Since the summer of 2006, the NSF-funded AERIM Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in the department of Mechanical Engineering at Oakland University has been offering rich research, professional development, networking and cohort-building experiences to undergraduate students in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. With a focus on hands-on automotive and energy research projects and a proximity to many automotive companies, the program has been successful at attracting a diverse group of students. In fact, a total of 104 students from 70 different universities have participated in the program over the past 15 years, with about 70% of the participants coming from groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in engineering (women in particular). Most research projects have been team-based and have typically involved experimental and analytical work with perhaps a handful of numerical simulation-based projects over the years. Prior assessment has shown that students greatly valued and benefited from interacting with faculty mentors, industry professionals, industry tours, and each other.
As a result of limitations placed on in-person meeting and on-campus activities impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the program had to pivot to a virtual format in the summer of 2021. This virtual format brought about several challenges and opportunities, which will be discussed in this paper. Despite the virtual format, the program was successful at attracting a diverse group of students in 2021. Twelve undergraduate students from eight different institutions took part remotely in the program and encompassed several time zones ranging from Eastern Standard Time to Alaska Standard Time. The 2021 cohort included seven women, three underrepresented minorities, and two students with a reported disability. Also noteworthy is the fact that half of the students were first generation in college students. While the PIs were happy with the student make up, running the program in a virtual format was very challenging. For one, what was traditionally a hands-on, experimental research program had to pivot to completely simulation/analytical based projects. This brought about issues related to remote access to software, time lags and difficulties with engaging students while computer simulations were running remotely. While the program was able to offer several seminars and meetings with industry professionals in a virtual fashion, it was not possible to provide industry tours or the casual conversations that would spontaneously occur when meeting face to face with industry professionals. Finally, with students logging in from their homes across the country and across different time zones rather than living together in the Oakland University dorms, the usual bonding and group interactions that would normally occur over the summer were difficult to replicate. In this paper we discuss what was learned from these challenges and how the virtual format also offered opportunities that will be utilized in future years.
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Ensuring the kids are alright: Ways to help students network with industry professionals in the age of virtual meetings and career fair disillusionment
The pandemic has derailed the traditional networking vehicles to connect aspiring, ambitious students with industry professionals. As a result, the flow of young talent to best-fitting industry outlets is being misdirected. Moreover, many students are not inclined to accept virtual meetings as a replacement for face-to-face engagement while professionals often prefer virtual meetings as means to maximize productivity. The latter disparity has led to campus “career fairs” turning into stay-at-home experiences that students notoriously lament. Without bridges to network students with the right industry professionals to optimize hiring and onboarding processes, our society faces increasing early career turnover, loss of productivity, and disenchantment of young talent with the technical outlets that could await them. This talk will first clarify the crisis facing industries as a result of pandemic-motivated physical distancing practices. We will discuss lessons learned from recent attempts to foster genuine connections between students and the industry professionals they could work alongside in the future. The talk will conclude with a call to action on part of both students and professionals to collectively rebuild the networking system before a temporary disruption turns into a generational failure.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2054970
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10339731
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
- Volume:
- 151
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 0001-4966
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- A115 to A115
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0010827
