Board 133: The Re-Energize Undergraduate Research Program in the Third and Final Year

Dan G. Dimitriu; Klaus Bartels; Steven F Lewis

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Conference: 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Publication Date: June 23, 2018
Start Date: June 23, 2018
End Date: July 27, 2018
Conference Session: Two-Year College Division Poster Session
Tagged Division: Two-Year College
Tagged Topic: Diversity
Page Count: 21
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--29926
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/29926
Download Count: 441

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Paper Authors

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Dan G. Dimitriu San Antonio College

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Dan G. Dimitriu has been practicing engineering since 1970 and taught engineering courses concurrently for more than 20 years at various institutions. In 2001, he joined San Antonio College full-time as the Coordinator of its Engineering program. He has been involved with several engineering societies and became a member of the Two-year College Division of ASEE in 2002. His research interests are in engineering graphics, 3-D Visualization, fuel cells, plastics, and engineering education.

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Klaus Bartels San Antonio College

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Klaus Bartels is an Adjunct Faculty member at San Antonio College (SAC) in the Mathematics, Architecture, Physics and Engineering Dept. He was born near Buenos Aires, Argentina and immigrated to the U.S. in 1956. He grew up and went to college in the Boston, MA area. He has a B.S.E.E. from Tufts University (1972) and an M.S.E.E. from M.I.T. (1975). He served as a Communications-Electronics Engineer/Officer in the USAF from 1975 to 1999, retiring as a colonel. He worked part time as a Flight Director at the Challenger Learning Center of San Antonio from 2000 to 2009, and has been teaching remedial math and engineering classes at SAC since 2000. He has also been involved in various engineering summer programs at SAC, including instructor for Robotics Camps for 3rd to 5th graders (2012 - 2014), instructor and coordinator for the Early Development of General Engineering program for high school students (2007 - 2015), and faculty adviser for alternative energy Summer Undergraduate Research Programs (2011 - present).

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Steven F Lewis

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Steven Lewis served as a training manager for Lockheed and Raytheon corporations around the world and spent a total of 27 years primarily in Colombia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. He assumed the leadership role at the Service, Trade, and Industry Center of Alamo Colleges/San Antonio College in 2006 and quickly expanded the scope of the center by launching the Alamo College Green Training Initiative. In order to strengthen the initiative, Mr. Lewis collaborated with the college grant office to submit a successful proposal to the United States Department of Urban Development in 2010 for construction of the William R. Sinkin Eco Centro. He since served as director of Eco Centro while collaborating with Texas State University on the Re-Energize grant and EverGreeen grants in overseeing undergraduate research projects

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Abstract

The Re-Energize Undergraduate Research Program in the Third and Final Year

Abstract The first two years of the Re-Energize Undergraduate Research Program were presented in two previous ASEE papers at the 2016 and 2017 Annual Conferences in New Orleans, LA and in Columbus, OH. It started with the creation of a network of renewable energy education and research labs fully contained and established at each of the four participating member institutions and it evolved into a collaborative effort to share effective new green technology content. Its goal was to impart skills to faculty members of this network in order to strengthen their capacities and arm them with additional resources to support their efforts in recruiting and retaining students, and in particular, minorities and females, in STEM programs offered at their institutions. Our two-year college as part of this network worked continuously on developing and implementing new undergraduate research projects related to green technologies for the entire duration of this partnership. Our college made a commitment to 1) encourage STEM faculty to attend Re-Energize professional development opportunities to learn and include green energy educational modules into our STEM curriculum; 2) seek space to establish a "start-up green lab" on our campus with MSEIP pass through funding from the collaborating four-year institution so that faculty can conduct classroom demonstrations and students can perform undergraduate research. This initiative diversified and continued our undergraduate research program by including our Eco Centro, a community outreach center for environmental sustainability, into this program; 3) promote additional related outreach and educational efforts to support our students and encourage them to seek successful careers in STEM and green energy-related fields; and 4) participate in on-going evaluation and research efforts related to this program. Numerous reports demonstrate that undergraduate research programs at four-year institutions have been responsible for increasing retention and graduation of their students. Our previous results indicate that two-year institutions can also initiate successful programs with similar results. The paper will present in detail the conclusion of this valuable partnership between the participating institutions and their plans to continue developing new directions for undergraduate research programs that can be conducted year around. Our experience and recommendations may be used as blueprints to develop similar programs at other institutions of higher learning.

Citation
Format

Dimitriu, D. G., & Bartels, K., & Lewis, S. F. (2018, June), Board 133: The Re-Energize Undergraduate Research Program in the Third and Final Year Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--29926

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The Re-Energize Undergraduate Research Program in the Third and Final Year

Abstract
The first two years of the Re-Energize Undergraduate Research Program were presented in two previous ASEE papers at the 2016 and 2017 Annual Conferences in New Orleans, LA and in Columbus, OH.  It started with the creation of a network of renewable energy education and research labs fully contained and established at each of the four participating member institutions and it evolved into a collaborative effort to share effective new green technology content.  Its goal was to impart skills to faculty members of this network in order to strengthen their capacities and arm them with additional resources to support their efforts in recruiting and retaining students, and in particular, minorities and females, in STEM programs offered at their institutions.
Our two-year college as part of this network worked continuously on developing and implementing new undergraduate research projects related to green technologies for the entire duration of this partnership. Our college made a commitment to 
1) encourage STEM faculty to attend Re-Energize professional development opportunities to learn and include green energy educational modules into our STEM curriculum; 
2) seek space to establish a &quot;start-up green lab&quot; on our campus with MSEIP pass through funding from the collaborating four-year institution so that faculty can conduct classroom demonstrations and students can perform undergraduate research. This initiative diversified and continued our undergraduate research program by including our Eco Centro, a community outreach center for environmental sustainability, into this program;
3) promote additional related outreach and educational efforts to support our students and encourage them to seek successful careers in STEM and green energy-related fields; and  
4) participate in on-going evaluation and research efforts related to this program.  
Numerous reports demonstrate that undergraduate research programs at four-year institutions have been responsible for increasing retention and graduation of their students.  Our previous results indicate that two-year institutions can also initiate successful programs with similar results.  The paper will present in detail the conclusion of this valuable partnership between the participating institutions and their plans to continue developing new directions for undergraduate research programs that can be conducted year around.  Our experience and recommendations may be used as blueprints to develop similar programs at other institutions of higher learning.

AU  - Dan G. Dimitriu
AU  - Klaus Bartels
AU  - Steven F Lewis
CY  - Salt Lake City, Utah
DA  - 2018/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Board 133: The Re-Energize Undergraduate Research Program in the Third and Final Year
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/29926
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--29926
ER  -