Eight students from historically Black colleges and universities are participating in a summer program at Missouri University of Science and Technology that is designed to encourage engineering students from underrepresented groups to pursue graduate studies.
This year, students in Missouri S&T’s Summer Engineering Research Academy (SERA) are from Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama, Tennessee State University in Nashville, and Morgan State University in Baltimore.
During the two-month program, the students get involved in a range of research projects, including hypersonic flight materials, arsenic mobility in groundwater, additive manufacturing in laser 3D printing, fiber optics in steel manufacturing and other applications, and self-escape in mining.
The SERA program provides students not only with research experiences, but also with networking, team building, and personal and professional development. Students live in a residence hall on campus and meet for weekly workshops that provide additional opportunities for learning.
“The students in the SERA program bring new perspectives to research projects in the College of Engineering and Computing at Missouri S&T,” says Kelley Wilkerson, assistant teaching professor of materials science and engineering and the SERA program director at Missouri University of Science and Technology. “In turn, they are exposed to new research areas and degree programs throughout the summer in hopes that they will find their passion in engineering.”
