Beginning summer 2009, the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology will host a new Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). $344,000 has been awarded to fund the site for three years.
The NSF's REU program supports active research participation by undergraduate students. REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects specifically designed for the REU program.
The new School of Mines site, "Back to the Future: Metallurgy", will offer a unique 10-week summer research program focused on integrated research experiences that involve metallurgical engineering, many with prevailing historical, social or artistic themes. Throughout the experience students will participate in a series of seminars and workshops in art and archaeometallurgy that will intersect their prior academic training in materials and metallurgical engineering, and provide a unique historical and cultural framework for current research. Site projects will focus on fundamental aspects of friction stir processing, nanotechnology, alloy chemistry, microstructural interrogation and transmission electron microscopy.
The main objective of the REU site is to increase student appreciation of and entrance into graduate research programs. This objective will be met by increasing student abilities with those tools that make them competitive in a research environment, namely, technical communication, appreciation for diversity, understanding of historical/artistic context, and most importantly, overall research acumen. An additional objective is to increase the number of minority students involved with cutting-edge research.
The site team is comprised of Dr. Michael West, site director; Dr. Jon Kellar, assistant director and recruitment coordinator; Dr. Phil Ahrenkeil, Bill Arbegast, Dr. William Cross, Dr. Jon Kellar, Dr. Stan Howard, Dr. Dana Medlin, Dr. Michael West, and Deborah Mitchell, faculty research mentors; Dr. Alfred Boysen, communication and seminar coordinator; Dr. Stuart Kellogg, assessment coordinator; Deborah Mitchell, artistic content and seminar presenter; Patty Anderson, historical content; and James Rattling Leaf, Native American recruitment and seminar presenter.
