designed problems and activities. However, in the summer of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program had to be transitioned into a virtual research experience. In this study, we reflecton our experiences as supervising faculty, and the results of pre- and post-experience surveys completedby four groups of undergraduate researchers. In contrast to previous years’ REUs, team interactions werenot possible in the virtual environment, and activities were mainly training programs. Students were ableto work with previously collected real data and write code. The participants’ final presentations weretechnically better than those in the previous two years. Regarding the development of so-called soft skills,student engagement, team working skills
Paper ID #35174Doing the impossible in a pandemic: Delivering student-designedfabricated parts to an industry clientDr. David Olawale, R.B. Annis School of Engineering, University of Indianapolis Dr. David Olawale is an Assistant Professor of Engineering (Industrial and Systems) at the R. B. Annis School of Engineering (RBASOE), University of Indianapolis. He has diverse experience in research and development, as well as technology commercialization and entrepreneurship. His research areas include multifunctional composite materials and manufacturing, as well as innovation engineering. He has pub- lished over fifty peer