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BOARD # 301: REU: Outcomes and Lessons Learned After Organizing a Summer REU Program a Dozen Times over 17 Years

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Conference

2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Publication Date

June 22, 2025

Start Date

June 22, 2025

End Date

August 15, 2025

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session I

Tagged Topics

Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

6

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/55668

Paper Authors

biography

Laila Guessous Oakland University

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Laila Guessous, Ph.D. is a professor in the department of mechanical engineering at Oakland University (OU) in Rochester, MI. Her research and teaching interests lie in the areas of fluid mechanics and heat transfer, with an emphasis on computational methods. She has been directing the NSF-funded AERIM
REU program since 2006 and previously served as co-PI on the Oakland University WISE@OU NSF ADVANCE Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation, and Dissemination (PAID) grant.

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biography

Dan DelVescovo Oakland University

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Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

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Abstract

First offered in the summer of 2006, the NSF-funded AERIM Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program has now gone through four full 3-year funding cycles and has been offered a total of 12 different summers, with 1-2 year breaks in between. The focus of this REU program has long been on automotive and energy research, with strong ties to the automotive industry in Southeastern Michigan. A total of 122 students from 83 different colleges and universities have taken part in the program and have now progressed to different points of their academic and professional paths. One of the greatest successes of this REU has been its ability to attract a diverse group of undergraduate researchers, with groups historically underrepresented in engineering (particularly women) representing over two-thirds of the participants. The program is assessed each year using pre- and post-surveys, as well as focus group discussions in the past 3 years. The assessment and follow-up has also included periodic emails and surveys to gauge the outcomes of the program several years after students have completed the REU. Maintaining contact and tracking the career progressions of students after several years is no easy task, but one that has been made easier with the advent of professional social networking sites, such as LinkedIn. The goal of this paper is to report on some of the demographics and outcomes of this REU, as well as share some of the lessons learned, particularly since the advent of COVID-19.

Guessous, L., & DelVescovo, D. (2025, June), BOARD # 301: REU: Outcomes and Lessons Learned After Organizing a Summer REU Program a Dozen Times over 17 Years Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Montreal, Quebec, Canada . https://peer.asee.org/55668

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