This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Recent events highlight the need for a paradigm shift to look holistically at the nation's infrastructure throughout its life, from the planning stages through design, construction, operation, maintenance, and rehabilitation. The Hurricane Katrina disaster, the general deterioration of the nation's infrastructure, and the need for renewable energy sources are just a few examples highlighting this need for new thinking. The objective of this Science Masters Program (SMP) is to link engineering, materials, construction, environment, architecture, business, and public policy to produce graduates with unique holistic perspective and expertise to immediately contribute to the workforce in the area of sustainable and resilient infrastructure. Through extensive interaction with external partners and project team members, SMP students will participate in research on topics that are at the cutting edge, work in interdisciplinary teams, experience how the business world functions, and enhance their skills to communicate sustainability and resiliency ideas to technical and non-technical audiences. Each SMP-supported student will be required to complete a research thesis. External partners are from a broad cross section of the national economy including national government labs, international and national engineering firms, state and local government agencies, and non-profit and professional organizations. The project team members are committed to include student participants from underrepresented groups in engineering and science. This SMP is supporting 14 full-time students that are citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. in two cohorts of 7 students each. Each student receives a stipend support and has a tuition waiver for 18 months. Graduates of this program will fill workforce needs in areas of national economic growth that ensures a safe and sustainable infrastructure.
was started at Clemson University in July 2010 with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The objective of this SMP is to link engineering, materials, construction, environment, architecture, business, planning, and public policy to produce graduates with unique holistic perspectives and expertise to immediately contribute to the workforce in the area of sustainable and resilient infrastructure. Through extensive interaction with external partners and project team members, SMP students participate in research on topics that are at the cutting edge, work in interdisciplinary teams, experience how the business world functions, and enhance their skills to communicate sustainability and resiliency ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences. Each SMP student completes a research thesis or project report, as well as an internship with one of our external partners or other institutions. External partners are from a broad cross section of the national economy including national government labs, international and national engineering firms, state and local government agencies, and non-profit and professional organizations. This NSF project provided fellowship stipends, for one or more semesters, to twenty-one students that are citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Of these students, seven have been from underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Fellowship selection was based on a competitive process involving review of short research proposals submitted by the applicants and their advisers. As of December 2013, fifteen NSF-funded students and one self-supported student have graduated from this SMP. Five students (four partially supported with NSF funds) are on track to complete all SMP requirements and graduate in May 2014. All SMP graduates who have want jobs have found them. Fifteen Master’s thesis reports, seven peer-reviewed journal papers, and eleven conference papers authored or co-authored by SMP students have been published or accepted for publication as of December 2013. At least seven other professional conference presentations have been made in addition to the eleven conference papers. The SMP has ignited several new research collaborations within the Glenn Department of Civil Engineering and with two other departments at Clemson University. The SMP, along with another Departmental initiative, has stimulated the writing of several new research proposals on sustainability and resiliency topics, resulting in two new grants totaling $1.1 million so far. Five new gradual-level courses were developed during the project period and adopted as core courses for this SMP. These five new core courses are: Infrastructure Corrosion, Risk Assessment for Resilient Infrastructure, Structural Health Monitoring, Sustainable Construction Materials, and Sustainable Infrastructure Systems. An Institutional Review Board-approved plan to evaluate the SMP has been implemented. Results of the evaluation will be summarized in the Master’s thesis by a SMP student scheduled to graduate in May 2014.
