Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State is receiving a $300,000 National Science Foundation research experience grant that will address both scientific and human challenges.
In addition to having the university's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems investigate something called high-rate phenomena, the award also is designed to encourage more undergraduate students to pursue advanced degrees in engineering and science fields.
The proposal submitted by MSU civil engineering faculty members will fund research by eight students during the summer. Involving a different group of individuals each year, the
10-week summer program begins this year and continues through 2009.
The program provides $4,000 stipends, along with meal and travel costs.
Heating, cooling, compression, and expansion are some examples of high-rate phenomena. Students chosen to participate will use a variety of high-technology research methods, including molecular dynamics simulations, computer simulations and crash finite element simulations, said primary investigator Philip Gullett.
Gullett, an assistant professor of civil engineering, is joined by co-investigator Tommy Stevenson, assistant dean for diversity and student development at the Bagley College of Engineering.
"The need for understanding high-rate phenomena is prevalent in the weapons and space programs, as well as the automotive industry," Gullett said, describing the impact of the research program.
"In addition, government reports have noted a disconcerting trend of decreasing numbers of researchers with doctorates in the U.S. weapons and space communities," he added.
Specialists in the field have warned repeatedly about the declining numbers of United States scientists and engineers, especially when compared to major developing nations such as China and India. Several reports also have recommended the development of national programs that encourage students to seek careers in research and engineering.
Gullett and Stevenson initially will recruit from Jones County Junior College and the Mississippi Delta Community College, as well as three historically black universities, including Jackson State, Clark-Atlanta, and Tuskegee.
"We will engage students in undergraduate research opportunities," Stevenson said. "We'll try to get them thinking about graduate school."
In recent years, MSU has offered other REU's for students to develop research interests, including a biological sciences program that focused on conservation biology in the Southeastern United States.