The three-year REU Site program at North Carolina State University will provide 10 undergraduate students each year the opportunity to work on research topics related to energy storage, semiconductor power electronics, electrical sub-systems, solar and photovoltaic systems, processing issues related to fabrication of solar arrays and semiconductor power devices. This REU Site program builds on existing projects related to the Gen 3 Engineering Research Center (ERC) NSF Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems. The projects will provide fundamental understanding of energy conversion and generation, power transport and distribution in the electric grid, and energy-related problems that have a direct impact on society.
Each student will work directly with a research advisor and a graduate student on an independent project. At the end of the summer, all students will give oral presentations at the NC State Summer research symposium allowing them to present their work in a friendly and supportive environment. Additionally there will be planned activities in the form of biweekly seminars and field trips. The objectives of these planned activities are to: 1) deliver safety and hands-on training for all REU students; 2) expose the students to the multidisciplinary nature of the engineering and science in energy related disciplines; 3) foster interactions with professionals that work in industrial settings related to power and energy; 4) instill work ethic, career planning and professional ethics; 5) offer workshop opportunities on public presentation skills; 6) allow participants to discover their potential within their boundaries; 7) tour research buildings, power testing laboratory, hybrid car and charging deck facilities, and processing laboratory facilities; and 8) participate in field trips to industrial and power utilities sites, solar farm and the nuclear reactor at NC State.
Participants will be recruited nationwide with special emphasis on recruiting women and underrepresented minority students, as well as from institutions that have limited summer opportunities for undergraduate research programs. The REU Site program will contribute to the development of a well-trained diverse workforce in an area of national importance and increase public energy literacy.
The Engineering the Grid research experience for undergraduates program ran for ten weeks during the summer with an annual cohort of 10 students for 3 years. It has been awarded to broaden the undergraduate multidisciplinary research teams at NC State University beyond the NSF-sponsored Engineering Research Center (ERC) Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) Systems where the investigators started the pre-college and college education programs. The ERC FREEDM Systems was the first of the several initiatives on power systems and renewable energy topics sponsored by NSF and Department of Energy, to increase awareness and curricula renovation for power electric systems at universities. The research on power systems is strongly centered on integrating scalable renewable generating energy sources into an efficient power electric grid. During the ten week program the students were presented with a schedule of organized activities, some jointly co-sponsored with other programs on campus creating opportunities for the participants to develop inter and multidisciplinary networks. A typical schedule of activities included campus safety and laboratory training (specific to the research area), seminar on professional development, ethics and responsible conduct, workshop on public presentation skills and career planning, graduate school application and fellowship opportunities at different agencies with presentation from graduate students and faculty panel, laboratory tours on campus, research buildings, power utilities sites (nuclear, coal, solar farm), technical seminars from visiting scientists, engineers, government representative, and faculty, social events on campus( welcome reception, picnics and other students’ housing events). All students participated in research group meetings with the faculty mentor. At the end of the 10-week program an abstract of a poster on the research project was submitted (and if accepted, published). The students prepared and presented their posters of their research projects in a joint session at the NC State Undergraduate Research Symposium. The REU students were surveyed at the start and at the end of the program to assess its impact. Some topics were covered in both surveys to measure any possible changes over the 10-week long included future educational and career decisions, and attitudes towards diversity, creativity and entrepreneurship. The pre-program inquired about their own goals and expectations while the post-program gathered additional information on their own experiences, whether these goals were met, and how the undergraduate research program could be improved. The survey results indicated that the program had achieved the goal of providing research and intellectual growth for the participants with the majority of them recommending this type of program to others. In addition the majority has also been continued in their major career and chose to a graduate degree in engineering. The post program survey data also indicated that all students gained confidence as researchers and their decision for career choices after completing the program, more evident for the females than the males. Mentors had a significant impact in their students, reflected on the positive response from both females and males.
