Extraordinary Engineering Impacts on Society Proceedings of a Symposium (2023) / Chapter Skim
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5 NSF Processes That Fostered Extraordinary Engineering Impacts on Society
5 NSF Processes That Fostered Extraordinary Engineering Impacts on Society
Pages 63-80
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From page 63... ...
During his undergraduate years at Georgia Tech, M arshall was a General Electric Foundation scholar, a program that supported underrepresented minority STEM undergraduate students, in part through summer employment at GE. For his master's degree, also at Georgia Tech, he was a GEM Consortium fellow, another effort that supports underrepresented minority STEM students that has an indus 63
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From page 64... ...
After two unsuccessful bids, he was awarded a prestigious NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which provided flexible and sustained funding that supported his first PhD students and laid the foundation for the rest of his career.
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From page 65... ...
[And it] is not only me who benefited from these programs but my entire research team, which of course included undergraduate, master's, and PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, all supported by NSF on our research, discovery, and translation journey together." In 2017, following the encouragement of his mentor, Marshall joined the NSF staff on an Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignment.
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From page 66... ...
As part of his work to address the needs of students with disabilities in engineering and the sciences, he has been involved with NSF's Research Experience for Undergraduates program for over 20 years -- "this is one of the most wonderful programs NSF has." Over 200 students have been supported by NSF through the ASPIRE REU program at Pittsburgh's Human Engineering Research Laboratory, where Cooper is founding director and a senior research scientist, and more than 1,000 have received other supplements through foundations and other agencies, including the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The participants have been about 55 percent women, more than 20 percent have been from racially and ethnically diverse populations, and more than a quarter reported an impairment that limits one or more daily activities.
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From page 67... ...
Cooper's work includes development of user interfaces for assistive robotic manipulators that help wheelchair users or people with disabilities do daily tasks. Many people have difficulties using current robotic interfaces, he said, and the new interface will reduce frustrations so people can learn how to control the robot quickly and easily.
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From page 68... ...
"And to do the work that we do, and others do, sometimes it takes multiple NSF programs." SUPPORTING PARTNERSHIPS WITH INDUSTRY Harriet Nembhard, the Roy J Carver Professor of Engineering at the University of Iowa, shared three stories to describe the mechanisms of funding opportunities through NSF -- one of a hero, one of a teacher, and one of a mentor.
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From page 69... ...
As an industrial engineer, her work has always been very multidisciplinary. Her first GOALI project included industrial engineers, mechanical engineers, and computer scientists working with a mid-sized textile manufacturer to minimize waste when changing from one product design or textile pattern to another.
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From page 70... ...
She and her colleagues have been intentional around helping engineers think about pursuing medical degrees, and they have sent students to medical schools around the country. When students graduate from these schools, they provide unique opportunities for partnerships with the healthcare and other companies in which they work.
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From page 71... ...
Using research methods from cognitive science, Atman and her colleagues gathered data from 177 engineers with various levels of expertise who solved particular design problems while talking out loud. For a particular study involving a subset of 50 senior and first-year engineering students, the researchers transcribed the audio files and assigned individual phrases to categories: problem definition, information gathering, generation of ideas, modeling (prototyping)
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From page 72... ...
First, it works to ensure that students have access to Indigenous-designed STEM programming and vital services, including scholarship and academic support as well as mentorship and guidance throughout their educational journey from preK–12 to undergraduate to graduate studies. Second, in the area of career support and development, the organization works to ensure that professionals are supported as they enter and progress in STEM careers by providing internships, fellowships, training, networking, and direct connection to the vast network of employers who partner closely with AISES to hire talent in the corporate, government, and public sectors.
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From page 73... ...
A literature review of STEM education for Indigenous learners produced under a core research grant has improved understanding of the strategies known to improve the educational outcomes for Native students. Lighting the Pathway to Faculty Careers for Natives in STEM has sought to increase the number of American Indian and Alaska Native students who persist in STEM and pursue faculty positions.
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From page 74... ...
The multimedia case studies of engineering design -- which were used at all levels of engineering education -- considered many perspectives including industrial design, design for assembly, design for manufacture, custom-driven design, design trade-offs, design for the environment, design for ergonomics, and the social implications of design. The coalition and the follow-ups it inspired "were trans
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From page 75... ...
"After our interventions, there were absolutely no statistical differences by gender in spatial reasoning skills, and everybody's skills increased greatly." Grants in this area led to the development of digital libraries to provide location-sensitive learning resources, educational games using interactive multimedia to introduce students to mechatronics design, and community-based design programs. She worked with girls in low-income migrant worker communities and in Native American tribes, and she and other faculty members at Berkeley also engaged in various forms of nontraditional engineering.
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From page 76... ...
She has also created trading cards featuring women in STEM roles and 2 Simon, A., Frampton, J., White, J and Takayama, S., University of Michigan, 2014.
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From page 77... ...
Instead of an invasive biopsy, the diagnostic involved a blood test that can accurately detect and quantify elevated levels of protein biomarkers in the bloodstream of patients experiencing a reaction. She was among the initial cohorts of participants in the NSF's I-Corps program, which encouraged participants to "get out of the building and talk to at least 100 people in your ecosystem, which we did." Communities generally know much more about the problems they face than do people outside those communities, she said.
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From page 78... ...
TRANSITIONING TO OTHER SOURCES OF FUNDING The members of the panel also discussed the issue of transitioning from NSF funding to other funding models since, as Sheppard observed, "we can't be and shouldn't be dependent on NSF for a long time." Agogino pointed out that many projects NSF funds are not going to be commercially viable. As a result, partnerships with other institutions are necessary.
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From page 79... ...
NSF PROCESSES THAT FOSTERED EXTRAORDINARY ENGINEERING IMPACTS 79 PROMOTING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION In a discussion of the role of NSF initiatives centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion, Nembhard observed that "inclusive excellence is not a compromise but rather an approach." Achieving excellence requires inclusion and diversity, which entails providing opportunities for people to become engaged. NSF has become invested in this approach.
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From page 80... ...
That's why all of us have a role in being accessible." Simon suggested supplementing engineering classes with classes in the arts, business, public policy, music, or literature. "Don't be afraid to venture out of engineering and try a class in a different discipline." Marshall recommended getting work experiences, even in high school, "any opportunities that you have to connect with industry." Those experiences will inform future pathways, he said.
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