This award provides funding for a three year standard award to support a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site program at the University of Southern Mississippi entitled, "RET Site for Polymer Engineering Research and Workforce Development," under the direction of Dr. Sarah E. Morgan. This RET Site will target ten community college faculty and high school teachers each year from across the state of Mississippi for a six-week intensive research experience in conjunction with the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center in Coatings on industrial relevant polymer coatings research projects. A major goal of this program is for the university to create a sustainable partnership with community college faculty and high school teachers to build the pipeline of future technical workers for the polymer industry in Mississippi.
