Increased energy usage by the United States (in addition to developing countries) has negatively impacted energy costs and has occasionally led to energy shortages. These trends are expected to worsen in coming decades, as energy usage in the U.S. alone is projected to grow by more than 50% in the next 25 years. Clearly, developing new and innovative approaches to energy generation and energy systems will be a key challenge for the next generation. To meet this challenge, it is critical that the next generation of engineers learn to develop novel, yet practical solutions to energy related problems. They must understand the critical issues related to energy generation and learn to attack unfamiliar problems in this field. This will be accomplished by conducting energy research. This REU Site program at the University of Connecticut will give twelve undergraduates per year an opportunity to conduct research on next generation energy processes and systems. Each of the twelve students will have two faculty mentors, who will help steer the project. In addition to the student's research efforts, this program also provides a series of novel seminars and workshops that are intended: (1) to provide a framework for conducting research through a series of seminars on "how to do research", (2 ) to insure that the students understand how to conduct research ethically, (3) to increase their awareness of the many industry-based problems related to energy generation and (4) to improve their written and oral communication skills. The program will conclude with an end-of-program mini-conference, at which participants will present their research findings.
The continued increase in world-wide energy utilization poses problems that can no longer be ignored. New technical solutions will be required to address increased energy generation. Moreover, a continuous stream of trained professionals will be required to provide research and design expertise. By involving undergraduate engineering students in a structured program to introduce them to the challenges in energy generation research, this program expects to provide some of these professionals. Moreover, this program will also introduce important insight into research ethics and communications. The REU site program has five clearly identifiable broader impacts. These include: (1) students will conduct meaningful research that contributes knowledge toward their respective problems, (2) students will appreciate the importance and complexity of doing research and doing it ethically, (3) that, in part, because of this research experience the students will pursue graduate work, (4) that this program will encourage students from underrepresented groups to participate in research, and (5) PIs will port the ideas developed from this program (specifically dealing with "how to do research" and "research ethics") to the undergraduate program, such that a larger audience will be affected.
This REU program supported 41 undergraduate student research projects at the University of Connecticut from 2011-2014. Each summer, approximately 10 students were selected to participate in the program and were assigned to a 10-week research project with two faculty advisors. In addition to their research in faculty laboratories, the students participated in training workshops to learn about research methods, project planning, technical communication, and research ethics. The focus of the research projects in this program was on engineering for new energy systems. The projects included studies of combustion for aerospace engines, fuel cells powered by microbes, new materials for high-efficiency solar cells, and nanometer scale materials for generating electricity from waste heat, among other topics. Students were also exposed to other research areas and to the application of energy science in industry through a series of seminars by external speakers. At the end of each summer term, the students presented their research results in a one-day conference. One goal of the program was to expose undergraduate students to research and increase the number of US undergraduates pursuing advanced degrees. From the participants in this program, 70% have gone on to enroll in a graduate study program. A second goal of the program was to impact the individual research projects in which the students participated. The student research led to many advancements including new methods for producing nanometer scale materials for thermal energy, new technique for analyzing data from high-speed measurements to understand the role of turbulence in combustion, new coatings and materials for producing electricity in fuel cells, and new techniques for imaging materials to understand their properties. These advancements were made with the collaboration between participating undergraduate students and the graduate students at faculty in the research laboratories. Ongoing work using these results will be published in academic journals and presented at conferences.
