Research and Leadership Experiences for Undergraduates (RLEU) in Optimization with Engineering Applications

Traditional Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU's) typically pair an undergraduate student with a researcher for several weeks. The student's efforts usually result in a poster, a presentation, or even a paper. While these REU's give students a taste of research and some of the technical components of conducting research, technical skills alone are not enough to be successful in a research or academic career. Research experience connected with leadership building experiences will give students a definite advantage as they continue through their graduate and professional careers. This Research and Leadership Experience for Undergraduates (RLEU) grouped a set of minority students on the verge of starting their graduate programs in a project to conduct research in optimization with various engineering applications. The group consisted of students with little to no experience in optimization, students from industrial, mechanical, and civil engineering backgrounds, and students with limited backgrounds within their assigned engineering disciplines. As in traditional REU's, these students were paired with researchers with whom they would conduct research throughout the summer. Unlike more traditional REU's, the students were formed into research teams of at least two students for the same researcher, required to attend optimization lectures, and required to participate in leadership and team building activities. The formation of the small research team gave students the advantage of not entering this process alone. While each student had an individual project, teams had projects that were closely related and on which they could collaborate throughout the summer. This gave students an immediate support group throughout the summer. With a limited background and understanding of optimization, all the students were introduced to optimization concepts and approaches for solving optimization problems together. Since the students were engaged in research, students had the opportunity to connect the lectures to their research and to discuss their research questions with their peers. Most importantly, students participated in leadership activities that required them to evaluate their communication skills, their ability to understand others, their ability to contribute to a group, and their ability to direct a group. The greatest advantage to this RLEU approach is that students gain an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses as leaders and team members so that they can continue to develop in those areas long after the end of the RLEU.