For nine years, an REU program placed over 200 undergraduate researchers at Northeastern University, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and the University of New Hampshire through the NSF-funded Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for High-rate Nanomanufacturing. The cross-university professional development program included university-based research skills, communication skills with the Boston Museum of Science, and a unique method for researcher evaluation of the societal impact of their decisions. This work presents the impacts of this research program as measured at program end, along with the career progress of the REU participants, recent interviews with REU participants, and reflections by REU program leaders.

Two important goals of the International Materials Institute for New Functionality in Glass (IMI-NFG) have been: (a) to facilitate international collaboration in glass research and, (b) to support the training of a professional workforce [1]. The REU program has been an important component of its mission since 2005. Glass science provides the central theme of our program, which has both an international and domestic component. In this paper we provide a summary of our accomplishments and experiences with this innovative, materials focused, multidisciplinary REU program. While glass provides the unifying theme of our program, the research topics and project advisers come from various departments, including not only materials science and engineering, but also biology, physics, environmental and civil engineering, electrical engineering, etc. This mode of REU operation has provided an effective means to introduce faculty from other departments to new, interdisciplinary applications of glass as an enabling material for their own work.

For the domestic REU, we partner with the Physics REU Program at Lehigh, sharing many crucial administrative aspects including housing, seminars and social events. The complementary approach of the two REU programs has been very beneficial to both of them. We summarize approaches to recruitment, selection and creating an environment conducive to cohesive and motivated community of young researchers. While the majority of student experiences have been through individual projects, we have also experimented with small teams headed by a single adviser. Because the teams can exploit the combined strengths of its members, they can accommodate a greater diversity of individual student skills and experiences. Such projects tend to provide opportunity for open-ended exploration within the context of a general goal. Some of the projects are specifically focused on developing low-cost, hands-on demonstrations for teaching glass science to others through a more experiential and intuitive approach. All of these REU projects have been incorporated in an on-line collection of activities for the science education community at large, as reported previously [2,3].

For the international component of REU, we have supported glass faculty in the country, who wish to engage their undergraduate students in a glass based summer research in the lab of an international colleague. These experiences require considerable preparation and individual attention. Here we discuss the challenges and successful strategies to deal with both the international and domestic programs.

I will present a model for a complementary relationship between an undergraduate research program and the undergraduate teaching laboratory in materials science. One clear example is using the teaching laboratory to prepare students to do more independent undergraduate research by emphasizing appropriate skills and knowledge, but there are several others. Undergraduate researchers can work with faculty to develop novel experiments and apparatus that can be used in the teaching laboratory. Undergraduates can gain working knowledge of common research techniques and equipment within their program. The ideas should be applicable to any institution placing a priority on undergraduate research and undergraduate education.

Our future engineers and scientists will likely be required to use advanced simulations to solve many of tomorrow's challenges in nanotechnology. To prepare students to meet this need, the Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN) provides simulation-focused research experiences for undergraduates at an early point in their educational path, to increase the likelihood that they will ultimately complete a doctoral program. The NCN summer research program currently serves over 20 undergraduate students per year who are recruited nationwide, and selected by NCN and the faculty for aptitude in their chosen field within STEM, as well as complementary skills such as coding and written communication. Under the guidance of graduate student and faculty mentors, undergraduates modify or build nanoHUB simulation tools for exploring interdisciplinary problems in materials science and engineering, and related fields. While the summer projects exist within an overarching research context, the specific tasks that NCN undergraduate students engage in range from modifying existing tools to building new tools for nanoHUB and using them to conduct original research. Simulation tool development takes place within nanoHUB, using nanoHUB’s workspace, computational clusters, and additional training and educational resources. One objective of the program is for the students to publish their simulation tools on nanoHUB. These tools can be accessed and executed freely from around the world using a standard web-browser, and students can remain engaged with their work beyond the summer and into their careers. In this work, we will describe the NCN model for undergraduate summer research. We believe that our model is one that can be adopted by other universities, and will discuss the potential for others to engage undergraduate students in simulation-based research using free nanoHUB resources.

This paper presents the impact of three undergraduate research projects focusing on constructability assessment of adhesive-based wood-concrete composite structural members, on a solar heating technology that can be utilized in conjunction with this system and how these projects relate to engineering education and program development at Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver). The sustainable structures topic was pursued within senior project classes offered in summer 2013 and 2014 at MSU Denver. The first project addressed new members, while the second dealt with retrofits. These projects were motivated by faculty research in developing new sustainable construction systems using composites. Since underlining faculty research is on an international scale, students had direct access to researchers world-wide. Such research was used as an instrument in the “Experimental Methods in Structural Engineering” course. The students were also exposed to a broader-range of diverse ideas within the field of research by attending an international conference on timber bridges. The solar furnace project was run in parallel, providing students an opportunity to conduct research targeted at design and performance optimization of the heating units with the intention to assess the benefits of incorporating these devices into future buildings using the sustainable structural system technology. Experiences gained through the undergraduate research activities were applied in the design of a proposed Sustainable Systems Engineering degree program.

Undergraduate materials engineering students have difficulty conceptualizing the atomic-level processes responsible for plastic deformation. To aid in developing this conceptual understanding, interactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were introduced into the sophomore-level materials curriculum, integrating simulation with the traditional tensile testing laboratory. Students perform a tensile test using MD simulations on nanowire samples, and then compare these results with those from the physical tensile tests to develop a visual and more intuitive picture of plastic deformation of crystalline materials.

Computation has become an increasingly important tool in materials science. Compared to experimental research, which requires facilities that are often beyond the financial capability of primarily-undergraduate institutions, computation provides a more affordable approach. In the Physics Department at Eastern Illinois University (EIU), students have opportunities to participate in computational materials research. In this paper, I will discuss our approach to involving undergraduate students in this area. Specifically, I will discuss (i) how to prepare undergraduate students for computational research, (ii) how to motivate and recruit students to participate in computational research, and (iii) how to select and design undergraduate projects in computational materials science. Suggestions on how similar approaches can be implemented at other institutions are also given.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs traditionally function as a recruitment vehicle to encourage students to pursue further studies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and as an opportunity for STEM majors to delve deeper into their chosen fields of study. Based on a critical examination of REU student feedback, evaluators at CRISP (Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena) have found that in addition to these conventional benefits of research-based experiences, the value of interdisciplinary skill development is integral to the REU experience and these contributions may warrant a more formal evaluative definition. Using the emerging 21st Century Skills Framework, CRISP has begun conducting a series of small-scale studies in an effort to define the contribution of student research experiences in cross-disciplinary skill development and the positive effects that exposure to real-world science practices have on refinement of career decisions and vocational success. Using Likert-type survey methods, this study directly examines current and former REU students’ perceptions of the importance of interdisciplinary 21st century skills such as creativity, collaboration, communication, information literacy, and problem-solving in their REU experience and their perceived value of these skills in their future and/or current careers. Through better understanding the role these “soft skills” play in student research experiences, CRISP hopes to maximize these interdisciplinary benefits within its REU program to best prepare students for the complex demands of the 21st century workplace.

This paper reports on the progress of an ongoing strategy for dissemination of a set of science communication workshops targeted to students participating in undergraduate research experiences on university campuses. Previous MRS Proceedings papers by the first author and collaborators focused on (1) the development and validation of the REU Science Communication Workshop (REU SCW) model through iterative practice, research and evaluation between 2005 and 2009, and (2) the 2012 testing of a scaffolded and piggybacked "beyond train-the-trainer” mode of dissemination of the REU SCW model to multiple university campuses, as compared to a highly-validated but less efficient one-to-one transfer process deployed between Boston and Madison between 2010 and 2012. This new paper reports on the follow-up effort to confirm and validate the success of the REU SCW workshop model as implemented at the second-wave of dissemination sites by the new cohort of participating undergraduate research program directors. We analyze data gathered in 2013 and 2014 from the participating students, faculty, and providers. The results indicate that the second-wave providers were able to reproduce the successful results achieved at the origination and first dissemination sites, and that providers and stakeholders at these additional sites value the model enough to continue providing it and in some cases to laterally expand it to other programs on campus. These findings suggest that it is possible to greatly expand the number of undergraduate research experience students receiving quality coaching in professional science communication skills by providing their program directors with a comprehensive professional development experience, employing the scaffolded, piggybacked, “beyond train-the-trainer” professional development model.

Since 2005 the West Houston Center for Science & Engineering (WHC) has provided opportunities for select cohorts of community college students to participate in summer research experiences. Participating research institutions include regional universities, NASA-JSC and Sandia National Laboratories (NM). Research activities cross numerous engineering, physical and biological sciences, and computational disciplines, and have been supported by federal agencies and corporate/educational foundations. These experiences have generated three important outcomes: (1) Providing significant motivation for students regarding university transfer and completion; (2) Generating realistic expectations for students regarding completion of their undergraduate degrees, and transitioning into the science and engineering workforce and/or graduate school; and, (3) Providing support for the creation of a formal materials science educational program at the West Houston Center. This paper describes the influence and impact that the Materials Research Society, through its members, conferences, and working committees, has contributed to the transition of the West Houston Center as it moves from a broad based science and engineering educational center to one with a concentration on materials science.

The path from conducting cutting-edge research in materials science to developing cutting-edge approaches for student engagement in STEM fields is a logical progression of a scientist’s professional interests. This pathway has led to creating an experimental approach to curricular and pedagogical materials development, dubbed Science Cartoons (Sci-Toons), based on Multimedia Learning Theoretical Framework (MLTF). Sci-Toons are developed by groups of students (STEM and non-STEM majors), STEM and non-STEM experts, and individuals with expertise in animations. The students are provided with technical training in animation, storytelling and science. This paper describes the creative process and design structure of Sci-Toons, shares selected animation projects, and provides data on the overall viewing impacts of Sci-Toons. The Sci-Toons initiative has offered a new venue for impacting students’ engagement in STEM.

In our increasingly digitized and safety conscious society, we tend to shield our children form real contact with the material world and tend to steer them increasingly to only virtual experiences. Appliances are not repaired but replaced. So are materials used in everyday life. As a consequence, we cannot assume experiences with materials which were a given in the past. In this article, we will concentrate on both K-12 and Undergraduate education with examples of the necessity of consciously encountering “materials” in our increasingly digital society, and how students can be taught to realize the properties and necessity of consciously encountering materials. We will draw our examples from the lack of that experience students bring to undergraduate research, and how that deficiency can be remedied.

The NSF-funded REU summer program in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Howard University provided cutting-edge research opportunities in Computational Nanophysics, Experimental Nanophysics, Laser Spectroscopy, Atmospheric Physics and Superstring Theory to six undergraduate students recruited from across the U.S. The REU students were engaged in challenging research projects under the supervision of seasoned mentors across a variety of stimulating physics sub-disciplines that included: (1) computation-intensive surface nanophysics of condensed phase systems focused on the adsorption of gases in Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs); (2) experimental measurements using light scattering techniques on gels and polymers in the condensed phase; (3) experimental laser spectroscopy with special emphasis on Raman spectral measurements on tungsten oxide nanolayer deposited on a silicon substrate; (4) observation-based and modeling-intensive atmospheric physics project for developing better understanding of wind lidar performance under various aerosol/cloud loading and relative humidity scenarios in the U.S. and regional ozone and aerosols modeling and analysis of data recorded in West Africa; and (5) a cross-disciplinary project involving quantum theory, supersymmetry, graph theory, encryption, and super-commutative algebra and algebraic geometry with applications to string theory. Each student learned a multitude of relevant techniques related to their research projects, with the vision of teaching and nurturing knowledge, both theoretical and experimental, that will be useful throughout their academic careers both in their major discipline and in interdisciplinary research as a whole. Raman Spectroscopy, 3D Physics Modeling, Monte Carlo Simulations, Algebraic Geometry and Graph Theory are some of the techniques that the students learned that illustrate the importance of physics research in general and have wide-ranging applications in interdisciplinary studies. In addition, the students participated in field trips to the University of Maryland (visit coinciding with NanoDay), Georgetown University (cleanroom tour and research presentations), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (visit coinciding with Science Jamboree Day), and Smithsonian Museums (coinciding with evening fireworks viewing on the Mall on July 4). The REU students gave midterm and final research presentations and submitted a research paper in refereed journal format at the end of their internship. A comprehensive assessment of the REU program was conducted by an independent project evaluator.

Undergraduate students from Engineering, Physics, Geology & Chemistry come together to form multidisciplinary teams as part of an undergraduate research opportunity through a sequence of independent study classes within the Department of Engineering at James Madison University. The undergraduate research groups typically contain students from freshman to senior years, totaling approximately three to eight students per academic year per group. One of the primary objectives is to provide a high-level research experience for undergraduates in a nurturing environment within the academic year. Peer-mentoring is integral piece to the team dynamics. The course sequence that facilitates the research opportunity is constructed in order for students to produce research that can be applied to obtaining a minor in Materials Science. Methodologies employed in the course range from problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and collaborative efforts with outside entities. The course objectives are geared towards developing critical & creative thinking, technical writing and oral communication skills through the development of planned action & experiments with data analysis as well as submitting findings to be presented at regional and national conferences.

Land-Grant Universities including those that were developed under the second Morrill Act in 1890 have historically been a key resource for the best scientifically based information for agricultural production. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is situated on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a critical area, with small farms and underserved farmers. This unique location serves as an interface between University specialty crop research and those farmers. While prices of crops such as corn and soy, which traditionally have been a major source of income for local farmers, have increased dramatically over the past years, small farms cannot generate enough income from these commodity crops alone, and a need alternatives for extra income. At UMES agricultural, chemical and material research specialists formed a special research and training cluster in which they work jointly on non-traditional and non-food related applications of specialty crops in the field of material research leading to non-traditional applications of such crops. Examples of such research are: (i) blending natural specialty crops extracts with polymers to develop natural and effective anti-foaling coating to prevent biofilm formation on objects including military ships, platforms etc.; (ii) using biocompatible polymeric chitosan-based blends as sorbents for reversible carbon dioxide capturing and controlled release in algae-growing reactors and in the process of transforming biomass into alcohol by fermentation to increase the effectiveness of biomass use. Only about 20% of students-researchers in the cluster are graduate students and the rest are undergraduates. The main focus is to provide undergraduate students with research experience as a powerful tool for their education and career development. Focus on students performing outstanding research through their undergraduate education is the main priority in UMES. Working on the material research projects described above, our material cluster has developed some educational practices for effectively involving undergraduate students into research. These practices include early involvement, the development of special workshops and training settings for fast project starts, working in small groups lead by more experienced students, picking projects that can be easily divided into small tasks suitable to undergraduate student’s schedules, and participation in scientific conferences for undergraduates and others. In this presentation we will review two material research projects for undergraduate students mentioned above and will show how our best practices are implemented in each of these projects.