Retaining Engineers through Research Entrepreneurship and Advanced-Materials Training (RETREAT): Expansion and Evaluation

The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) staged at the High-Performance Materials Institute (HPMI) supports undergraduates in various scientific research endeavors with the intent of increasing the number of ensuing student enrollment in engineering graduate programs or pursuit of engineering industry careers. Students hail from a variety of colleges and universities across the United States, from institutions with large, wellestablished science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM) programs to small or nonexistent STEM programs. The main criteria for acceptance are (i) U.S. citizenship or permanent residency and (ii) a grade point average (GPA) of 2.8 or higher. This REU is unique in that it combines training in multiscale, multifunctional composites with entrepreneurship principles and ideals. This is made possible through a successful collaboration between the Industrial and Manufacturing Department, the High-Performance Materials Institute, local entrepreneurs, and the Jim Moran Institute of Global Entrepreneurship at the FSU College of Business (JMI). The entrepreneurial focus has proven highly appealing with students frequently referring to this aspect of the program in their applications. During a ten week summer period, ten candidates engage in short courses in design of experiments, engineering data analysis, and entrepreneurship as well as practical training, research seminars, networking socials, and experimental work. The students subsequently apply this knowledge to write a detailed research report and create a business plan to commercialize their research. At the end of the summer, the students compete in the EngiPreneurship (engineering entrepreneurship) competition where they present their business plans to seasoned judges from JMI, the Office of Intellectual Property and Commercialization, Domi Station, and Tallahassee professionals. At the start and end of the program, students rank their ability and motivation to pursue careers in STEM disciplines and are ranked by their graduate student mentors. The combined foci of research, development, and entrepreneurship have shown to increase student engagement. Introduction The Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21 Century’s report “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” describes the US position of eminence in science and technology as compared to other countriesand how that position is slipping [1]. A major recommendation the committee makes is to recruit and retain scientists and engineers. Lichtenstein et al. report that engineering students are often undecided about their careers, even into their senior year of their degree program [2]. Students receiving bachelor’s degrees in engineering often accept positions outside of engineering, again indicating that retaining engineers is a major concern. Statistics from the National Science Board and the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate a specific lack in retention of minorities in technical fields. The number of recipients of bachelor’s degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields has remained fairly constant from 1991 [3] through 2011 [4], with a constant 20% of engineering degrees being awarded to women [5]. Despite the constant number percentage of degrees awarded each year, the percentage of women in “architecture and engineering occupations” is slowly rising, from 12.9% in 2011 [6] to 15.4% in 2014 [7], indicating that retention of female engineers is slowly improving. However, this percentage (15.4%) is still dramatically lower than the percentage of women in the workforce (47% [7]). Similar discrepancies in education and employment are observed for racial minorities. The Retaining Engineers through Research Entrepreneurship and Advanced-Materials Training (RETREAT) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program is designed to address the retention concern. This program exposes students to a number of specific engineering applications through a variety of advanced materials research projects. Each student is also matched with a faculty member and a graduate student, who mentor the student through the stages of the RETREAT program and how the students’ skills and interests could be well-suited to a technical position in industry or a graduate degree in engineering. The entrepreneurial twist is included to reinvigorate upper level students and encourage their continuation in a STEM field. This report provides an outline of how students are recruited and selected – with particular attention as to how the program has been expanded from previous years [8], the curriculum and projects the students work on throughout the ten week program, and outcomes of the program. Student Recruitment and Selection: Expansion Recruitment Students are recruited for the RETREAT program in a number of ways, including both in person and online interactions. In person interactions include connecting with local students through employment opportunities at Florida State University’s (FSU’s) High-Performance Materials Institute (HPMI) – pictured in Figure 1 – and presentations at other institutions. Online interactions include reaching out to educational partners across the country and maintaining an active web presence. The recruitment process is also currently being expanded to reach more students, as described below. Figure 1: Florida State University's High-Performance Materials Institute in the Materials Research Building The Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME) Department at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University – Florida State University (FAMU-FSU) College of Engineering and HPMI support dozens of undergraduate research assistants (RAs) each semester, from FAMU, FSU, and Tallahassee Community College (TCC). These students work on cutting edge research in materials and industrial engineering, often working with their graduate student and faculty mentors to publish peer-reviewed journal articles about their work. Many RAs earn Honors in the Major by writing and defending a research thesis. This network of undergraduate RAs has proven a useful tool for solicitation of applicants to the RETREAT program, both of these students and of other students they know to whom they can recommend the research at HPMI. To reach more students with personal connections, the coordination team visited as many campus as possible to showcase the program. Presently, campus visits are limited to campuses in the south east US due to cost of travel, but as program coordinators attend conferences and collaborating research institutions, these visits can be expanded to include colleges and universities farther away. Campus visits are followed with emails with application information to targeted campuses and programs. Email allows direct connection with students after presentations have occurred, giving them the opportunity to learn more about the program and providing a convenient link to the application page. Program announcements are also sent to contacts at institutions across the country, with the hope of providing the same information and convenience to students from unvisited institutions. The program’s web presence includes a website hosted by the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering – including testimonial videos from past participants, a listing in the National Science Foundation’s REU Site directory, and a LinkedIn group. Expansion of the student recruitment process is a work in progress, but so far includes faculty nominations, student-to-student connections, and continued maintenance and upgrade of the program’s electronic presence. High-performing and/or highly interested students are identified by IME professors and HPMI research faculty during academic courses and other interactions. Faculty are encouraged to nominate students with whom they would like to work. Nominations for the summer 2016 year include local students (from FAMU, FSU, and TCC) as well as students from a number of other institutions. As students participate in and complete the RETREAT program, they are asked to become student ambassadors for the programs. Ambassadorship includes finding and providing contact information for contacts at their home colleges and universities who could send out the program announcement in future years and personally sending out the program announcement to professors and student groups who may be able to forward the information. In future years, student ambassadors will be provided presentation materials, so they may give presentations about the RETREAT program at their home institutions. The program’s electronic presence is constantly being expanded, through LinkedIn connections, website updates, and networking. The LinkedIn group provides a means to provide past participants current program information. The NSF and FAMU-FSU websites have been updated to provide a more accurate description of the program (highlighting the variety of research projects), with the FAMU-FSU website now also including links to brief video interviews with past participants (starting in 2015) where they describe their research project, the program, and the effect the program had on their future plans. As the program’s network expands, more and more students can be reached. For the 2016 program year, particular attention has been given to reaching out to Engineering Diversity Programs, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Further expansion will include reaching out to Hispanic, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and other minority-serving institutions. Marketing Outcomes One metric of success of marketing is the number of applicants and number of institutions contacted during the marketing process. Marketing effort has expanded from 47 colleges and universities in previous years to over 150 institutions for the summer 2016 program. A second metric of success of marketing is through the number of