REU site: Summer academy in sustainable manufacturing

Abstract

The Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing is a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site hosted at Wayne State University. The site offers unique summer undergraduate research experiences in the challenging field of sustainable manufacturing to local and national undergraduate students from two and four-year institutions. The objective of the program is to introduce undergraduate students to the forefront of sustainable manufacturing research and to provide students with the skills and pathways to pursue advanced degrees or careers in sustainable manufacturing. The intensive ten-week summer research and professional development experience hosts ten students per summer. NSF national priority areas such as advanced manufacturing and sustainability are addressed by four undergraduate research thrust areas. Thrust areas include: 1) nano-coating and lightweight materials and manufacturing, 2) energy storage materials, batteries, and inversion devices, 3) remanufacturing and sustainability assessment, and 4) chemical-energy-water nexus. In addition to faculty mentor led research projects, the program offers other learning activities such as; 1) research skill development seminars, local manufacturing plant visits, tutorials on the fundamentals of sustainable engineering, and an end-of-program research poster symposium. The first group of students was hosted at Wayne State in summer 2016 with two more programs scheduled for summer 2017 and 2018. In this poster, we present the 2016 group of undergraduate researchers and the results from recruitment activities, research projects, and surveys from the first year of the Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing. Student recruitment was carried out nationwide and resulted in a diverse group of undergraduate researchers. Participant research activities culminated in an endof-summer poster symposium and a final undergraduate research paper. Site evaluation was carried out with a student survey requesting participants to comment on the relevance of the program activities. Undergraduate research experiences were evaluated with the SURE surveys from Grinnell College. Evaluation results and the experience acquired during the first year of the Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing will guide execution of years two and three.