REU Site: EURECA: Extensible Undergraduate Research Experience in Communications and Applications

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

This award renews an exemplary Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site focused on wireless networking and communications at the University of Texas - Austin. The REU Site engages undergraduate students from institutions across the nation in a wide range of projects in wireless networking lead by a large team of faculty mentors in the Wireless Networking and Communications Group. The projects are in current research areas that are of interest to the community at large and that have clear practical applications. A key component of every research project is its extensibility providing students with the capacity to build on knowledge provided to them by their mentor and to generate independent results, and to sustain this effort after returning to their parent institutions. This award is co-funded by the Networking Technology and Systems (NeTS) program. The intellectual merit of this project lies in strong research basis and the expertise of the faculty. The research projects are created as a focused plan to guide the students from a passive learning state to the state of being active self-sustaining researchers. A nationwide recruitment process is used to select cohorts of undergraduate students to participate in a nine-week summer research program at the host institution. Particular emphasis is placed on recruitment of students from under-represented populations. The project includes technical seminars and workshops, student presentations, and field trips and other professional development opportunities. The goal is to generate sustained research interest among undergraduates so that they become tomorrow's leaders in industry and academia.