funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program."