Fostering undergtraduate research through collaboration with local engineering companies

This paper discusses the importance of introducing the undergraduate engineering student to research; it provides examples on how research has been integrated with the curriculum, and how the local engineering industry provides engineering research projects for the students. One research project includes the development of a test fixture to be used in determining the pull-out strength of screws in a biomaterials substrate. Another example presented is the development of a test configuration for determining the under water impact resistance of acoustic windows. Furthermore, a research project will be presented on the creation, testing and analysis of bone cement specimens. Through these projects students learn valuable skills such as performing literature review of a technical topic, developing a statement of work, establishing a research plan, learning appropriate software and hardware tools, carefully documenting their work, analyzing results, writing papers, and presenting their work at conferences. This paper provides details on how these skills are developed through the students' research experiences and how they will benefit the students upon graduation. In order to expose a large number of undergraduate students to research it is helpful to develop some form of a mentoring program where students learn from each other. The paper describes how this mentoring program is organized and provides details of how the students interact with their peers, the faculty members and representatives from the local industry.