Discipline: Nanoscience
Subcategory: STEM Science and Mathematics Education
Pawan Tyagi - University of the District of Columbia
Co-Author(s): Kate Klein, Jiajun Xu, Hongmei Dang, Devdas Shetty, Center for Nanotechnology Research and Education(CNRE), University of the District of Columbia, Washington DC
Engaging students in exciting research can create a long-lasting impact. At UDC, we are utilizing several highly appealing research topics to engage undergraduate students in experiential learning. Based on UDC faculty expertise, we are offering research projects in the field of nanotechnology, renewable energy, and additive manufacturing. So far,>25 undergraduate students have been engaged in nanotechnology research projects ranging from computer devices, energy conversion, to biomedical sensors. Several students’ groups have been engaged in renewable energy topics that include solar thermal heating, fuel cell technology, and solar cells. Many students found it very appealing to work in the field of additive manufacturing and highly excited with the presence of an EOS M280 laser sintering machine at the UDC campus. More than 10 students have worked in the area of post-processing of additive manufacturing components and also had opportunity to interact with our collaborating laboratories and industries such as National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST), Navy Research Laboratories (NRL), Kansas City Nuclear Security Complex (KCNSC), NAVSEA, NAVAIR, NASA, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory(ORNL). Most of the students who had research project-based experiential learning at UDC are now employed in covetous advanced careers at placed like Boeing, Northrup Grumman, Howard Hughes Medical Institution, National Institute of Health, and NAVAIR, etc. Several students with exposure to research in the cutting-edge areas have opted for the Ph.D. program after their undergraduate. In 2019 two UDC undergraduate has applied for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRFP). Our NSF-CREST team at UDC have been mentoring undergraduate and publishing with deserving undergraduate students as coauthors in international peer-reviewed journals and conference.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): We gratefully acknowledge the funding support from was in part supported by the National Science Foundation-CREST Award (Contract # HRD- 1914751). Additive manufacturing education and workforce development are supported by the Department of Energy/ National Nuclear Security Agency (DE-FOA-0003945).
Faculty Advisor: None Listed,
NSF Affiliation: CREST