Successful Research Experience For Undergraduates Program (Reu) The Erc For Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems

The National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems (ERC/RMS) was awarded an NSF grant for a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in 1997. The goal of the ERC in seeking funding for the project was to increase the number of underrepresented minority students in graduate school and to serve as a model for diversity within the University of Michigan community and the nation as a whole. The ERC has been very successful in involving young and promising cadres of underrepresented minority undergraduate students in this summer research experience, introducing them to the rigors of graduate school, and later, watching their graduate school applications arrive. The key elements to the success of the REU program in the ERC/RMS are: a team research project in reconfigurable manufacturing, a series of workshops, and a graduate school/GRE preparation program. Introduction The National Science Foundation (NSF) funds a large number of research opportunities for undergraduate students through its REU Sites program. An REU Site consists of a group of about ten undergraduates who work in the research programs of the host institution. Each student is associated with a specific research project, where he/she works closely with the faculty and other researchers. Students are granted stipends and, in many cases, assistance with housing and travel. Undergraduate students supported with NSF funds must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions. An REU Site may be at either a US or foreign location. The program seeks to attract a diversified pool of talented students into careers in science and engineering and to help ensure that they receive the best education possible. For the sake of clarity, the following definitions are being inserted: REU – Research Experience for Undergraduates, NSF supported CIC – Committee for Institutional Cooperation – an academic consortium of the Big 10 Universities and the University of Chicago. All CIC colleges offer an SROP program. P ge 10176.1 “Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright @ 2005, American Society for Engineering Education” SROP – Summer Research Opportunity Program Program Goal The goal of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) is to motivate promising students who are currently underrepresented in the field of engineering to seriously consider graduate education, to give them a research opportunity that they might not have at their home institution, and to help prepare them for admission to graduate school. The program was designed to enhance diversity in graduate programs and thereby the number of students going to industry or academia with advanced degrees. Rackham’s Role We are fortunate to be able to collaborate with the Rackham Graduate School (Rackham) at U of M as part of our REU program. The Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) administered by Rackham, is a parallel program to the REU. We are able to take advantage of their existing programming to add value to the REU. Rackham generally accepts 50 students in their SROP program which includes our REU students. Typically, our REU group consists of eight students. Rackham includes our students along with theirs when making flight reservations, room reservations, scheduling for the GRE preparation class and when planning their evening speaker series. In addition, all of the students visit another Big-10 college campus in July where they present the essence of their research. The ERC participates in the different facets of the program with Rackham since the additional programming creates a stronger overall summer experience for our REU students. The REU students therefore interact effectively with the SROP students all summer, which adds a strong social element. The ERC/RMS provides the research component and the classes, workshops and engineeringrelated field trips for the research element of the summer experience. The Rackham Graduate School belongs to the Committee for Institutional Cooperation (CIC) which includes the Big 10 Conference Universities as well as the University of Chicago. The CIC was awarded the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in 2002. Awardees of this designation are leaders in the national effort to train the next century of scientists, mathematicians and engineers. History The ERC/RMS was awarded an REU grant in 1997 and the Center has continued to be funded for this program to date. Since that time, sixty students have participated in the 8-week summer research program. STUDENT PARTICIPANT SUMMARIES