UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

National Science Foundation

New NSF Grant for Lulay, Shiley School

The Shiley School of Engineering is pleased to announce that Kenneth Lulay, Margaret and Vincent Aquino Endowed Associate Professor in Engineering, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant of $55,358. “Collaborative Research: Bridging the Writing Transfer Gap in Early Engineering Laboratory Courses,” was awarded under NSF’s Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative and represents a team of three universities: UP, Washington State University Vancouver, and Oregon Institute of Technology.

The collaborative will study how engineering students apply their existing knowledge of writing when they write technical engineering reports. Each of the three universities has different requirements in their core curriculum, ranging from literature classes to technical writing courses, allowing the research team to study students with diverse writing knowledge and experiences. Modules will be developed to help students transfer their existing knowledge to help them write professional quality technical reports regardless of their previous writing background.

For more information contact the Shiley School of Engineering at x7292 or engineering@up.edu.

Ahern-Ridnell Chosen for National Undergraduate Research Project

Ami Ahern-Rindell, biology, has been chosen after a national competitive search to serve as a biology consultant on a four-year National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). The grant is part of the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) Program and is called the “CUR Transformations Project.”

The overarching goal of this project is to work intensively with 12 institutions and 24 departments over a sustained period to conduct fundamental research on student, faculty, departmental, and disciplinary influences on the process of integrating and scaffolding undergraduate research experiences throughout the curriculum. The grant will also allow institutional participants to pursue departmental and school/college-wide transformations in student learning and learning environments.

The sustainability of these changes will be further enhanced by assisting institutions to integrate research-based curricula into student and faculty cultures and reward systems, and by developing expanded undergraduate research assessments, including the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) instruments.

For more information contact Ahern-Rindell at ahernrin@up.edu.

Senior Applications For NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

NSF-grantThe National Science Foundation made a significant change to their eligibility guidelines for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program this year, according to Michele Leasor, Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement. Graduate students can apply only once for the grant, as opposed to twice in the past.  The end result is that seniors going to graduate school and planning careers in research should be strongly encouraged to apply.  They will be more competitive than in the past and the senior year will be the only time that they get the practice of completing the application.

Please encourage your bright and high-achieving students who are going into a field funded by NSF to consider applying. Deadlines for 2016:

  • October 24: Geosciences, Life Sciences
  • October 25: Computer and Information Science and Engineering, Engineering, Materials Research
  • October 27: Psychology, Social Sciences, STEM Education and Learning
  • October 28: Chemistry, Mathematical Sciences, Physics and Astronomy
  • November 3: All Reference Letters Must Be Submitted by 5 p.m. (ET)

Even though the NSF does not require a University of Portland endorsement, the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement is more than willing to work with students in the preparation of an application. For more information about the program, visit https://www.nsfgrfp.org/. Contact scholars@up.edu if you have any questions.

 

Engineering Student Chika Eke Wins NSF Fellowship

ekeSenior mechanical engineering student Chika Eke has been awarded a prestigious graduate research fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Eke, of Sacramento, Calif., has accepted an offer to join the master’s program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The fellowship includes a $34,000 annual stipend for each of three years, and an additional $12,000 is awarded for each of three years to MIT to help cover tuition and other expenses. Eke plans to obtain a master of science in mechanical engineering and pursue research that applies biomechanics to the design of rehabilitation technology. Her goal is to complete her thesis through MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics Group, which uses advanced prosthetic, orthotic, and exoskeletal design to restore function to individuals who have impaired mobility due to trauma or disease.

For more information contact the Shiley School of Engineering at 7292 or stroheck@up.edu.

New National Science Foundation Grant

The University of Portland has been awarded $446,307 by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to increase retention in engineering and computer science with a focus on at-risk first year and sophomore students. The University of Portland is the only Oregon university and one of nine universities and colleges nationwide to receive NSF grants as part of a public-private partnership called Graduate 10K+.

The NSF works in partnership with Intel and General Electric (GE) to stimulate comprehensive action at universities and colleges to help increase the annual number of new graduates in engineering and computer science by 10,000. This effort is funded with $10 million in donations from Intel and the GE Foundation as well as a generous personal donation from Mark Gallogly.

Shiley School of Engineering dean Sharon Jones was the principal investigator of the national grant, with co-principal investigator Tammy VanDeGrift, engineering. Engineering and computer science are fields in which industry leaders lament an inadequate supply of graduates with the knowledge and skills needed in business and industry, and they are fields in which women and minorities are chronically underrepresented. Engineering and computer science are also part of a general trend in which many undergraduates pursuing majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields leave them entirely during their first two years in college.

Graduate 10K+ projects will operate for five years. Each of the projects has identified factors that can derail would-be engineers and computer scientists in their first or second year of undergraduate study and taken a targeted approach to addressing those factors. Other schools receiving Graduate 10K+ grants were California State University Monterey Bay, Cornell University, Merrimack College, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Syracuse University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas-Pan American, University of Washington, and Washington State University.

For more information contact the Shiley School of Engineering at 7314 or spir@up.edu.