Undergraduates and Teachers Participate in Multi-Week Research and Mentoring
Collaboration with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) exposed undergraduates and teachers to weeks-long research and mentoring programs in a pilot program with the Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR), an NSF-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) based at Purdue University.
The undergraduates learned more about what it is like to be a graduate student and do research. The teachers were provided with experience and additional tools to draw from in their science and engineering classes.
Three undergraduates and three teachers participated in the six-week, full-time research program with CISTAR. They spent the subsequent four weeks as mentors at NSBE Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK).
Participants engaged in professional development – curriculum design, grad-school preparation, and communication, including preparing and presenting posters on their work. Students presented their work at the Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM in Washington, D.C, in early 2020.