This award for an REU Site at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign supports 10 undergraduate students each year for three years in a 10-week summer program that focuses on multidisciplinary research in aerospace science and engineering (ASE). The objectives of the REU Site are: 1) to provide intensive, educational, and stimulating research opportunities for undergraduates; and 2) to better prepare students with research and communication skills necessary for graduate work and their future careers. The main component of the REU will be hands-on research that is multidisciplinary and in the forefront of the aerospace field.
Other educational activities (seminars, informal meetings, final student presentations and papers) will enhance and support the student research. These activities will be designed to teach research and communication skill sets, and to better inform students as they make choices concerning graduate school and entering the workforce. Undergraduate students with backgrounds in engineering, computer science, and physics will be recruited for this program. In order to reach underserved and underrepresented populations, recruitment efforts will be targeted to four-year colleges in the Midwest, universities with pre-engineering programs, and minority serving institutions.
