Tips for Choosing a Research Topic for STEM PAE When asked to brainstorm about a topic, first and second year students may have limited knowledge of their major and stick to general knowledge topics. Here are some ideas to help them broaden the possibilities but also focus on current and future trends and problems. These examples are for mechanical engineering but are applicable for most engineering fields. Academic Departments It may help for them to look at an academic dept. or association to review the subjects of a field to see its scope. Mechanical engineering is a very wide field. https://community.asme.org/technical_events_and_content_sector/w/wiki/16577.divisiondescriptions.aspx Google It Searching the exact phrase “emerging trends OR technologies” and mechanical engineering, or civil engineering, or information systems engineering with domain searches such as .edu or .ac.kr can point students towards current research and future trends on articles published by universities. Other terms like problems or challenges can also be searched. Search syntax: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22emerging+trends%22+%22mechanical+engineering%22+site%3 A.edu&lr=&safe=active&as_qdr=all&biw=1920&bih=941&ei=HAEnYo2VD4jn2roP6sClyAw&ved=0a hUKEwiNk8XFrX2AhWIs1YBHWpgCckQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=%22emerging+trends%22+%22mechanical+engine ering%22+site%3A.edu&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANKBQg8EgExSgQIQRgBSgQIRhgAUMUHWMUH YMQMaAFwAHgAgAFxiAFxkgEDMC4xmAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=gws-wiz Article example: https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/7-biggest-trends-for-engineering-in-the-2020s Hanyang University Resources Each lab at Hanyang usually has an overview of the type of research they do. It is usually a tab called “research” on the lab homepage. Students will also be able to easily find journal articles that each lab has published on a topic that interests them. http://engr.hanyang.ac.kr/eng/professor/professor.php?ptype=list&code=faculties_eng&category=178 Changing Common Topics Students could take a common topic but modify it for a different environment or material. For example, autonomous cars-> autonomous underwater vehicles. 3D printing-> 4D printing https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032386121005498 or metal printing. Robotics-> soft robots https://softrobotics.wixsite.com/home/current-research Mining-> asteroid mining. Student Interest Students could take a technology that interests them and connect it to their major: AI + robotics = smart factories. 3D printing + civil engineering; 3D printing of buildings https://www.sculpteo.com/en/3dlearning-hub/applications-of-3d-printing/construction-and-architecture/ University Public Relations The PR departments of universities and dept. homepages often promote their emerging technologies and research: https://news.mit.edu/2022/surgical-tape-bioadhesive-sutures-0202 Surgical duct tape! http://meche.mit.edu/impact Talking to Seniors Students are encouraged to contact the graduate students in a lab that do research in a field that interests your PAE students. Most labs have the contact info of the grad students in the lab and some labs have undergrad interns that they might also contact. For example, http://isnde.hanyang.ac.kr/Members. Some students have graduate school lab internships. If only a couple of motivated students follow through, then it would still be worth mentioning as an option.
