REU Site: Making Future Communities: Infrastructure and Interaction Design for Cyber-Physical Systems

University Of North Carolina At Charlotte, Charlotte NC

Investigators

Abstract

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site engages a diverse group of 10 undergraduate students each summer in an intensive 9-week research experience. The goals of the REU Site program experience are to increase interest in attending graduate school, to enhance preparation for careers in research and innovation, and to broaden participation of underrepresented groups in the field of computing. To achieve these goals, the REU participants work together with faculty, graduate students, and peers to gain experience and better understand how computing research can have societal impacts. Each project has a theme that explores how the increasing connectivity of everyday physical objects will help to shape future communities. Research project work provides participants with a firsthand opportunity to apply and expand their knowledge, to better understand the societal and global impacts of research, to bring these experiences back to their home institutions and to apply lessons learned to envision and make future communities. The objective of this REU Site at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte (UNCC) is to create a collaborative community that supports and engages a diverse group of undergraduate students in research to advance the state of the art in cyber-physical systems. The technical approach involves an exploration of the underlying infrastructure for cyber-physical systems, as well as the applications and interactions that are enabled by that infrastructure. The Site research theme of Making Future Communities through cyber-physical systems targets advances in interdisciplinary research across the focus disciplines of human computer interaction, security, networking, and visualization. The REU Site mentoring approach aims to cultivate a community of learning through regular training in research skills; tiered mentoring of faculty, graduate students, and peers; and communicating and sharing research results. The UNCC REU Site emphasizes participation of promising students from underrepresented groups in computing and from institutions that have limited research programs.