Research Experience
for Undergraduates
A 10-week summer research experience connecting undergraduate students with cutting-edge, multidisciplinary work in materials science and engineering.
Research with purpose.
Hands-on Learning
Students are exposed to hands-on learning in the basics of materials science and engineering and take part in cutting-edge multidisciplinary research.
Materials in Context
The program enriches students’ understanding of the relationship between structure, processing, properties, and performance of materials and nano/biomaterials.
Pathways Forward
Research exposure is designed to strengthen interest in higher education and expand engineering opportunities for undergraduate students across the United States.
Weeks
Summer research training
Students
Supported across three years
Program Summers
Three-year comprehensive activity
UTRGV Impact
Expanding an engineering-going culture
Ten weeks.
One research journey.
The REU is more than a collection of activities. It is a progression from entering a research environment, to developing technical understanding, contributing to a project, and communicating what you have learned.
Enter the Lab
Meet the research community, understand the project context, and begin hands-on training in the research environment.
Investigate
Develop technical skills while working with materials, methods, characterization, and active research questions.
Contribute
Take a more active role in the project, interpret results, and connect observations to materials behavior and performance.
Communicate
Reflect on the research experience, communicate findings, and explore future graduate education and STEM pathways.
A landscape of
materials research.
Students explore a broad range of materials science and engineering research through active projects, hands-on experimentation, and faculty mentorship.
Materials for energy systems.
Explore electrodes, energy storage, ion transport, charge transfer, and electrochemical materials.
Behavior changes with scale.
Investigate nanoscale structure, surfaces, coatings, layered materials, and interfaces.
Materials inspired by nature.
Explore biomaterials, sustainable processing, porous systems, membranes, fibers, and lower-impact materials approaches.
Properties become technology.
Study materials engineered for targeted electrical, optical, chemical, mechanical, and multifunctional performance.
Dr. Mataz Alcoutlabi
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering and Computer Science