REU Provides World of Opportunities R e s e a r c h E x p e r i e n c e f o r Und e r g r ad uate s For the past 18 years, undergraduate students from across the country have participated in a prestigious summer research program at MSOE: the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). This 10-week program is funded by the National Science Foundation, MSOE’s Rapid Prototyping Center, MSOE’s Fluid Power InstituteTM and the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) to give undergraduates hands-on experience in research. To date, 163 students have conducted research at MSOE focused on applications of fluid power and additive manufacturing technology. Dr. Subha Kumpaty, mechanical engineering professor, is the program’s principal investigator. “The success stories are too many to describe and I join Tom Bray, MSOE dean of applied research, in celebrating the enormous impact REU at MSOE is making across the country,” he said. For example, the first REU participant in 1997, Dr. Brian Stemper ’98 BE, has gone on to become an associate professor of neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). His research includes work on the most comprehensive study of concussion and head impact exposure in sports ever conducted. The $30 million initiative is a joint initiative between the NCAA and the U.S. Department of Defense.
University and today is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology. Dr. Jill Tombasco Seubert, who participated in 2004 while a student at Penn State University, is a navigation engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. REU was her first experience with research. At NASA, she has worked to predict where the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter would be during Curiosity’s landing. In a tribute to Ann Bloor, now retired from MSOE, Seubert said, “I can vividly recall a trip that Ann and I took to AirVenture in Oshkosh. Though I wanted to just disappear into the crowd, she pushed me to initiate a conversation with Burt Rutan (who designed Voyager and SpaceShipOne) and Mike Melvill (holder of nine FAI aviation world records and test pilot). Eight years later, I had my own heart-in-throat moment of excitement as we landed the Curiosity rover, and I know now that the hard work was definitely worth it. I will be ever grateful for Ann’s words and encouragement throughout that summer.” MSOE’s REU grant from the National Science Foundation is currently up for renewal, and Kumpaty has submitted an application on behalf of the university to continue the program.
Another participant, Dr. Carrie Hall, said “MSOE’s REU program played a huge role in my future career decision and I truly appreciate how you poured into the lives of those of us involved.” Hall earned a B.S. from Bob Jones
Read more about the projects completed this summer at msoe.edu/reu14.
REU 2014 participants, back, left to right: Kyle Joerres, St. Norbert College; Tess Torregrosa, Tufts University; Sophia Dolan, Columbia University; Brittany Callan, MSOE; Jennifer Bateman, Mississippi State University; Kalen Spinks, North Carolina A&T University; Donald Kuettel, UW-Madison; Kevin Lee, MSOE; Jerusha Kumpati, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville; and Justin Clough, MSOE. REU advisors, front, left to right: Dr. Todd Parrish (Northwestern University), Betty Albrecht, Paul Michael, Dr. Faisal Shaik, Dr. Vipin Paliwal, Dr. Subha Kumpaty, Tom Bray, Dr. Jeff LaMack, Dr. Luis Rodriguez, Doug Cook and Professor Mike McGeen.
DIMENSIONS x FALL/WINTER 2014-2015
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