Undergraduate & Graduate Outreach


Michigan State University (MSU)

Program Description:

The Michigan State University College of Engineering, in partnership with the Provost’s Office and Engineering faculty, offers summer research opportunities for high achieving undergraduates. The intent of this program is to encourage students to consider pursuing graduate degrees and to provide them an early opportunity to become involved in research by working with faculty mentors in one of seven Engineering departments/programs:

  • Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering
  • Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
  • Civil & Environmental Engineering
  • Computer Science & Engineering
  • Electrical & Computer Engineering
  • Engineering Education
  • Mechanical Engineering

Students will be matched with a faculty mentor and have opportunities to engage in engineering research, interact with faculty and students from across the College of Engineering, and develop essential skills for success in graduate school.
Expectations and Eligibility
During the summer research experience, students work full-time on a substantive, faculty-guided research project and participate in professional development activities, including attending weekly seminars and completing periodic writing assignments. Due to the intensive nature of this program, it is expected that students will not enroll in summer coursework or accept other employment during the work week.

 

Timeline

  • 1/24/14 – faculty invited to submit project proposals for undergraduate research assistants ; initial deadline of 2/7/14, but proposals will continue to be accepted until funding is exhausted
  • 2/12/14 to 3/9/14 – student applications for EnSURE are accepted
  • 3/31/14 – initial deadline for EnSURE faculty-student matches; the matching process will continue until the program is full
  • 5/19/14 to 7/25/13 – EnSURE program (tentative)
    • 5/19/14: EnSURE Orientation
    • 5/21/14: EnSURE Professional Development Seminar
    • 5/28/14: EnSURE Professional Development Seminar
    • 6/4/14: EnSURE Professional Development Seminar
    • 6/10/14: campus-wide lunch for undergraduate researchers
    • 6/11/14: EnSURE Professional Development Seminar
    • 6/18/14: EnSURE Professional Development Seminar
    • 6/24/14: campus-wide lunch for undergraduate researchers
    • 6/25/14: EnSURE Professional Development Seminar
    • 7/2/14: EnSURE Professional Development Seminar
    • 7/9/14: EnSURE Professional Development Seminar
    • 7/16/14: EnSURE Professional Development Seminar
    • 7/23/14: Mid-Michigan Symposium for Undergraduate Research Experiences (Mid-SURE); research presentations and graduate school fair
    • 7/25/14: EnSURE Closing
    • Photos from the program
  • EnSURE Professional Development Seminar topics are still being finalized for 2014; however, they will be similar to the 2013 program, which included:
      • Orientation to EnSURE
      • Grad School 101
      • Graduate Degrees and Engineering Careers
      • Academic Resumes
      • Grad Application Statements
      • Creating a Research Poster
      • Responsible Conduct of Research
      • GRE (Graduate Record Examination)
      • Leveraging Your Research Experience

    Closing Program

     

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (NCA&T)

  • Aggie Shark Tank

The program will be developed to encourage students innovation related to transportation and highway infrastructure.  Student teams submit a ten minute presentation slide deck about their innovative ideas which will be then reviewed by a group of experienced volunteer judges consist of industry practitioners, business Leaders and CEOs. Selected teams will then present their pitches and compete for a total of $1,000 award. The winner teams will be also assigned to a technical advisor from CHPP to further develop their idea via laboratory experiments, literature search, industry meeting, customer interview, etc.  The pipeline of students to Aggie Shark Tank is expected to be mainly from Transportation courses taught through Civil Engineering department; however, the competition will be open to entire student body.  The competition is expected to be scheduled toward the end of each semester (in November and April of each year) to ensure that students have acquired adequate knowledge through related academic courses.  The program will be also promoted by faculty members in charge of transportation related courses to encourage students’ participation.

  • ASCE Monthly Luncheon and Seminar

As part of collaboration between the Civil Engineering Department and ASCE Northern branch, the ASCE’s monthly Lunch and seminar series is host in NC A&T.  The event participants ranging from 25-35 consists of local industry practitioners, construction contractors, students and academicians.  The even provides a great outreach platform for CHPP; in addition, involvement of Dr. Fini as the president of the ASCE Northern branch facilitates such collaboration between the center and the ASCE branch.

University of Hawaii – Manoa (UH)

  1. Summer Internship Program for High School Students

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) provides undergraduate students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa with access to research opportunities. UROP offers research and presentation awards for student-initiated independent undergraduate research endeavors at UH Mānoa.  UROP is also a resource for UH students to connect with researchers worldwide.

Research and travel awards are given for up to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 each for groups; undergraduate students from all academic disciplines are encouraged to apply.

Civil Engineering undergraduate students will be encourage to apply to perform research on pavement preservation.

  • College of Engineering – UH Manoa Student Project Grant Program (Proposals due on the third Friday of September of each year)

This is a new program started in 2013 that funds Student Projects that are mentored by faculty and funded by the College Banquet.  Projects are expected to start at the beginning of the fall semester. In 2013, approximately $40K were allotted to the program.  Awards are made in response to proposals from faculty sponsors in the College, with a maximum of $10K award, but only excellent proposals are awarded the maximum amount.  The aim is to make approximately 6 to 8 awards. The program is in addition to the REU Program, also funded by the College Banquet.  So, the Student Project Grant program will not award funds to projects that are better covered by the REU program. As is the case with the REU projects, awardees of the Student Project Grants in the fall semester will be expected to exhibit their projects at the College Banquet in the following spring semester.  Presentation costs must be borne by the award.

Most importantly, each proposal must make the case that the student project advances activity in at least one of the College’s strategic themes: Sustainability; IT & Cyber Systems; Infrastructure in Support of the Environment.

The aim of the Student Project Grant Program is to initiate a set of high profile student projects that continue from year to year and help attract K-12 students to attend UH Mānoa College of Engineering.  Repeated applications for awards can be made to continue an award without limit depending on the success of the project and availability of funds from the College Banquet.

Civil Engineering students will be encouraged to apply for pavement preservation related research projects.

  •  Involving undergraduates in CHPP funded projects.

The intent is to involve at least two undergraduate students in CHPP funded projects to foster their interest in Transportation research in general and pavement preservation in particular.

  • Collaboration with other CHPP institutions.

UH intends to contribute towards the efforts by other center’s institutions such as the development of a short course for use by Middle and High school teachers in their classrooms or contributing material for the centers’ websites.

University of Illinois – Urbana / Champaign (UIUC)

  • Education and training at the undergraduate and graduate level

The students who will participate in this program will benefit from learning the fundamentals of a multidisciplinary field encompassing civil engineering, mechanical engineering, computational mechanics, and material science while developing novel computational methods and receiving hands-on laboratory experience its use in the practical world. The students will be familiar with the concepts of sustainability by preserving natural resources, managing a network of pavements within fiscal constraints, and reducing greenhouse emissions. The research findings will be disseminated through regular seminars taking place each semester in the department, publication in scientific journals, presentations and mini-symposia at major conferences.

The outcome of the research can also be used as teaching materials for the following undergraduate and graduate level classes taught by the investigators of this work:

CEE 405 – Asphalt materials (offered every year in fall semester)

CEE 406 – Pavement Analysis and Design, I (offered every year in fall semester)

CEE 498 – Sustainable pavement systems (First offered in fall 2013 and will continue every two years)

CEE 508 – Pavement maintenance, rehabilitation, and evaluations (offered every two years in spring semester)