Conference Session

Influence of Race and Culture

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tony Mitchell, North Carolina State University; John F. Flannigan, III, III, Sloan Construction Company; Renee M. Wooten, SAS Institute, Inc.; Eric P. Pearson, Northrop Grumman Corporation; Angelitha Daniel, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

12.1410.1Angelitha Daniel, North Carolina State University Angelitha L. Daniel graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Materials Science and Engineering. After graduation, she was hired as the Coordinator of Minority Recruitment for PECAP, Pitt’s Engineering Career Access Program (formerly known as the IMPACT Program) from July 1998 until June 2003. Ms. Daniel currently works as the© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Assistant Director of Minority Engineering Programs at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. She is responsible for the planning and implementation of programs that assist the college in recruiting, retaining, and

Conference Session

Student Diversity: attracting and retaining a diverse population of students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ismail Orabi, University of New Haven

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

in the coursewas affected by several factors such as student ability, motivation, the quality of secondaryeducation obtained. The female students had a slightly higher overall course grade average thanmen and outperformed the male students on all class assignments except the final design project.The attitude survey showed that men reported higher gains than women on the technical skills,including confidence on engineering knowledge as a career and problem-solving skills whilewomen indicated higher gains in teamwork and design skills. Female students were able to learnthe material as effectively as the male students.IntroductionGender differences may exist in many different areas of education; from performance toattitudes, from classroom

Conference Session

Special programs and activities for minorities in engineering

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mary Anderson-Rowland, Arizona State University; Dana Newell, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

PIC IV and a frequent speaker on career opportunities in engineering, especially for women and minority students.Dana Newell, Arizona State University DANA C. NEWELL is the Director of the Center for Engineering Diversity and Retention at Arizona State University. She also serves as the Associate Director for Student Outreach and Retention Programs for the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering at ASU. Ms. Newell received her Bachelors degree in 1993 from the University of Arizona in Applied Mathematics. She received her Masters degree in 1996 in Higher Education Administration, Student Services. In her five-year tenure at ASU, she has won many awards including Outstanding Supervisor of the Year

Conference Session

Methods & Techniques in Graduate Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yamilka Baez-Rivera, Mississippi State University; Lennon Brown, Mississippi State University; Noel Schulz, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

Graduate Studies

, shipboard power systems, neural networks, power system reconfiguration and stability among others.Lennon Brown, Mississippi State University Lennon Brown, III, was born in Jackson, MS, on January 22, 1981. He graduated from Mississippi State University in May 2004 and also received his Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from Mississippi State University in May 2007. He has worked with many different aspects of Electrical Engineering. During his graduate career, he emphasized in the power engineering field of Electrical Engineering. He also worked in the power industry in regards to increasing his knowledge of power theories being conducted in realistic environments. He

Conference Session

Capstone Design I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Promiti Dutta, Columbia University; Alexander Haubold, Columbia University

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

design course.Section 1: About You • Your Preferred Name • Section • Gender • How do you describe your ethnicity/cultural background? • Is English your native language? o If not, what is/are? • Are you an international student or an immigrant to the US? o If so, in what country/countries have you spent most your life, and when did you come to the US?Section 2: Academic Interests and Career Goals • What's your current first choice of a major? • How confident are you in your first choice? (percentage) • What’s your second choice of a major? • What's your first choice for a minor, if any, at this time? • How clear are you on your plans for what you want to do as a career? • How comfortable or

Conference Session

Collaboration Provides the Best Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Brian Koehler, North Carolina State University; Susan Matney, North Carolina State University; Jerome Lavelle, North Carolina State University; Mary Clare Robbins, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

Cooperative & Experiential Education

mentors enhance their professional development as role models,share undergraduate experiences, and participate in a career-building experience. This paperdescribes the design and second year implementation of the MENTOR program includinglessons-learned and future plans for the retention of engineering students at a large, diverse,research extensive university.Background 1MENTOR (Motivating ENgineers Through Organized Relationships) is a ground breakingprogram in terms of its size and scope, whose aim is to increase student success in engineeringthrough early connections to a positive peer network.1 In order to understand the strengths,weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges of a program of this magnitude, we benchmarked ourplans with peer

Conference Session

Cognitive and Motivational Issues in Student Performance II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

P.K. Imbrie, Purdue University; Joe Jien-Jou Lin; Tayo Oladunni, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Kenneth Reid

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

., academic self-efficacy,academic motivation, leadership, metacognition, career, type of learner (e.g., deep vs. surface),teamwork, and expectancy-value) serve as independent parameters to an artificial neuralnetwork (NN) that is used to predict student persistence within engineering school at the endof first year. A feed-forward neural network model with back-propagation training was developed topredict third semester retention of a cohort of first-year engineering students (N=1,523) at alarge Midwestern university. The model constituted of 159 primary nodes corresponding to 8noncognitive factors described by a 159 item instrument. The resulting model was shown tohave a predicative accuracy of 82% for retained students after their first year and

Conference Session

FPD6 -- Early Intervention & Retention Programs

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ken Yasuhara, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

place, this is an assumption worth examining. Ourstudy aims to address this need by investigating pre-major undergraduates’ perceptions ofmajoring in CSE and of the career paths they associate with it.This paper presents a selection of findings from an interview-based, qualitative study ofprospective CSE majors at a large research university. This research primarily aims to detail therange of student perceptions about CSE, rather than to make broadly generalizable claims.However, the responses exhibit some patterns in beliefs about and interest in majoring in CSE.We focus here on findings most likely to inform efforts to recruit, support, and retain CSEmajors into and through their first year of undergraduate study. Many of the

Conference Session

Freshman Design and Other Novel Programs

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julia Ross, University of Maryland-Baltimore County; Greg Russ, University of Maryland-Baltimore County; Carolyn Parker, George Washington University; bruce jarrell, University of Maryland-School of Medicine; John Raczek, University of Maryland; Taryn Bayles, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

student learning, interest and attitude data.BackgroundThe need to recruit more students into engineering fields in the U.S. is urgent. Althoughincreased employment opportunities for engineering careers are forecast for the future, nationalenrollment in engineering disciplines has been declining1,2. These diverging trends are likely tocreate a shortfall of trained engineers in the U.S. in the near future1,2,3. While women andminorities comprise an increasingly large percentage of the total workforce, representation inengineering careers remains low at nine and four percent respectively1,2. In order to alter theenrollment trends, more students must be attracted to engineering careers and be prepared topursue engineering study at the college level

Conference Session

Engineering Management Program Management / IE and EM Program Mangement / Engineering Management Program Management

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rose Mary Cordova-Wentling, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign; Raymond Price, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

disciplines ofengineering, but furthermore, to have a balanced education in both technical and non-technicalskills and attributes. “These days, engineering is typically practiced in teams with severalengineers from different disciplines who work with contractors, business people, and sales andmarketing personnel” (Hsu, 2004, p.54). Therefore, in order to get hired, and later on be able tohave a successful long term career engineers need to be trained on human behavior skills so thatthey are able to talk, interact, and work with people from different backgrounds; be worldly; beleaders if the situation calls for it; be ethical; and know how to effectively conduct themselves atprofessional environments. This need for a more broad-based engineering

Conference Session

Engineering Professional Development for K-12 Teachers – II

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Steve Shumway, Brigham Young University; Jared Berrett, Brigham Young University; Andy Swapp, Milford High School; Ronald Terry, Brigham Young University; Thomas Erekson, Western Illinois University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

of Science degree with a dual major in Psychology and Technology from Brigham Young University, Jared decided to pursue a career in understanding teaching, learning, and technology. He began teaching for three different public high schools in Utah while he finished a Masters degree in Technology Teacher Education. He worked for two major IT corporations and also spent a year as a project management consultant in the IT field before he chose to pursue a PhD from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. At Illinois, he coordinated an online masters degree program, was an NSF sponsored technology trainee, and consulted with faculty from the College of Engineering and College of

Conference Session

Issues of Diversity

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fonda Swimmer, Northern Arizona University; Karen Jarratt-Ziemski, Ft. Lewis College

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

support; the STEP UP camp was a success. The majority of youngwomen in attendance were Native American, which presented an opportunity to positivelyinfluence their pre-college decisions and provide an access point to considering career pathstoward science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. Assessment, evaluation andtracking are a part of this initiative.This paper will discuss the successful dynamics used and pedagogical approach toward nurturingthe female participants’ interests in engineering and science through hands-on activities, personaland team dynamics, faculty and current engineering/science student instruction and industryparticipation; the creation of personal connection to the Multicultural Engineering Program andthe

Conference Session

Women, Minorities and the New Engineering Educator

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Noel Schulz, Mississippi State University; Kirk Schulz, Mississippi State University

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

NSF CAREER award recipient. She has been active in ASEE and is currently the Women in Engineering Division Chair. She is also active in the IEEE Power Engineering Society and is serving as Secretary for 2004-2007. Dr. Schulz is a member of Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi.Kirk Schulz, Mississippi State University Kirk H. Schulz is currently the Interim Vice President for Research and Economic Development at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in 1986 and 1991, respectively. Dr. Schulz has been on the faculty at the University of North

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary and Liberal Education

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Fernando Tovia, Philadelphia University; Muthu Govindaraj, Philadelphia University; David Brookstein, Philadelphia University

Tagged Divisions

Multidisciplinary Engineering

faculty and post-secondary professors in their communications about the opportunities inherent in applied engineering fields offered at Philadelphia University • Design, development, and delivery of Student Career and Educational Awareness Conferences established to support increasing the participation of Philadelphia high school students in STEM education in general and Applied Engineering in particular Page 12.80.4 • The Establishment of two successful Engineering Summer Camp at Philadelphia University, which has provided a college-level, scientific educational experience for Greater Philadelphia

Conference Session

Special programs and activities for minorities in engineering

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter Stroot, University of South Florida; Bernard Batson, University of South Florida; BK Robertson, Alabama State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

education and future demandsfor engineers and scientists in the United States, the NSF has established two goals: (1) improvethe education and research abilities of engineers and scientists; and (2) increase the number ofengineers and scientists by expanding outreach activities that target students from historically,underrepresented groups5.Most compelling, Environmental Engineering is one of the fastest growing careers with anexpected increase of 54% by 20126. Environmental engineering relies heavily on properlytrained students in biotechnology, which includes an understanding of basic microbiology,biological modeling, and molecular biology. The development of molecular biology tools overthe past twenty years has improved our understanding

Conference Session

Entrepreneurial Leadership and Non-traditional Ways to Engage Students in Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Russell Dinardi, Lafayette College; Sharon Jones, Lafayette College

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

LafayetteCollege. The only form of entrepreneurship education is the CircleEntrepreneurship Society, which offers economics and business students theopportunity to gather and speak about entrepreneurial topics. In addition, thesociety occasionally invites speakers to their meetings. For students outside of theeconomics and business field, little opportunity for entrepreneurship educationexists. Already with a solid technological background, Lafayette’s engineeringstudents can have very successful careers in fields involving technical innovation.Lafayette engineering students are not fully aware of the possibilities that lie withinthe field of entrepreneurship because there are currently such few opportunities oncampus. Entrepreneurship education is

Conference Session

Climate Issues for Women Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yong Zeng, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign; John R. Duncan, Clemson University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

AC 2007-2377: WOMEN: SUPPORT FACTORS AND PERSISTENCE INENGINEERINGYong Zeng, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign Yong Zeng is currently a Ph.D. Student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Human Resource Education department and has completed as Masters in Education (2005) and Bachelor in Engineering (1995). Yong is a doctoral fellow with the National Centre for Engineering Technology Education (NCETE). He has worked as engineer in the field of mechanical engineering and computing engineering since graduation in 1995. Served as co-PI, his proposal of ‘Women, Career Choice, and Persistence in Engineering’ was funded in June 2005 through NCETE. Yong is an active member of

Conference Session

Factors Affecting Minority Engineering Students

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carolyn Vallas, University of Virginia; Susan Donohue, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

academic advising I needed to succeed.I received the career advising I needed to succeed.I received the tutoring I needed to succeed.I believe the faculty is dedicated to my success.I believe the administration is dedicated to my success.I believe my major department is dedicated to my success.I am happy with the opportunities provided by the Career Office.I’m personally happy to be in SEAS.I’m personally happy to be at U.Va.I’m happy with the quality of academics in SEAS.I’m happy with the quality of academics at U.Va.I’m happy with my extracurricular activities.I have the flexibility in my schedule to take the electives I want to take.My instructors support my need to be creative.My curriculum supports my need to be creative.I have a strong peer

Conference Session

Engineering in Middle Schools

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ibrahim Zeid, Northeastern University; Randal August, Northeastern University; Ronald Perry, Northeastern University; Emanuel Mason, Northeastern University; Jannon Farkis, Northeastern University; Marta Hersek, Northeastern University; Morgan Hynes, TechBoston; Haruna Tada, TechBoston; Felicia Vargas, TechBoston

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

workingcollaboratively to integrate an innovative robotics curriculum into science, technology,engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses in the Boston Public Schools and other raciallydiverse and economically disadvantaged Massachusetts school districts. The project issponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) program, Information TechnologyExperiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST). The project targets 7th and 8th grade STEMteachers, with students participating during summer and after school. The project addresses theurgent need to enhance student interest and performance in STEM courses, while fosteringskills that are important prerequisites for IT careers. In the near term, the project is helpingMassachusetts schools and students meet statewide

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Marilyn Barger, University of South Florida; Eric Roe, Hillsborough Community College; Richard Gilbert, University of South Florida; Bradley Jenkins, St. Petersburg College

communication between the manufacturing sector and the community college sector at a state-wide level on workforce education and training issues. ‚ It seems difficult for manufacturers to know what competencies community college graduates bring, given the nine different manufacturing related degree options, varying course names and descriptions. ‚ There does not appear to be clearly defined positions (and career pathways) for A.S. and A.A.S. graduates to assume in the industry, and therefore, the level of compensation for such graduates is also unclear and/or unknown. ‚ There are new statewide guidelines both from the Department of Education and Workforce Florida that technical programs should be

Conference Session

IE and EM Program Mangement

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lahoud Hilmi, East Carolina University; Batts David, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Management

, network engineers are often managed in a fashion that drivesthem to job dissatisfaction and leads them to pursue other job opportunities. Thispaper covers some of the challenges that network administrators face and how“Theory X” and “Theory Y” affects their job satisfaction in addition to how anengineering manager can improve performance through job satisfaction.IntroductionNetwork engineering is one of the most dynamic and challenging careers in theInformation Technology (IT) industry. Network engineering has evolved in thepast few years due to the yoke of the IT industry and the globalization ofeconomy. As network engineers seek to provide better designs andimplementations of computer networks, they also have to take into considerationcertain

Conference Session

Engineering Professional Development for K-12 Teachers – I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kimberly Ogden, University of Arizona; Gregory Ogden, University of Arizona

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

session. Workshops and tours include: • Inquiry and Notebooks • Mathematics Pedagogy • Standards • Integration of Science in the Elementary Classroom • Equity in the Classroom • Career Pathways in STEM fields • Power Plant Tour • Bioremediation Site TourThe curricular work session provide time for the teams of teachers to refine their lesson plansand ensure that their lessons are inquiry based and tied to the Standards. The lessons developedbased on the water recycle research experience include:Lesson 1) Water Dilemma Simulation Objective: Given a water dilemma scenario, the student will analyze the problem and determine a solution based on his/her given role by creating a t-chart with at least three advantages and

Conference Session

Engineering Student Involvement in K-12 Programs

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Malinda Zarske, University of Colorado at Boulder; Janet Yowell, University of Colorado at Boulder; Jacquelyn Sullivan, University of Colorado at Boulder; Daniel Knight, University of Colorado at Boulder; Diana Wiant, Centaurus High School

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

content testing –With support from teachers, Fellows create tests and quizzes that specify and measure lesson concepts. They use multiple choice, matching, true/false and fill- in-the-blank formats. Tests are administered pre- and post-instruction.‚ Student attitude surveys – All grades 3-8 students participating in the TEAMS program rate their level of interest in engineering and confidence in their knowledge of engineering as a career. Students rate their attitudes on five-point Likert-type scales. Surveys for elementary students use age-appropriate terms and questions are often read aloud.‚ Rating of Fellow teaching skills – Teachers, Fellows and ITL program staff provide feedback on Fellow teaching skills, including content

Conference Session

Freshman Design and Other Novel Programs

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Paul King, Vanderbilt University; Mark Richter, MaxMobility

Tagged Divisions

Biomedical

presented with the following course description: “Rehabilitationengineering is the application of technologies, engineering methodologies or scientific principlesto meet the needs of individuals with disabilities in areas that include mobility, communication,education, employment, transportation, independent living, and recreation. We will explore avariety of the current topics in rehabilitation research and development. Engineers from alldisciplines contribute to the field of rehabilitation engineering. There are no prerequisites for thecourse. Career options in this field include research and development, physical rehabilitationmedicine, technology development (e.g. wheelchair companies), technology prescription(clinical), and policy development

Conference Session

Issues of Diversity

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Moshe Hartman, Retired; Harriet Hartman, Rowan University; Jennifer Kadlowec, Rowan University

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

math activities in high school; AP courses taken in math and science; (b) Role Models: having a sister or brother in engineering, math or science; having a female math or science teacher (role model for women); (c) Support of significant others for the student’s choice of engineering as a major and/or career. Hypothesis 1: Women who enter fields that have lower proportions of women will have stronger academic backgrounds, greater exposure to more role models, and stronger support from significant others for their choice of such a non-traditional major or career. (2) Self-confidence: (a) General academic skills; (b) Math-science academic skills; and (c) Engineering-related skills and subjects

Conference Session

Engineering Professional Development for K-12 Teachers – I

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leyla Conrad, Georgia Institute of Technology; Edward Conrad, Georgia Institute of Technology; Jill Auerbach, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

simply donot have sufficient resources for demonstration tools. Because visualization is key tounderstanding and modern physics so buried in the inaccessible subatomic world, the inability toget these tools is doubly crippling to teaching modern physics concepts. Finally, minoritystudents in Atlanta’s public schools are unlikely to see physical sciences as a career option.These students cannot visualize how science and technology affect their every day life or thefuture benefits they can derive by being literate in science. Most engineering fields, especiallyelectrical and mechanical, are based on modern physics, and one cannot expect students withoutexposure to these materials to choose engineering as a career.In this paper we describe an

Conference Session

NAFP Panel Discussion

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Louis Everett, University of Texas-El Paso; Paul Racette, NASA; Scott Askew, NASA; Rafic Bachnak, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Belay Demoz; Paul Mogan, NASA

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

As an adventurous adolescent, Paul grew up chasing severe thunderstorms across the plains of Kansas. And so he was quite excited after joining the Goddard Space Flight Center in July 1990 to learn that his first assignment was to prepare and install a suite of sensors on a DC-8 aircraft for an experiment to study typhoons. That fall while stationed at Kadena Airbase in Okinawa, Japan, he flew for the first time through the eye of a category 5 typhoon. That experience was the beginning of an exciting and fruitful career developing and deploying microwave remote sensors for studying Earth’s environment. Since then Paul has been the principal engineer responsible for the overall instrument

Conference Session

Critical Success Factors for Technopolis Creation

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa Zidek, Milwaukee School of Engineering; Cindy Orndoff; Susan Blanchard

Tagged Divisions

Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation

AC 2007-542: USING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SERVICE-LEARNING TOINCREASE ENGINEERING AWARENESS IN HIGH SCHOOLLisa Zidek, Milwaukee School of EngineeringCynthia Orndoff, University of MissouriSusan Blanchard, Florida Gulf Coast University Page 12.1546.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Using Entrepreneurship and Service Learning to Increase Engineering Awareness in High SchoolAcademic preparedness is a fundamental concern for every educational system; elementaryschools must prepare students for middle school, middle school for high school, high school forcollege, and college for graduate education or a career in a chosen field. There

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lakshmi Munukutla, Arizona State University; Richard Newman, Arizona State University; Arunachala Nadar Mada Kannan; Slobodan Petrovic, Arizona State University; Govindasamy Tamihzmani, Arizona State university

global population depletes the existing naturalresources at a faster rate, many energy-based industries are rapidly exploring alternativeenergy generation and distribution avenues. The consortium will focus its efforts onpreparing the high technology alternative energy workforce by providing relevanteducation at the AAS, certificate program, and the BS degree levels both in the state ofArizona and Texas. The consortium partners of this project are currently serving a largepercentage of underserved minorities and will further assist and nurture these minoritygroups by preparing them for STEM careers in high technology industries. The energy field is becoming a major economic driving force in the State ofArizona, the nation, and the world

Conference Session

Engineering Student Involvement in K-12 Programs

Collection

2007 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kate Caldwell, North Carolina State University; Jessica McCoy, North Carolina State University; Lynn Albers, North Carolina State University; Althea Smith, North Carolina State University; Elizabeth Parry, North Carolina State University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

fellows were female and 52% were minority students – percentages that arewell above university averages for the primary partner university, North Carolina StateUniversity (NCSU). For more information about the demographic breakdown of the RAMP-UPprogram, see Figure 5 in the appendix. As a result of participation in this program, fellowsincrease their community involvement, improve their communication skills and explore manypost-graduate career opportunities.The National Science Foundation awarded the first GK-12 grants in 1999. Since then,universities have created dozens of programs across the country to improve student achievementwhile developing the service and communication skills of future scientists and engineers [7]. Dueto the hypothesized