On the Development of a Student Integrated Intern Research Experience as a Pathway to Graduate Studies

A national need exists for increasing the number of United States citizens who complete engineering degrees. The Student Integrated Intern Research Experience (SIIRE) program at the University of Arkansas provides financial support to students from all engineering departments within the College of Engineering. Through scholarships and integrated industry supported work experiences with on-campus research activities, SIIRE provides a pathway to a graduate engineering degree. This paper describes this innovative approach using company sponsored work experiences that aims to improve the way that students and faculty interact with industry. The experiences also intend to increase the likelihood that industry will better value engineers with M.S. degrees. The SIIRE program advances the knowledge of how to integrate cooperative education with graduate research via the following elements: leveraged scholarship support, a student cohort focused on engineering research initiatives, integrated one-on-one faculty and industry joint mentoring, industry driven research topics, and course work options enabling completion of B.S. and M.S. degrees in 5.5 total years. This program advances the discovery and dissemination of research that bridges undergraduate experiences with the attainment of graduate engineering degrees. Furthermore, it strengthens industry partnerships and develops highly trained workforces, by systematically creating a pipeline of diverse engineering professionals. This program developed can be readily adapted and implemented at other programs across the nation.