Martin D. Fox - US grants

polymers; drug delivery systems;

The University of Connecticut will initiate a six-week, residential, multidisciplinary Young Scholars project which will offer science enrichment activities to 36 precollege students entering grades 11 and 12. This summer program will emphasize highly interdisciplinary research participation in chemistry, physics, computer science, engineering and the life sciences. Projects will involve imaging and computer-aided design, fabrication of microelectronic devices, environmental problems, laser spectroscopy, and cellular and molecular mechanisms of neural circuits. Research experience will be gained through work in the laboratories of practicing researchers/mentors.

This award will partially fund the expenses for about ten participants in the "1993 New England Doppler Conference". This conference will be held in Lakeville, Connecticut on May 25 to 28, 1993. The conference will be divided into twelve sessions and the topics will include, among others, Doppler frequency analysis, the detection of flow in multiple directions, hemodynamics, velocity displays and future applications. This conference is important since it will bring together a group of participants from diverse areas to discuss future directions in research in Doppler ultrasound. The meeting should stimulate research into emerging areas important to the advancement of the field.

9353019 Fox The University of Connecticut will provide a 6-week summer residential Young Scholars project for 36 students entering the 11th and 12th grades. The interdisciplinary focus will include chemistry, physics, engineering, and computer science. Students will complete projects on imaging and computer aided design, fabrication of microelectronic devices, environmental research, laser spectroscopy,and biotechnology. Hands-on research experiences in laboratories of practicing mentors will be supplemented by research progress meetings, science seminars and symposiums. Follow up activities will include return visits to the University of Connecticut and presentations of research at high schools. ***

This exploratory project will investigate the utility of social networking as a learning environment to motivate and improve the performance of high school students, especially Hispanic students, and college students in the areas of math, science, and engineering. The Learning Enabled Social Network (LESN), a joint project between the University of Connecticut?s Schools of Engineering and Education, seeks to discover how these inherently motivating environments can be adapted to enhance motivation and interest in engineering education and how to harness the power of project-based learning and social networking to enhance learning and promote the science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines. LESN is based on a strong theoretical framework of communities of practice to engage students in authentic problem solving activities. The structure of the technology allows vertical integration from elementary school to professional engineering as well as horizontal participation across various cultures and disciplines. The tool?s student-centered design seeks to facilitate student-centered learning and transform faculty teaching. Collaboration between the University of Connecticut and Windham high school will seek to identify features of the online social network that lend themselves to improved engineering problem solving. This project will also advance the understanding and skills of participating engineering faculty and administrators as related to innovative pedagogy as a result of working with the project.

Engineering education must be transformed if it is to meet the needs of the 21st century. Academic performance and motivation must be addressed at the K-12 level if we are going to improve recruitment and expand the diversity of incoming engineering enrollment. Critical thinking skills to solve real-world problems must also be improved if our graduates are to be capable of working in multi-disciplined and multi-cultured communities, which are increasingly becoming common forums for engineering work. Social networking can effectively boost academic performance and eventually lead to improved recruitment and retention in science and engineering disciplines.