Board 133: The Re-Energize Undergraduate Research Program in the Third and Final Year

The Re-Energize Undergraduate Research Program started with the creation of a network of renewable energy education and research labs fully contained and established at each of the four participating member institutions and it evolved into a collaborative effort to share effective new green technology content. Its goal was to impart skills to faculty members of this network in order to strengthen their capacities and arm them with additional resources to support their efforts in recruiting and retaining students, and in particular, minorities and females in STEM programs offered at their institutions. San Antonio College (SAC) as part of this network worked continuously on developing and implementing new undergraduate research projects related to green technologies for the entire duration of this partnership making a commitment to 1) encourage STEM faculty to attend Re-Energize professional development to learn about and include green energy educational modules into our STEM curriculum; 2) "start-up green lab" on our campus through funding from the collaborating four-year institution so that faculty can conduct classroom demonstrations and students can perform undergraduate research. This initiative diversified and continued our undergraduate research program by including our Eco Centro, a community outreach center for environmental sustainability, into this program; 3) promote additional outreach and educational efforts to support our students and encourage them to seek careers in STEM and green energy-related fields; and 4) participate in on-going evaluation and research efforts related to this program. Numerous reports demonstrate that undergraduate research programs at four-year institutions have been responsible for increasing retention and graduation of their students. Our previous results indicate that two-year institutions can also initiate successful programs with similar results. The paper will present in detail the conclusion of this valuable partnership between the participating institutions and their plans to continue developing new directions for undergraduate research programs that can be conducted year around. Our experience and recommendations may be used as blueprints to develop similar programs at other institutions of higher learning. Career Growth Projections for Engineers Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that demand for engineers will continue to show a steady growth during the 2014-2024 period and expects greater-than-average growth from several individual engineering fields with rates ranging from 23.1% for biomedical engineers to 5.3 % for mechanical engineers [1] . The increasing employment of engineers in service industries, research and development, and consulting is expected to generate most of the employment growth. The National Science Foundation in a 2015 Survey of Graduate Students and Post-doctorates in science and engineering [2] found that from 2008 to 2013 STEM graduate students in the U.S. who were U.S. citizens or permanent residents rose 3.1%. Of these, 25.8% were Hispanic and 7.8% were African-American. San Antonio College, being a minority serving institution, has a stated mission to attract and engage minorities on a path toward higher education. A high level of achievement in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is essential if the U.S. is to maintain a leading role in space science, aeronautics, cybersecurity, and technology in general. As shown in previous papers, for the last fifteen years SAC has been on a continuously ascending path to attract and retain more students, in particular minorities, into the STEM fields as well as striving to align its engineering program with the engineering programs offered by the surrounding area four-year institutions [3], [4] . At the same time, our engineering faculty made every effort to provide the highest quality education for our students [5], [6] . Two previous ASEE papers [7], [8] described the first two years of a new kind of partnership, called “Re-Energize,” that is expected to help several two-year colleges develop their own research capabilities in renewable energy in collaboration with Texas State University (TxState). The Re-Energize program established a creative research and development (R&D) and professional development (PD) ecosystem. This ecosystem empowers institutions of higher education who prepare students in engineering and engineering technology in Central Texas to continue to do so with enhanced and focused knowledge, facilities, and student programs. Re-Energize addresses the learning needs of faculty and students via a systems approach and aims to serve as a replicable and scalable national model. This paper presents the results of the Third Year of the program. Re-Energize Project: Results of the Third Year (1 Oct 16 to 30 Sep 17) Objective 2: Provide awareness, training, and financial support to attract and motivate students from the minority institutions to consider education and career opportunities in STEM. Activity 2.3: Texas State will facilitate a day-long tour for the participating students to Texas State labs and facility with STEM-oriented educational and entertainment programs. Year Number Gender Minorities 2015 21 18 males (86%) 3 females (14%) 16 (76%) 2016 37 29 males (78%) 8 females (22%) 25 (68%) 2017 46 33 males (72%) 13 females (28%) 35 (76%) Table 1SAC Re-Energize Student Participants Table 1 provides statistics for SAC students that were recruited for and participated in the ReEnergize program over the three years of the grant. In Year 3, there were 46 students, an increase of 24% over Year 2, and 119% over Year 1. The number of female participants was 13, an increase of 63% over Year 2, and 333% over Year 1. In Year 3, 35 of the participants (76%) were underrepresented minorities (URMs) in STEM (females, Hispanics, African-Americans). The number of minorities in Year 3 was 40% more than Year 2 and 119% more than Year 1. The declared majors of the 46 students in Year 3 were: 39 engineering (85%), 3 environmental science (6.5%), 1 physics (2%), 1 computer programming, 1 biology, 1 general science. On 11 November 2016, one SAC faculty member and 16 students visited Texas State University for a day-long tour of renewable energy demonstration/research laboratories and engineering manufacturing facilities. TxState faculty and graduate students also provided information on STEM career paths and an update of the Re-Energize program including research and scholarship opportunities. Objective 3: Design and develop a replicable renewable energy laboratory to carry out the training and hands-on activities proposed in the Re-Energize program. A replica of the lab will be established at Eco Centro to operate independently once the training is completed. Activity 3.2: San Antonio College will nominate selected members of STEM faculty and encourage as well as support them to attend the designated Re-Energize professional development activities to learn and adopt green energy educational modules. In Year 3, one staff member (STEM workshop technician) attended a 3-day Re-Energize training seminar at TxState from 15 – 17 May 2017. During the seminar, TxState faculty, graduate students and industry representatives provided an overview of the Re-Energize program, information on green technology, tours of solar and wind energy labs, as well as information on mentoring and injecting green technology activities into the classroom. On 18 May 2017, SAC hosted the Re-Energize faculty/staff from TxState and the other partner institutions for a tour of SAC’s Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) STEM Center [9] and SAC’s Eco Centro, a community outreach center for environmental sustainability. In addition, SAC Re-Energize students gave presentations and demonstrations of Re-Energizesupported research projects; i.e., hydroponics, solar electric cart, and hydrogen fuel cell prototype vehicle. In Year 3, SAC faculty continued the use of educational modules/activities that were developed during Year 1 for use in engineering and math classes. These modules/activities improved student awareness and learning in sustainability and renewable energy systems. These modules included renewable energy application problems for use in exams as well as a sustainability team design project. The team project requires students in our Introduction to Engineering classes to modify a builder’s existing new home design to improve its sustainability by reducing its resource consumption and/or improving energy efficiency. After substantial research in “green” technology, materials and practices, student teams developed written design proposals and gave oral presentations on their more sustainable new home designs. These designs included features such as improved insulation, xeriscape landscaping, solar panels, solar roof tiles, higher efficiency HVAC systems, geothermal systems, sustainable building materials and rain harvesting systems. The detailed requirements/guidelines for this team project are provided in Appendix 1. Activity 3.3: San Antonio College will utilize the funding provided by TxState and designated for the establishment of a start-up green lab (as defined by specific parameters) and follow TxState guidance regarding technical training and support.