Washington State University establishes a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site with a focus on characterization of advanced materials. Ten undergraduate students are recruited nationwide for a ten-week summer research experience, with a recruitment focus on students from predominantly undergraduate institutions in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions.
Students are involved in materials research that includes thin film growth, mechanical properties measurements, and solid freeform fabrication of composites. Undergraduate students work in teams to determine the correlation between processing parameters and resulting material structure, as well as the effect of structure on the properties of the materials studied. In addition, students participate in a forty-hour instrumentation course, weekly seminars and social activities. Providing students at both the lower and upper undergraduate level with exposure to advanced processing and characterization techniques motivates talented undergraduates to enter or remain in the field of materials research.
