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This article reviews the notion of a Sustainability Mindset in comparison to sustainability competencies in the context of a study of a first year cohort of students beginning a minor in Sustainability Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez. A framework of Knowledge (K), Skills (S), Attitudes (A), Behaviors (B), and Attitudes (A) is adopted to capture the students' developing mindsets broadly the context of Sustainability. A detailed open-form survey was administered after the first semester and was completed by 9/11 participants. Results show mature growth in the domain of sustainability (e.g., broad knowledge of the concept of sustainability to encompass the three 'pillars' of environmental, equity, and economic factors, and deep knowledge regarding ideas such as circular economy and earth systems cycles). Further growth is also demonstrated in academic and personal development (e.g., improved study skills, time management, and research skills). Future work will endeavor to continue observing the evolution of the mindset at the KSBA level and at finer levels of detail. 

Sustainability is an overarching challenge for the 21st century at local, national, and international levels. A new generation of engineers trained in sustainability is crucial to ensure the quality of life for current and future generations. To meet this challenge, the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM), with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE): Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program, aims to create a new Minor in Sustainability Engineering, as a precursor to a bachelor's degree in the same area. This paper describes a recently awarded project comprising the design and implementation of a Sustainability Engineering (SE) Minor at UPRM 

The prevalent gap between students from different socioeconomic statuses (SES) affects multiple aspects of our social functionality. Among its effects, the SES gap directly impacts the opportunities to which students have access while in college and beyond. This paper discusses the efforts and partial results of a program aimed at bridging such differences for low-income, academically talented students (LIATS) in a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). The reported approach leverages the relations with a group of industry partners to provide LIATS with scholarships, professional mentorship, work-shops, and on-the-job training opportunities while sharing with the in-dustry the students' e-portfolios, professional profiles, and resumes, developing a symbiotic relationship where both benefit. After three years of interactions, the results show how these opportunities helped LIATS develop their skills, leadership, and competitiveness as future STEM professionals. The experience also demonstrates that profes-sional growth opportunities are critical for engaging LIATS in real-life contexts where they collaborate and interact with industry part-ners, and for providing them with opportunities that help to bridge the SES gap. 

This paper analyzes, from a servingness perspective, the experiences of students in a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) implementing personalized mentoring strategies as part of an NSF-funded, S-STEM program. The program objective was to increase the retention and success of low-income academically talented students. We discuss the results of using Individual Development Plans (IDP) to help students establish post-graduation goals and action plans to reach them. The IDPs also maintained a flexible structure that allowed students for morphing both their plans and envisioned outcomes, as they progressed in their chosen academic programs. Student outcome expectations were assessed at three stages of their development: in their first year, as juniors in what can be considered a mid-point of their development, and during their fourth year of program participation. 

Natural disasters has been causing an increasing amount of economic losses in the past two decades. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, winter storms, and wildfires, can cause severe damages to power systems, significantly impacting industrial, commercial, and residential activities, leading to not only economic losses but also inconveniences to people’s day-today life. Improving the resilience of power systems can lead to a reduced number of power outages during extreme events and is a critical goal in today’s power system operations. This paper presents a model for decentralized decision-making in power systems based on distributed optimization and implemented it on a modified RTS-96 test system, discusses the convergence of the problem, and compares the impact of decision-making mechanisms on power system resilience. Results show that a decentralized decision-making algorithm can significantly reduce power outages when part of the system is islanded during severe transmission contingencies. 

Transmission switching is widely used in the electric power industry for both preventive and corrective purposes. Optimal transmission switching (OTS) problems are usually formulated based on optimal power flow (OPF) problems. OTS problems are originally nonlinear optimization problems with binary integer variables indicating whether a transmission line is in or out of service, however, they can be linearized into mixed-integer linear programs (MILP) through the big-M method. In such big-M-based MILP problems, the value of M can significantly affect their computational efficiency. This paper proposes a method to find the optimal big-M values for OTS problems and studies the impact of big-M values on the computational efficiency of OTS problems. The model was implemented on a modified RTS-96 test system, and the results show that the proposed model can effectively reduce the computational time by finding an optimal big-M value which ensures optimal switching solutions while maintaining numerical stability. 

PEARLS is a structured scholarship program designed to mitigate the economic hardship associated with the cost of attendance (COA). The main goal of the program is to increase the retention and success of low-income, academically talented students (LIATS) in engineering programs at a Hispanic institution. We structured students' interventions in five stages: LIATS Background Experiences, Belonging, Formative, Growth, and Graduate Development. This full paper presents the program evaluation results that combine social cognitive career theory and attrition mitigation elements. Specifically, we conducted a formative evaluation approach guided by the following question: What were the strengths and weaknesses of PEARLS according to students and mentors? A total of 92 LIATS (40 females and 52 males) met the eligibility criteria and the selection process established by the Executive Board. Overall, 78% of student participants voluntarily completed the electronic self-report questionnaires. Also, we assigned students under the supervision of eight mentors. In terms of their mentoring process, participant students reported an overall excellent opinion about their mentors and the mentoring process provided through the program. They expressed to be very satisfied with their relationship with their mentor regarding communication, connection, professionalism, and encouragement. Few students indicated weaknesses in their mentor, including poor accessibility due to lack of time, feeling intimidated by the mentor, and inadequate counseling. From the mentors’ perspective, it was perceived that their tasks and responsibilities aligned with their expectations. We noticed a relationship between what mentors perceived as their duties and what mentees identified as strengths of the mentoring program. For instance, their commitment to serve as a student mentor by offering academic counseling, encouragement, recommendations for COOP and research experiences, and setting career goals has resulted positive to establish a good relationship with the mentee. Finally, we concluded that both students and mentors felt satisfied with their involvement in the program. Similarly, mentors agreed that the time and commitment required to fulfill the responsibilities in the program are limited due to other obligations, such as teaching, research, and service commitments. This situation reflects on the mentees who expressed concern about the time availability of their mentors due to other professional obligations. Regardless, we conclude that the goal of the mentoring program proposed to promote a sense of belonging in mentees during their years of study was accomplished. 

This paper assesses the effectiveness of an intervention model aimed at propelling low-income, academically talented (LIAT) engineering students in a Hispanic Serving Institution (HIS) into actions, immersing them into real-life contexts. The model, named the LIAT College Access and Success model (L-CAS), integrates elements from Lent’s Social Cognitive Career Theory and Tinto’s Departure model in a framework provided by a structured scholarship program designed to mitigate the economic hardship of students while also providing a multistage intervention plan to improve their success metrics. In this paper, we revisit the theoretical foundations of the L-CAS model and the academic setting where it was implemented to look at the data acquired throughout its application during three years on a pilot group of 92 students. We assess the model effectiveness for springing LIATS into actions leading to their success while reflecting on the results obtained so far. We also discuss opportunities for improvements and the projections for a scaled porting of the model to a campus-wide level. 

This work in progress reports an intervention to develop leadership skills in engineering undergraduate students. A methodology based on a cognitive apprentice framework was implemented, where coaching, Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL), cooperative learning, reflection, and self-assessment are combined to train peer leaders from different engineering programs. Students in the PLTL Peer Leaders initiative are low-income academically talented students (LIATS) from a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Early results analyzing post workshop reflections and self-assessment of peer leaders were used to identify changes in leadership skills of peer leaders. This paper reports on the methodology employed and early results from students’ reflection and self-assessment. 

This work in progress presents the development and implementation of an Individual Development Plan (IDP) for undergraduate and first-year master’s engineering students. The IDP was designed and tailored as one of several strategies to increase retention and graduation rates for engineering students participating in the Program for Engineering Access, Retention, and LIATS Success (PEARLS). This program provides scholarships to low income, academically talented students (LIATS), and promotes their academic success and on-time graduation. We show how the IDPs, paired with a faculty mentoring component are able to produce a powerful mechanism to boost LIATS actions, propelling them to become highly competitive engineering students.