Program

The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program is an opportunity for undergraduate students from throughout the United States to come to WPI in the summer time to conduct research with faculty in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. This program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. We have project opportunities in Environmental Engineering and Transportation Engineering. Through this program, we strive to expose students to state-of-the-art research facilities, cutting-edge research topics, and opportunities for graduate study. We are especially interested in providing opportunities for women and underrepresented minority students.

What can you expect with your time spent at WPI? You'll actively participate in laboratory experiments and field work, analyze and interpret data, and synthesize your findings in both written and oral presentations. We'll provide you with everything you need to succeed -- a faculty mentor, lab and field equipment, computer facilities and a great environment to work in. We'll also hold weekly seminars to teach you about research skills, oral and written communication skills, and graduate school opportunities. Please take some time to review this website to find out the REU program at WPI - an experience you'll want to take part in!

Summer 2007 Dates

The Summer REU Program in Environmental Engineering and Transportation Engineering will take place from June 2 to July 28, 2007.

Benefits

Our primary objective in conducting a summer research program for undergraduate students is to expose students to the opportunities, challenges and rewards of conducting research. This 8-week program will allow you to:

What else will you gain? Lots!

Financial Compensation

All program participants receive a $3,000 stipend for full participation in the 8-week summer research program. At the beginning of the program, participant expectations (including regular working hours, participation in seminars, and completion of a project report and presentation) will be clearly laid out.

Housing in campus residence halls will be provided at no cost.

Funds will also be provided to offset the cost of meals and travel. For travel, approximately $500 per participant is available. Actual travel stipends will depend on how far you are traveling and by what means. For meals, $70 per week will be provided toward the cost of meals. In addition to campus dining facilities, numerous restaurants and eateries are located within walking distance of WPI.

Research Environment

We will select eight undergraduate students to conduct research at WPI in the summer -- four in environmental engineering and four in transportation engineering. During the eight-week summer session, each student will work collaboratively with a faculty member in the CEE department on a research project. Students will work approximately 40 hours per week on their individual research projects. In addition to research, there will be weekly seminars and workshops to provide students with the tools needed to complete their projects. At the conclusion of the summer session, students will make presentations of their work.

Leisure Environment

As part of the REU program, you'll have plenty of time to participate in fun activities at WPI, in Massachusetts and around New England. The WPI campus has ample facilities for athletics, movies and entertainment. Numerous restaurants are located within walking distance of campus. Within Worcester and nearby Boston, concerts and museums are plentiful and you can take advantage of special exhibits and shows that are scheduled. Outdoor activities are also abundant in central Massachusetts -- walking and hiking trips can be scheduled to take advantage of nice weather on the weekends.

Learning Environment

Learning should become a life-long endeavor. An ability to engage in life long learning is a key requirement for a degree program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). One practical way to meet this requirement is to make students self-learners, and thus give them a critical skill for becoming life long learners. A proper adoption of successful strategies is required for initiating the habit of self learning.

Philosophy

We have adopted the experiential learning model proposed by Kolb (Kolb, D. A. 1984. Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall) as an ideal framework that can teach students how to learn. Kolb postulated that a complete learning cycle consists of four equally important and essential presentations: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation. The cycle starts from the student’s personal involvement in a specific (concrete) experience. The student reflects on this experience from many viewpoints, seeking to find its meaning. Out of this reflection the learner draws logical conclusions (abstract conceptualization) and may add to his or her own conclusions the theoretical constructs of others. These conclusions and constructs guide decisions and actions (active experimentation) that lead to new concrete experiences.

Implementation

The eight week research experience will not be a stand alone activity but rather a critical part of a complete Kolb cycle for generation of interest and self-learning among undergraduate students. By constructing learning sequences that lead students through the full cycle, we plan to foster more complete learning than can be gained from a single perspective. Research will provide experience and scope of experimentation, faculty mentor meetings will provide reflective observations, and seminars and presentations will help the students in conceptualization.

Maintained by webmaster@wpi.edu
Last modified: October 26, 2007 10:33:32