Research Experiences for Undergraduates
at the
College of Engineering
and
Computer Science and Engineering
Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
labrador@cse.usf.edu
http://www.csee.usf.edu/~labrador
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Research Experience for Undergraduates
at the
College of Engineering
and
Computer Science
and Engineering
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Agenda
• Introduction and Motivation
• Initiatives and Programs
• CoE REU Program
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Examples of REU projects
Stats of the REU Program as of Summer 03
Recruitment
How does it work?
Funding
• NSF REU Site in CSE
• Other NSF REU Sites
• Q&A
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Introduction and Motivation
• Several important statistics included in the National Science
Foundation (NSF) in its 2002 indicators report
– Enrollment in Science and Engineering (S&E) declined from 441K
students in 1983 to 361K in 1999
– Fewer than 50% students completed their degrees within 5 years
– Approximately 20% of students dropped out of college
– Graduation rate of underrepresented minority students is lower than
that of other groups
• E.g. Hispanics only account for 6, 4 and 3 percent of the bachelor’s,
Master’s and doctoral degrees and only 2.9% of faculty
• Fastest growing population
– Low enrollment in graduate programs
• One of the recommended reforms to address these problems is
undergraduate research
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Initiatives and Programs
• NSF created the Research Experience for Undergraduates
(REU) program to involve undergraduate students in state-ofthe-art research projects in Science and Engineering (S&E)
– NSF REU Sites
• USF is strongly committed to undergraduate research
– New Office of Undergraduate Research in the Honors College
– Undergraduate research grants
• Travel and research grants up to $500 (See http://www.ur.usf.edu)
– USF Journal of Undergraduate Research
– USF and CoE REU Symposia
• The CoE pioneered the idea and created the CoE REU program
in spring 2002
– More than 100 REU students College-wide every semester
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
The CoE REU Program
• The program started in Spring 02
• By end of Summer 03
– More than 120 students participated
– More than 20 students joined graduate school
• Many more participating students declared they would seek an
advanced degree once they complete their Bachelors Degrees
• Undergraduates built equipment, gathered data, wrote software
• Several undergraduate supported publications are in the works!
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Recruiting
• Each engineering department has an Undergraduate Research
Coordinator, who
– Discusses research interests with students
– Puts them in touch with potential faculty advisors
• The Coordinators are:
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Grisselle Centeno (Industrial Engineering)
Ashok Kumar (Mechanical Engineering)
Miguel Labrador (Computer Science and Engineering)
Gray Mullins (Civil Engineering)
Rudy Schlaf (Electrical Engineering)
John Wolan (Chemical Engineering)
• Website http://www.eng.usf.edu/~schlaf/REU/
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
How Does It Work?
• Step 1: Student identifies area of research and faculty members
– The REU Coordinator can help you
• Step 2: Student discuss with potential faculty if projects are
available
– Faculty also “interview” you to make sure you qualify
• Step 3: Faculty decides to hire you
– Some faculty may ask you to work for a two month probationary
period
• Step 4: Fill in application form (on the REU website).
• Step 5: Submit to REU Coordinator along with matching account
number
• Step 6: REU Coordinator signs student up depending on:
– Availability of funds (not a problem this year…)
– Whether deliverables have been met (only for continuing students)
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
How Does It Work?
• Deliverables, due after each semester (will be posted on the
website):
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Scientific Report (paper style)
Three PowerPoint slides summarizing your work
One digital photograph showing you “in action”
Purpose: Allows other students to see what their colleagues do,
creates a track record that can be used for further fund raising
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Funding
• Each REU-Student receives a stipend of $4 per hour, 10 hours
max. per week through the CoE-REU program
– REU Fellowship
• The stipends are matched by the faculty advisors resulting in $8
hourly pay
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Examples in Computer Science and
Engineering
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Saar Carmel (Dr. Kandel)
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Cindy L. Bethel (Dr. Goldgof and Dr. Hall)
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Research Resource for Advancing Human Identification from
Gait
Dmitry Klyadin (Dr. Labrador)
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Development of a GIS Framework for the Environmental
Protection Commission of Hillsborough County (EPC)
Adebola Osuntogun, Preskha Sudhakar, and Christine
Bexley (Dr. Sarkar)
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Techniques for Improving Patient Enrollment in Clinical Trials
Sasha Dos Santos (Dr. Perez)
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CompactSet: a technique for creating optimal test case sets
A hands-on course on computer networks
Sean Barbeau, Edgar Banguero, and Ahmad Mageed
(Dr. Perez and Dr. Labrador)
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Traveling Smart: Increasing Transit Ridership by Automatic
Collection (TRAC)
of Individual Travel Behavior Data and Personalized Feedback
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
The REU Site in CSE
• 10-week summer program (full-time, 40 hrs/week)
– From May 31 to August 5, 2005
• Group of at least 11 students
– UPRM, Florida, USF and Latin American countries
• Work on a research project/area of interest
• Workshops on research methodology, literature review, writing
and presentation skills
• Poster competition
• Field trips, visits to local companies, brown bag seminars and
speakers
• Social activities
• Stipend of approximately $3200 plus housing, meals and travel
support
– Not entirely for USF students
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
2005 Projects
•
Comparing Fuzzy Clustering
and Finite Gaussian Mixture
Model in Brain Magnetic
Resonance Images (MRI)
– Jose Casillas
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Data Classification and Bit
Reduction Compression Method
– Daniel Garcia
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Navigation Controllers for
Mobile Robots
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40
Time (seconds)
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Reduction and Time
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0 bits
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3 bits
9 bits
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10 bits
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12 bits
10
5
0
– Luis Echevarria
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6 bits
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1
4
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Features
Optimizing TCP for Short
Connections
TRAC-IT
Personal Digital Travel Diary
Complete System
Wireless Data Connection
through Cellular Provider
– Nikada Egland
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10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55
Travel Advisory Expert System
Global
Positioning
System Satellites
– Diana Arteaga
TRACIT Server
Communication Tower
Internet
WLAN 802.11b
Personal Digital Assistant w/
Global Positioning System and
Wireless Connectivity Card
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Wireless Router
Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Other Sources of Real Time Information
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2005 Projects
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Virtual Patient Simulation
– Edwin Torres and Carlos Aviles
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Power Minimization Using the QuineMcKluskey Method
– Ransford Hyman
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Location-based Picture Messaging
– Pierre Rosado and Alfredo Perez
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Evaluation of Available Bandwidth
Estimation Tools
– Billy Elias and Agnes Velez
Probing packets
Cross Traffic
131.247.3.65
192.168.0.1/24
Public IP
192.168.0.2/24
Linux Server
(ABET sender)
Link A
Link B
192.168.1.1/24
192.168.2.1/24
192.168.1.2/24
FreeBSD
Dummynet
192.168.2.2/24
FreeBSD
Dummynet
Link C
192.168.4.1/24
192.168.3.1/24
192.168.3.2/24
FreeBSD
Dummynet
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192.168.4.2/24
FreeBSD
Dummynet
Linux Client
(ABET destination)
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
2006 Projects
• Look at the projects
– http://www.csee.usf.edu/REU
• Look at the labs and faculty web pages
– http://www.csee.usf.edu
• Pick the project that you like
• Pick two other projects as second and third choices
• Ask or even propose a project and we will try to make it work for
you
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
How to apply
• Deadline to apply March 15, 2005
– Notification of acceptance by April 7
• If you want to apply to the REU program, you should
– Complete and submit the application form
• Can be downloaded from http://www.csee.usf.edu/REU
– Submit a one-page personal statement of career objectives
– Submit a copy of your college transcripts
– Arrange for recommendations from two college professors (in
math, science, or engineering) to be sent directly to the REU
Program Coordinator by e-mail or sealed in an envelop along
with your application package
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
How to apply
• Mail the application, personal statement, college transcripts and
recommendations to:
– Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Summer 2005 REU Program
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Avenue, ENB 118
Tampa, FL 33620
• Electronic submissions are also accepted and preferred. Please
e-mail them directly in pdf format to labrador@cse.usf.edu
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
How to apply
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In evaluating applications, we will consider the following criteria:
– Academic achievement, as demonstrated by college performance
– Courses in area of research
• Courses in area of research are not required but may be a considerable asset for
some projects
– Previous research
• Experience carrying out scientific research is not a prerequisite for admission to
the program. However, prior experience may be a considerable asset for some of
projects
– Career objectives
• We seek participants who will make good use of the opportunity provided by the
REU program. A primary goal of the National Science Foundation REU program is
to help students make informed choices concerning scientific careers, such as the
decision whether or not to pursue a graduate degree, or selection between
possible sub-fields of study
– Letters of recommendation
• These provide valuable information about applicants' accomplishments and
potential for independent scientific research
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Requirements
• US citizen or permanent resident
• Junior or senior status
• Minorities and underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply
– Hispanics and women
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
NSF REU Sites
• There are 38 REU Sites in CSE around the country
• They all have similar characteristics
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Application deadline
Stipend
Duration
Requirements
Activities
Etc.
• USF REU Site is limited to two-three students
• I encourage you to apply somewhere else too
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It is a VERY nice and rewarding experience
It weights on your resume
It helps A LOT if you are planning on applying to graduate school
It is A LOT better than a summer job
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
NSF REU Sites
• http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.cfm?unitid=5049
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Copyright© Dr. Miguel A. Labrador
Questions ???
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