National Institute of Standards and Technology Lisa Jean Fronczek
SURFing the Manufacturing Engineering Lab (MEL) is proposed as a NIST-NSF partnership to encourage outstanding students by providing research opportunities with internationally known NIST scientists in the fields of intelligent systems, automated production, precision engineering, and manufacturing systems integration. Given the significant lack of diversity among the manufacturing scientists, this program will actively seek out competitive students from under-represented groups. In addition, outstanding students from undergraduate 'institutions, who would otherwise be limited in their exposure to resource-intensive scientific research, will be actively sought. The selected students (approximately 8) will spend 10- 12 weeks working one-on-one with NIST staff on selected projects that combine basic research with direct applications to problems of national importance. Students and advisors will be paired according to background and mutual interests. The impetus and templates for this proposed program are the highly successful SURFing the Physics Lab program, which began at NIST 'in 1993 and was recently renewed through summer 2001 (PHY-9322801), and the SURFing the Materials Science and Engineering Lab (MSEL) (DMR9732098). Although applications and finances for the MEL, MSEL, and Physics SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship) students will be handled separately, other aspects will be combined into a single program as much as possible. For example, there is now a half-time person assigned to do all of the administrative work for the NIST SURF programs. Housing arrangements will be made for all students in a nearby furnished apartment complex, and all students will participate in the many NIST seminars and in the weekly student-run summer seminar series. All NIST SURF students will give oral presentations describing their research in a combined symposium at the end of the internship. SURF students will be encouraged to participate 'in a scientific conference. As in the Physics program, the participating schools will be asked to share costs (typically 10-20%).
