Board 78: Interdisciplinary Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Metrology and Non-Destructive Inspection
- Conference
- Location
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Salt Lake City, Utah
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2018
- Start Date
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June 23, 2018
- End Date
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July 27, 2018
- Conference Session
- Tagged Topic
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NSF Grantees Poster Session
- Page Count
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12
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--30107
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/30107
- Download Count
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365
Paper Authors
Mathew Kuttolamadom
Texas A&M University
orcid.org/0000-0002-3627-4885
Dr. Mathew Kuttolamadom is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Technology & Industrial Distribution and the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at Texas A&M University. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from Clemson University’s Int'l Center for Automotive Research. His professional experience is in the automotive industry including at the Ford Motor Company. At TAMU, he teaches Mechanics, Manufacturing and Mechanical Design to his students. His research thrusts include bioinspired functionally-graded composites, additive/subtractive manufacturing processes, laser surface texturing, tribology, visuo-haptic VR/AR interfaces and engineering education.
Michael Alexander Liu Texas A&M University
Michael is a PhD student at Texas A&M University with a great passion in Additive Manufacturing. He was born in the greater Los Angeles area in California as the elder of two sons. His choice of Texas A&M was made due to its long standing commitment to tradition and the camraderie that exists between individuals who act as though they are a family. He has been a member of Materials Advantage for three years and is very active in helping out in the Materials Science Engineering Department. He also acts as a leader in a society of graduate students on campus who come together to exchange ideas and insights on life at the university. He has also obtained a Master's Degree with a research focus on the trapping of hydrogen in high strength steels. His current focus is on compositional gradients that can be further developed through LENS Additive Manufacturing. Currently, he is active in entrepreneurial investments and asset acquisition that can further his future entrepreneurial goals.
Jyhwen Wang
Texas A&M University
orcid.org/0000-0001-9016-0566
Jyhwen Wang joined the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution at Texas A&M University after working for 10 years as a researcher and R&D manager in industry. He teaches mechanics of materials, mechanical design applications and manufacturing processes. His research interest is in design and analysis of material processing technologies. He received his Ph. D. degree in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University.
Bruce L. Tai Texas A&M University
Dr. Tai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor in 2011 and spent 4 years as research faculty on multidisciplinary manufacturing topics from healthcare to automotive before joining Texas A&M in 2015. His research is mainly sponsored by National Science Foundation and industrial collaborators. He is teaching design, material/manufacturing, and additive manufacturing courses. He has recently been selected for 2017 SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award and ASME Blackall Machine Tool and Gage Award.
Samuel F. Noynaert Texas A&M University
Dr. Sam Noynaert is an assistant professor in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University. Prior to joining Texas A&M, Dr. Noynaert worked for BP and EOG Resources as both a drilling and completions foreman and a drilling engineer. At BP, he focused on coil tubing drilling and tight gas sand completions while at EOG he worked on unconventional shale plays in the Barnett and Eagle Ford Shales. Dr. Noynaert’s research is focused primarily on drilling with an emphasis on solutions that improve drilling performance, especially those with applications in unconventional resource and other plays that require horizontal or extended reach drilling. Some specific areas include drilling performance analysis, tubular design in unconventional wells, and wellbore stability issues and mitigation. Other active areas of interest include drilling budgeting and economics with a focus on probabilistic methods as well as heavy oil development.
Dinakar Sagapuram Texas A & M University
Dr. Sagapuram received his B.Tech. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Madras (2009) and Purdue University (2013). Prior to joining Texas A&M
in 2016, he was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Center for Materials Processing and Tribology at Purdue. His research and teaching interests span materials science, mechanics and manufacturing processes. His current research focuses on mechanics of large-strain deformation, plastic instabilities and fracture phenomena.
Marian S. Kennedy Clemson University
Marian Kennedy is an Associate Professor within the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at Clemson University. Her research group focused on the mechanical and tribological characterization of thin films. She also contributes to the engineering education community through research related to undergraduate research programs and navigational capital needed for graduate school.
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to outline the quick startup procedures involved in establishing a new National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site, and to detail year-one’s major activities, results, impressions, and lessons learned. The insights gained during year-one, are now being implemented to further improve the site operation and performance for a sustained and broader impact during the upcoming years.
The overarching goal of this site was to enhance the knowledge and skill-level of a diverse cohort of undergraduates with limited access to research opportunities, through empowering, hands-on and interdisciplinary research experiences in both traditional and advanced metrology and non-destructive inspection (NDI) technologies. Metrology, the science of measurement, and (non¬destructive) inspection transcends scales, materials, and disciplines; yet, rarely are its salient aspects emphasized. This site is a first-¬of-¬its-¬kind direct response to a specific concern raised by regional industry partners and technical workforce recruiters about the lack of pragmatic metrology/NDI-related knowledge and skills in their incoming regional workforce. For this, 5 vertically-integrated teams, each comprising of 2 REU students, 1 senior undergraduate and 1 graduate student (from the host institution) and a faculty mentor worked in concert on select research projects over 10 summer-weeks. Each REU student pair was recruited and matched based on complementing skills/interests. This on¬site experience was supplemented with follow-ups for continued interaction, growth, and guidance for pursuing advanced study. The overall impact of this site was to create empowered future researchers and a workforce well-rooted in metrology/NDI, and motivate them to pursue advanced degrees.
The PI’s experience of going through a quick startup and establishment of this site shed light on the strategies and essentials needed for generating a sufficient and diverse applicant pool, quick recruitment procedures, the logistics involved before, during and after the program, and the overall vision needed to provide a fruitful research experience to the visiting undergraduates. Evaluation mechanisms consisted of pre- and post- questionnaires, and the product deliverables. These provided invaluable insight into student impressions of the site performance, their own performance and related aspects of metacognition as well as the effectiveness of vertically-integrated teams, besides a confirmation and/or an invigorated intent to pursue advanced study and a career in STEM fields. Altogether, the experience and lessons learned from year-one has provided invaluable perception for imparting a broader impact through this NSF-REU site.
Kuttolamadom, M., & Liu, M. A., & Wang, J., & Tai, B. L., & Noynaert, S. F., & Sagapuram, D., & Kennedy, M. S. (2018, June), Board 78: Interdisciplinary Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Metrology and Non-Destructive Inspection Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30107
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