Dr. Miguel A. Labrador Department of Computer Science & Engineering labrador@csef

1. Research Experiences for Undergraduatesat the College of Engineeringand Computer Science and Engineering Dr. Miguel A. Labrador Department of Computer Science & Engineering labrador@cse.usf.edu http://www.csee.usf.edu/~labrador

2. Research Experience for Undergraduatesat the College of Engineeringand Computer Science and Engineering

3. Agenda • Introduction and Motivation • Initiatives and Programs • CoE REU Program • Examples of REU projects • Stats of the REU Program as of Summer 03 • Recruitment • How does it work? • Funding • NSF REU Site in CSE • Other NSF REU Sites • Q&A

4. Introduction and Motivation • Several important statistics included in the National Science Foundation (NSF) in its 2002 indicators report • Enrollment in Science and Engineering (S&E) declined from 441K students in 1983 to 361K in 1999 • Fewer than 50% students completed their degrees within 5 years • Approximately 20% of students dropped out of college • Graduation rate of underrepresented minority students is lower than that of other groups • E.g. Hispanics only account for 6, 4 and 3 percent of the bachelor’s, Master’s and doctoral degrees and only 2.9% of faculty • Fastest growing population • Low enrollment in graduate programs • One of the recommended reforms to address these problems is undergraduate research

5. Initiatives and Programs • NSF created the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program to involve undergraduate students in state-of-the-art research projects in Science and Engineering (S&E) • NSF REU Sites • USF is strongly committed to undergraduate research • New Office of Undergraduate Research in the Honors College • Undergraduate research grants • Travel and research grants up to $500 (See http://www.ur.usf.edu) • USF Journal of Undergraduate Research • USF and CoE REU Symposia • The CoE pioneered the idea and created the CoE REU program in spring 2002 • More than 100 REU students College-wide every semester

6. The CoE REU Program • The program started in Spring 02 • By end of Summer 03 • More than 120 students participated • More than 20 students joined graduate school • Many more participating students declared they would seek an advanced degree once they complete their Bachelors Degrees • Undergraduates built equipment, gathered data, wrote software • Several undergraduate supported publications are in the works!

7. Recruiting • Each engineering department has an Undergraduate Research Coordinator, who • Discusses research interests with students • Puts them in touch with potential faculty advisors • The Coordinators are: • Grisselle Centeno (Industrial Engineering) • Ashok Kumar (Mechanical Engineering) • Miguel Labrador (Computer Science and Engineering) • Gray Mullins (Civil Engineering) • Rudy Schlaf (Electrical Engineering) • John Wolan (Chemical Engineering) • Website http://www.eng.usf.edu/~schlaf/REU/

8. How Does It Work? • Step 1: Student identifies area of research and faculty members • The REU Coordinator can help you • Step 2: Student discuss with potential faculty if projects are available • Faculty also “interview” you to make sure you qualify • Step 3: Faculty decides to hire you • Some faculty may ask you to work for a two month probationary period • Step 4: Fill in application form (on the REU website). • Step 5: Submit to REU Coordinator along with matching account number • Step 6: REU Coordinator signs student up depending on: • Availability of funds (not a problem this year…) • Whether deliverables have been met (only for continuing students)

9. How Does It Work? • Deliverables, due after each semester (will be posted on the website): • Scientific Report (paper style) • Three PowerPoint slides summarizing your work • One digital photograph showing you “in action” • Purpose: Allows other students to see what their colleagues do, creates a track record that can be used for further fund raising

10. Funding • Each REU-Student receives a stipend of $4 per hour, 10 hours max. per week through the CoE-REU program • REU Fellowship • The stipends are matched by the faculty advisors resulting in $8 hourly pay

11. Examples in Computer Science and Engineering • Saar Carmel (Dr. Kandel) • CompactSet: a technique for creating optimal test case sets • Cindy L. Bethel (Dr. Goldgof and Dr. Hall) • Techniques for Improving Patient Enrollment in Clinical Trials • Sasha Dos Santos (Dr. Perez) • Development of a GIS Framework for the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County (EPC) • Adebola Osuntogun, Preskha Sudhakar, and Christine Bexley (Dr. Sarkar) • Research Resource for Advancing Human Identification from Gait • Dmitry Klyadin (Dr. Labrador) • A hands-on course on computer networks • Sean Barbeau, Edgar Banguero, and Ahmad Mageed(Dr. Perez and Dr. Labrador) • Traveling Smart: Increasing Transit Ridership by Automatic Collection (TRAC) of Individual Travel Behavior Data and Personalized Feedback

12. The REU Site in CSE • 10-week summer program (full-time, 40 hrs/week) • From May 31 to August 5, 2005 • Group of at least 11 students • UPRM, Florida, USF and Latin American countries • Work on a research project/area of interest • Workshops on research methodology, literature review, writing and presentation skills • Poster competition • Field trips, visits to local companies, brown bag seminars and speakers • Social activities • Stipend of approximately $3200 plus housing, meals and travel support • Not entirely for USF students

13. 2005 Projects • Comparing Fuzzy Clustering and Finite Gaussian Mixture Model in Brain Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI) • Jose Casillas • Data Classification and Bit Reduction Compression Method • Daniel Garcia • Navigation Controllers for Mobile Robots • Luis Echevarria • Optimizing TCP for Short Connections • Nikada Egland • Travel Advisory Expert System • Diana Arteaga

14. 2005 Projects • Virtual Patient Simulation • Edwin Torres and Carlos Aviles • Power Minimization Using the Quine-McKluskey Method • Ransford Hyman • Location-based Picture Messaging • Pierre Rosado and Alfredo Perez • Evaluation of Available Bandwidth Estimation Tools • Billy Elias and Agnes Velez

15. 2006 Projects • Look at the projects • http://www.csee.usf.edu/REU • Look at the labs and faculty web pages • http://www.csee.usf.edu • Pick the project that you like • Pick two other projects as second and third choices • Ask or even propose a project and we will try to make it work for you

16. How to apply • Deadline to apply March 15, 2005 • Notification of acceptance by April 7 • If you want to apply to the REU program, you should • Complete and submit the application form • Can be downloaded from http://www.csee.usf.edu/REU • Submit a one-page personal statement of career objectives • Submit a copy of your college transcripts • Arrange for recommendations from two college professors (in math, science, or engineering) to be sent directly to the REU Program Coordinator by e-mail or sealed in an envelop along with your application package

17. How to apply • Mail the application, personal statement, college transcripts and recommendations to: • Dr. Miguel A. Labrador Summer 2005 REU ProgramDepartment of Computer Science and EngineeringUniversity of South Florida 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, ENB 118  Tampa, FL 33620 • Electronic submissions are also accepted and preferred. Please e-mail them directly in pdf format to labrador@cse.usf.edu

18. How to apply • In evaluating applications, we will consider the following criteria: • Academic achievement, as demonstrated by college performance • Courses in area of research • Courses in area of research are not required but may be a considerable asset for some projects • Previous research • Experiencecarrying out scientific research is not a prerequisite for admission to the program. However, prior experience may be a considerable asset for some of projects • Career objectives • We seek participants who will make good use of the opportunity provided by the REU program. A primary goal of the National Science Foundation REU program is to help students make informed choices concerning scientific careers, such as the decision whether or not to pursue a graduate degree, or selection between possible sub-fields of study • Letters of recommendation • These provide valuable information about applicants' accomplishments and potential for independent scientific research

19. Requirements • US citizen or permanent resident • Junior or senior status • Minorities and underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply • Hispanics and women

25. NSF REU Sites • There are 38 REU Sites in CSE around the country • They all have similar characteristics • Application deadline • Stipend • Duration • Requirements • Activities • Etc. • USF REU Site is limited to two-three students • I encourage you to apply somewhere else too • It is a VERY nice and rewarding experience • It weights on your resume • It helps A LOT if you are planning on applying to graduate school • It is A LOT better than a summer job

26. NSF REU Sites • http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.cfm?unitid=5049

27. Questions ???