NSF Award
0649176
EEC-0649176<br/>William Z. Rymer<br/><br/>The award provides support for a three-year REU Site at the Rehabilitation Institute Research Corporation. This proposal will establish a three-year Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at the Sensory Motor Performance Program (SMPP) of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. This program will enable 12 undergraduate students each year to spend 10 summer weeks participating in research projects focused around Neural Engineering. The program's primary goal is to provide hands-on research experience to students, and in, particular to introduce them to the field of Neural Engineering, with applications to human neurological disorders. <br/><br/>This REU site builds on a highly successful short-term research training program, which has been offered for the past 4 years. In particular, SMPP researchers, in collaboration with faculty from the Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering Departments of Northwestern University, have offered a successful and increasingly popular program entitled "Summer Internships in Neural Engineering" (SINE). Located within the research group of the nation's leading rehabilitation hospital, this REU program is in the position to offer unique training experiences that will motivate talented students to pursue graduate education and careers in Neural Engineering. <br/><br/>The program will afford women, underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities and students from academic programs with limited research programs the chance to experience and contribute first-hand to state-of-the-art research activities in Neural Engineering and consider science and research as viable career options.
