This project establishes a new Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site focused on network and communication systems at Tennessee Technological University (TTU). It is designed to provide research opportunities to cohorts of undergraduate students from TTU as well as other universities nationwide. Six faculty members with expertise in network and communication systems will serve as mentors. Ten students will be selected each year based on compatible interest and skills outlined in available projects with emphasis on recruiting from predominantly undergraduate institutions and under-represented groups. An eight-week long summer session will be organized for all participants. During this session students will first complete a two-week introductory course and lab experience to familiarize themselves with the key concepts and research tools. Subsequently, the students will choose a specific research project from a list of projects identified by the faculty and work closely with a small, focused research team of faculty and graduate students for additional six weeks. Furthermore, some participants from TTU will continue their research during the fall and spring semesters as well. This year-long research experience will enable them to carry out more substantial research tasks and thereby gain a more enriching, fulfilling experience. Broader outreach activities with local and regional/rural high schools and community colleges will also be organized.
This program will provide significant benefits to participating undergraduate students by providing them an early exposure to the networking field, a crucial growth area in the 21st century and helping them to develop research and technical skills in the network and communication systems area in addition to professional and project management skills. It is also expected that this experience will stimulate in them an interest in graduate studies and research. The program will have a broad impact on the society by helping to accelerate the training of world-class research talent in key emerging areas, vital towards maintaining a national preeminence in the field, fostering increased awareness of (and interest in) networking technology at the high school and community college levels. This will promote growth in long-term enrollment in engineering and computing education, yielding many long-standing benefits to society at large and increased participation of under-represented groups in engineering and computing research, thereby responding to the NSF's stated goal of increasing research participation by under-represented constituencies and contributing to building a more nationally diverse workforce.
