Summer research program supports underrepresented engineering students
Posted by Lindsay Stanford
Front row, left to right: Langston Hines, Tuskegee University; Ahmed Osmand, Tennessee State University; Sam Wreh, Tennessee State University; Second row, left to right: Joshua Campbell, Tennessee State University; Branden Currie, Tennessee State University; Top row, standing: Chris Buford II, Tennessee State University.
Six undergraduate students from Tennessee State University in Nashville and Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Ala., spent two months this summer conducting engineering research at Missouri S&T as part of a new program designed to encourage underrepresented engineering students to consider pursuing graduate studies.
Missouri S&T’s Summer Engineering Research Academy (SERA) is sponsored by S&T’s College of Engineering and Computing (CEC).
“This was a new program, and it was a tremendous success,” says John Myers, CEC associate dean and a professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering. “We wanted to introduce more undergraduate students from underrepresented groups to the exciting research going on here at Missouri S&T, in hopes of generating interest in going on to graduate school after they finish their bachelor’s degrees. We plan to continue to offer this program in the future.”
“Each of the students worked with an S&T research group based on their expressed interest areas of metallurgical engineering, automation or advanced manufacturing,” says Kelley R. Wilkerson, CerE’07, PhD CerE’12, assistant teaching professor of materials science and engineering and program director.
Each student spent about 30 hours a week on research and spent their remaining time exploring the university, touring labs, attending personal development workshops and participating in social activities. At the end of the two-month program, the students presented the results of their research.
Ahmed Osmand and Sam Wreh from Tennessee State University, both studying metallurgy, participate in the Summer Engineering Research Academy (SERA). 
Ahmed Osmand and Sam Wreh from Tennessee State University, both studying metallurgy, work on fiber optic sensors for use in their metallurgy research. 
Joshua Campbell (left) from Tennessee State University, and Langston Hines (right) from Tuskegee University, study under S&T advisors in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department as a part of the SERA. 
Chris Buford II from Tennessee State University studies additive manufacturing as part of the Summer Engineering Research Academy (SERA).
