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At least 163 records · Page 9

Geothermal Collegiate Competition: Evolution and Impact

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the launch of its inaugural National Geothermal Student Competition. The competition was open to all colleges, universities, and other post-secondary institutions in the United States, and was labeled as the first-ever to address geothermal education. The GeoVision, published in 2019 by the Geothermal Technologies Office (GTO), stated that improving geothermal energy education and outreach is critical in reducing risks and costs of geothermal technology deployment. The key actions included improving public education and outreach about geothermal energy and providing resources intended to attract and inform a skilled geothermal workforce. Student competitions in particular have the ability to increase awareness of renewable energy fields by engaging multi-disciplinary students in compelling design challenges to prepare them for careers in renewable energy. GTO, in partnership with an administration team at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), currently supports the Geothermal Collegiate Competition (GCC), with the main objective of advancing and cultivating collegiate student knowledge and career interest in geothermal energy. The administrating team works toward growing the number of students and collegiate institutions engaged, as well as diversifying the scope of the student design challenges. The main intentions of this publication are documenting the competition’s evolution, setting a baseline for future GCC impact analysis and serving as a guide to other students’ competition design committees looking for ideas to capture and increase the interest of students in collegiate competitions.

Geothermal Collegiate Competition↗

2022 LLNL Nuclear Science and Security Summer Internship Program

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Nuclear Science and Security Summer Internship Program (NS 3 IP) is designed to give graduate and undergraduate students an opportunity to come to LLNL for 8–10 weeks of hands-on research. Students conduct research under the supervision of a staff scientist, attend a weekly lecture series, interact with other students, and present their work to the LLNL scientific community at the end of the program. Students also have the opportunity to meet staff scientists one-on-one, participate in LLNL facility tours (e.g., the National Ignition Facility and Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry), and gain a better understanding of the various science programs at LLNL. Due to the travel and access restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 NS 3 IP was organized as a hybrid internship program. Five of the 20 NS 3 IP students participated remotely. One of the 8 students funded directly by DTRA participated remotely. With LLNL’s extensive institutional support, remote students accessed the laboratory’s cyberinfrastructure through a secure virtual desktop environment and all seminars, mentor interactions, summer presentations, and laboratory tours had a remote option. The hybrid approach to the internship program provided flexibility to both the interns and their mentors to construct creative research projects that maximized student exposure to nuclear science research that is relevant to DTRA and LLNL. We anticipate continuing a hybrid internship format in the summer of 2023.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Preparing Underrepresented Minorities for STEM Careers in Energy

The purpose of the grant was to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities and women in STEM disciplines that are critical for the energy industry. The grant was implemented by the Fort Valley State University’s (FVSU) Cooperative Developmental Energy Program (CDEP). FVSU-CDEP enrolled two cohorts of six academically talented freshmen students into its accelerated five-year 3+2 dual degree STEM program. In the 3+2 dual degree format, students enroll at FVSU for three years and earn bachelor’s degrees in biology, chemistry, or mathematics and transfer to a partnering university for two years to earn second bachelor’s degrees in engineering, geology/geophysics, or health physics. FVSU-CDEP partnering universities consist of Georgia Tech, Grand Valley State University, Penn State University, University of Alabama, University of Arkansas, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and the University of Texas-Austin. Cohort I enrolled at FVSU fall semester of 2017 and cohort II enrolled fall semester of 2020. All six of the students in cohort I earned bachelor’s STEM degrees at FVSU and transferred to a partnering university. Five of the six who transferred to a partnering university earned the second bachelor’s degree. One student transferred from a partnering university to a non-partner university to continue pursuit of the second degree. All students in cohort I had internships, attended professional meetings, and made presentations. Cohort II enrolled the fall-semester of 2020 in the midst of COVID epidemic. Cohort II was only funded for one year, 2020/2021. The DOE Office of Economic Impact and Diversity informed the PI that there would not be any funding for the fifth and final year (2021/2022) of the project. All six of the students in cohort II earned bachelor’s STEM degrees from FVSU and transferred to one of CDEP’s partnering universities. One of the students in cohort II graduate with an MS degree spring of 2023. Currently, four are pursuing graduate degrees at partnering universities and one withdrew from a partnering school because health reasons. Students in cohort II opportunities to participate in internship were negatively impact by the COVID epidemic (2020-2022). Of the 12 scholarship participants, 8 were females. Fifty percent of the males pursued second degrees in Engineering while only twenty-five percent of the females chose Engineering as their second degree.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Soil metagenomics umbrella narrative

Implementing accessible, authentic research experiences in introductory courses is challenging, particularly at institutions serving diverse student populations. To address this gap, we developed and deployed a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) focused on plant-microbe interactions in General Biology II at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), a minority-serving institution with a diverse student body. Students grew sugar beets (Beta vulgaris), extracted DNA from the rhizoplane, and used the Department of Energy Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase) for bioinformatic analysis to compare microbial relative abundance in fertilized versus unfertilized soil. Over five semesters, the CURE engaged 103 students and leveraged the intuitive KBase platform to make complex sequencing data accessible. Pre/post-course survey data revealed significant increases in student self-assessed research skills, including the ability to explain results and determine the types of data to collect. Furthermore, students reported significant gains in confidence related to experimental design and hypothesis development, alongside a strong increase in familiarity with KBase. Informal faculty feedback indicated high student engagement and appreciation for the real-world connections (e.g. food systems, agriculture, and health). This scalable, low-cost model effectively integrates data science tools into the foundational curriculum, demonstrating a potent strategy for boosting research skills and broadening participation in authentic scientific inquiry among diverse undergraduate students.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Opinions from Users Across the Lifespan about Fully Autonomous and Rideshare Vehicles with Associated Features

Fully autonomous vehicles have the potential to fundamentally transform the future transportation system. While previous research has examined individuals’ perceptions towards fully autonomous vehicles, a complete understanding of attitudes and opinions across the lifespan is unknown. Therefore, individuals’ awareness, acceptance, and preferences towards autonomous vehicles were obtained from 75 participants through interviews with three diverse groups of participants: 20 automotive engineering graduate students who were building an autonomous concept vehicle, 21 non-technical adults, and 34 senior citizens. The results showed that regardless of age, an individual’s readiness to ride in a fully autonomous vehicle and the vehicle’s requirements were influenced by the users’ understanding of autonomous vehicles. All of the engineering students understand what a fully autonomous vehicle is and this group was the most willing to ride especially compared to the seniors, where only half of the seniors knew what a fully autonomous vehicle is and 58.8% were not at all ready to ride one. The desire to have a manual control option or the ability to override the vehicle was common (90% of the engineering students, 95.2% of the adults, and 82.4% of the seniors), especially for individuals who reported not being ready to ride in a fully autonomous vehicle. The majority of all three groups of participants (85% of the engineering students, 81% of the adults, and 52.9% of the seniors) considered it essential that the vehicle should convey information about the vehicle’s status and intended behavior. Diagnostic information about the vehicle was desired by the engineering students (71.4%), who had a technical understanding of autonomous vehicles and current automotive related technologies. When autonomous vehicles are available, most participants anticipate preferring to use them as a rideshare service model (75% of the engineering students, 38% of the adults, and 27% of the seniors) rather than owning (5% of the engineering students, 19% of the adults, and 21% of the seniors) the autonomous vehicle themselves. Regarding the topic of sharing rides with strangers, both the automotive engineering students (90%) and the adults (52.6%) were comfortable with the idea of pooled rideshare in comparison to the seniors (29.4%). In future efforts, it will be important to include potential autonomous vehicle users of a wide age range as well as physical, cognitive, and visual abilities.

Gangadharaiah, Rakesh↗

Using Gamification to Enhance Mastery of Network Security Concepts

Gamification has proven to be effective in engaging and encouraging people to work towards and achieve goals. Many students struggle to focus on schoolwork, due to a lack of interest, lack of understanding, or other factors unique to the student. Applying gamification elements to education can help engage these students in learning their course material and help them excel academically. This study examines the effectiveness of using gamification techniques to enhance the learning experience in college Computer Science courses. A video game application is utilized to review and reinforce cybersecurity concepts that students have already been taught in class. Previous work has been made on a prototype game build that teaches about ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) components. The focus of this study is to refine and develop the structure of the prototype into a more interactive and enjoyable format with non-competitive and captivating activities that allow students to study at their own pace. An updated version of the game was created that focused on reaching a balance between education and entertainment. The game was used by students enrolled in a cybersecurity class, where pre-survey, post-survey and a focus group interview were conducted to determine how effective the updated version is compared to the current build, in addition to how effective the gamification method is regarding student retention of taught material. The pre-survey and post-survey results revealed an increase in interest and mastery of cybersecurity concepts as a result of playing the game. Students found value in the game as both a method of reviewing material taught in class and an entertaining and engaging game. These results show potential in using gamification in cybersecurity and education.

Hilliard, Kevin↗

Hands-On PV Experience (HOPE) Workshop, Final Technical Report FY22-FY24

The Hands-On Photovoltaics Experience, or HOPE, is a one-week school held at NLR each summer to educate graduate student photovoltaic researchers in the fundamentals of photovoltaics (PV) as well as specific cell technologies and measurement & characterization techniques. The program brings students from universities across the U.S. and their faculty advisors to spend a week in an in-depth, intensive program, including hands-on lab experiences in solar cell fabrication and testing. This program is intended to educate the students and increase collaboration among the students, their advising faculty, and staff at NLR. Our survey results consistently indicate high satisfaction with this program and good student outcomes post-HOPE. HOPE is a selective program with a competitive application process and is limited to 12-20 students each year. Keeping the program small enables a high level of interaction among the students and individualized attention from the faculty and staff.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

The context dependence of physics identity: Examining the role of performance/competence, recognition, interest, and sense of belonging for lower and upper female physics undergraduates

Abstract While there is a growing body of work that examines disciplinary identity development, unlike qualitative work in this area, quantitative research has not fully incorporated the importance of different contexts, nor has it uniquely focused on underrepresented groups (in this case, women in physics). This study examines how the constructs posited by prior work as important for physics identity, as well as an additional theorized construct, may interrelate and affect female students' physics identity differently depending on the context. Context in this study refers to two different experiential levels in college. The constructs examined include performance/competence, recognition, and interest, as well as sense of belonging. In particular, we used structural equation modeling to examine the effect that these constructs have on the physics identity of two groups of female physics undergraduates: first year students and senior year students. The results reveal that the relationship of the theorized constructs with physics identity vary between the two groups as well as compared to prior research with broad college student populations (not just physics majors). Unlike broad college student populations, for our sample of female physics undergraduates, interest did not have a direct effect on physics identity while sense of belonging was significant only for senior year students. These results exemplify the importance of examining context or different types of student experiences when studying disciplinary identity development rather than generalizing previous frameworks to all contexts.

Hazari, Zahra↗

Experiments and Project-Based Enhancements for STEM Learning

Motivating K-12 students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an effort that requires consistent engagement. Throughout the K-12 student timeline, STEM educators need to continuously pivot their teaching and update their educational materials to motivate the next generation of students. Once students begin their undergraduate education, university professors need to encourage them to consider pursuing graduate studies to ensure that a qualified future workforce can be developed for research and teaching. In this paper, we present our work on developing STEM materials for K-12 student engagement. Our K-12 materials target the grid integration of hydrogen assets that are suitable to engage students in the classroom. Our undergraduate materials target hands-on projects and collaboration with industry to connect classroom learning with real-world applications and needs in renewable energy. Our work leverages available open-source models and tools to create projects for undergraduate students and motivate their interest in pursuing research topics in graduate-level education.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Summary Report for the 2019 Radiation Detection for Nuclear Security Summer School

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) hosted students from across the United States at the 6th Radiation Detection for Nuclear Security Summer School 17-28 June 2019. The summer school provided students with a unique understanding of nuclear security challenges faced in the field and exposed them to the technical foundations, analyses, and insight that will be required by future leaders in technology development and implementation. The course heavily emphasized laboratory and field demonstrations including measurements of special nuclear material. Student evaluations and feedback from student advisors indicates that the summer school achieved its objectives of 1) exposing students to the range of nuclear security applications for which radiation detection is necessary, 2) articulating the relevance of student research into the broader context, and 3) growing student interest in careers in nuclear security.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Construction Methodology Transformation for the Benefit of Workforce Development

Construction is a key economic engine driving both national and global economies. While manual, onsite construction methods dominate the U.S. construction industry, a major shift towards offsite methods has been underway due to its efficiency, speed, and potential cost savings. The workforce necessary for offsite construction growth does not exist in its current form because of the focus on onsite methodologies and the lack of exposure to offsite building methods at all levels of a student’s learning journey. The growth of the U.S. construction industry and competitiveness in an increasingly global construction market over the coming decades can only be supported by a dramatic increase in the use of offsite methods, which requires ramping up workforce training for certain skillsets. The goal of Construction Methodology Transformation for the Benefit of Workforce Development was to understand the opportunities and barriers in both education and industry and to identify best practices for offering curriculum and training to educators, industry, and students that would support skills needed for careers in offsite construction. Our team proposed combining three offsite construction workforce development needs: content development, exposure and training, and job placement - under a single Platform model that would increase experience and career opportunities for students and help match them with potential industry members. Through our proposed solution we expected to see: developed offsite curriculum being utilized by educators and students; an increase in the identification of construction technology and offsite construction methods; an average increase in knowledge gain of at least 25% after participation in pilots; better equipped candidates who are prepared for jobs in offsite construction; and a beta workforce development platform that helps build more pathways for students looking for careers in offsite construction. The two pilots included almost 250 students and resulted in an average knowledge gain of 37 percent. Our research has identified areas of opportunity, for both education and industry to make collaborative training programs more efficient and successful. The chosen techniques for this program are extremely effective when both the school and factory have solid processes and cultures in place to accept students into training programs. This project serves as an important stepping stone to industrywide collaboration to move workforce development for offsite construction forward across the country. With continued collaboration programs like this can provide much needed early exposure and training in offsite construction and we can begin to fill important positions for the future of construction.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

High-Dimensional Bayesian Optimization via Semi-Supervised Learning with Optimized Unlabeled Data Sampling

We introduce a novel semi-supervised learning approach, named Teacher-Student Bayesian Optimization (TSBO ), integrating the teacher-student paradigm into BO to minimize expensive labeled data queries for the first time. TSBO incorporates a teacher model, an unlabeled data sampler, and a student model. The student is trained on unlabeled data locations generated by the sampler, with pseudo labels predicted by the teacher. The interplay between these three components implements a unique selective regularization to the teacher in the form of student feedback. This scheme enables the teacher to predict high-quality pseudo labels, enhancing the generalization of the GP surrogate model in the search space. To fully exploit TSBO , we propose two optimized unlabeled data samplers to construct effective student feedback that well aligns with the objective of Bayesian optimization. Furthermore, we quantify and leverage the uncertainty of the teacher-student model for the provision of reliable feedback to the teacher in the presence of risky pseudo-label predictions. TSBO demonstrates significantly improved sample-efficiency in several global optimization tasks under tight labeled data budgets. The implementation is available at https://github.com/reminiscenty/TSBO-Official.

Yin, Yuxuan↗

Shining Light on Halide Perovskites: Teaching Analytical Chemistry Using Flexible, Inquiry-Based Experiments

Two-dimensional (2D) metal halide perovskites are promising next generation semiconducting materials at the forefront of research in solar cells, LEDs, and other devices. Here, we report on an undergraduate intermediate analytical chemistry laboratory experience where students were taught fundamental chemistry concepts, including solubility, complexation, spectroscopy, and microscopy, through the introduction and study of 2D halide perovskite materials. Students explore multiple facets of perovskite synthesis, structure, and properties through a modular set of experiments that students used to form a holistic picture of this material. Importantly, this inquiry-based lab supports students through a guided research process, and students report high interest and learning gains from an end of the semester survey. We further discuss ways to adapt this lab to course, student, equipment, and budget needs. Overall, this laboratory experience teaches and applies the fundamental concepts and tools of analytical chemistry to the contemporary materials research field.

Analytical Chemistry↗

Toward a Diverse Next-Generation Energy Workforce: Teaching Artificial Photosynthesis and Electrochemistry in Elementary Schools through Active Learning

Artificial photosynthesis is a promising approach to generate commodity chemicals using abundant chemical feedstocks and renewable energy sources. Despite its importance, affordable and effective hands-on classroom activities that demonstrate artificial photosynthesis and teach key concepts, especially for primary school students, are lacking. Educating young students on this topic is a critical step in the development of the next-generation energy workforce, especially one that is diverse in race and gender. Here, we hypothesize that an effective approach to educate a broad range of young students on the topic of artificial photosynthesis is through the use of an active learning-based lesson plan that employs cheap and accessible materials. This hypothesis is confirmed by evaluating the understanding of fifth grade students with a survey before and after a lesson plan on artificial photosynthesis that uses active-learning techniques and uses safe and highly accessible materials (baking soda, tap water, plastic jars, Ni coil, alligator clips, and a solar cell) to perform solar-powered water splitting. The lesson plan and survey questions are designed to align with the educational outcomes for fifth grade classrooms in California and to address four general learning objectives: (1) Motivations of Artificial Photosynthesis, (2) Applications of Artificial Photosynthesis, (3) Inputs and Outputs of Artificial Photosynthesis, and (4) Engineering Design for Artificial Photosynthesis. The survey data demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in overall student understanding from the lesson plan. Importantly, the data show that the lesson plan presented here is effective at narrowing the performance gap between minority students and overly represented groups.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Bridging Place-Based Astrobiology Education with Genomics, Including Descriptions of Three Novel Bacterial Species Isolated from Mars Analog Sites of Cultural Relevance

Democratizing genomic data science, including bioinformatics, can diversify the STEM workforce and may, in turn, bring new perspectives into the space sciences. In this respect, the development of education and research programs that bridge genome science with “place” and world-views specific to a given region are valuable for Indigenous students and educators. Through a multi-institutional collaboration, we developed an ongoing education program and model that includes Illumina and Oxford Nanopore sequencing, free bioinformatic platforms, and teacher training workshops to address our research and education goals through a place-based science education lens. High school students and researchers cultivated, sequenced, assembled, and annotated the genomes of 13 bacteria from Mars analog sites with cultural relevance, 10 of which were novel species. Students, teachers, and community members assisted with the discovery of new, potentially chemolithotrophic bacteria relevant to astrobiology. This joint education-research program also led to the discovery of species from Mars analog sites capable of producing N-acyl homoserine lactones, which are quorum-sensing molecules used in bacterial communication. Whole genome sequencing was completed in high school classrooms, and connected students to funded space research, increased research output, and provided culturally relevant, place-based science education, with participants naming three novel species described here. Students at St. Andrew's School (Honolulu, Hawai‘i) proposed the name Bradyrhizobium prioritasuperba for the type strain, BL16A T , of the new species (DSM 112479 T = NCTC 14602 T ). The nonprofit organization Kauluakalana proposed the name Brenneria ulupoensis for the type strain, K61 T , of the new species (DSM 116657 T = LMG = 33184 T ), and Hawai‘i Baptist Academy students proposed the name Paraflavitalea speifideiaquila for the type strain, BL16E T , of the new species (DSM 112478 T = NCTC 14603 T ).

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Delivering Contextual Knowledge and Critical Skills of Disruptive Technologies through Problem-Based Learning in Research Experiences for Undergraduates Setting

The recent development in transportation, such as energy-efficient and autonomous vehicles, defines a condition for the students in transportation engineering. Students in the field of transportation engineering should be ready upon their graduation with new knowledge and skills that are compatible with the need of the industry and sustainable engineering practices.During summers of 2018 and 2019, we developed and implemented an eight-week program to increase the knowledge and skills of students coming from multidisciplinary fields related to autonomous vehicles. Problem of “How much will platooning reduce fuel consumption and emissions per vehicle mile traveled?” was instrumentalized in subsequent activities to introduce the comprehensive knowledge structure of autonomous vehicles.The engineering concept of reducing the cost and sustainability was embedded in the leading research question that helped us to develop and implement activities on an overall knowledge structure in autonomous vehicles. The goal of using problem-based learning activities was not to encourage the students to focus on reaching the solution merely. We aimed to introduce the multidisciplinary knowledge and critical skills aspects of learning about disruptive technologies.In this paper, we will discuss how a multidisciplinary research approach was incorporated into a problem-based learning activity. The students were introduced the subjects related to math, physics, computer science, and biology as the integration of the knowledge structure of autonomous vehicles. We will also present the results on students’ use of critical skills such as machine learning and computer programming.

Comert, Gurcan↗

Safeguards by Design Projects (FY2020 Final Report)

This University Engagement project challenged engineering students at universities, that do not have Bachelor degrees in nuclear engineering but do have research reactors and some nuclear engineering coursework, to incorporate Safeguards by Design concepts into their Senior Capstone Design Project. This University Engagement project was part of the U. S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, Office of International Nuclear Safeguards, Next Generation Safeguards Initiative, Human Capital Development: University Engagement Program. This program exposed university students with Mechanical Engineering majors and Nuclear Engineering minors to the concepts of international nuclear safeguards. FY20, three teams at the University of Rhode Island and one team at the University of Texas - Austin participated in researching, designing, building, and testing projects to support international nuclear safeguards measurements or verification. The projects involved engaging in activities at the university’s research reactors. All the projects engaged students with prototyping a design and/or tool for application at the Universities’ reactor. At the end of the course, most of the students expressed the experience was a positive and they learned more about international nuclear safeguards and applying requirements than they had previously encountered. This school year the projects were further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both universities cancelled in class room classes, and limited direct student/professor interactions. Furthermore, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) greatly restricted travel, therefore making it impossible to visit the students at the end of the semester for the review of their design projects. The final design and review meeting for the projects happened via the internet. Additionally, while the teams planned to build prototypes this did not happen since there was a social distancing ban on students meeting in person.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

2020 LLNL Nuclear Science and Security Summer Internship Program

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Nuclear Science and Security Summer Internship Program (NS 3 IP) is designed to give graduate students an opportunity to come to LLNL for 8–10 weeks of hands-on research. Students conduct research under the supervision of a staff scientist, attend a weekly lecture series, interact with other students, and present their work in poster format at the end of the program. Students also have the opportunity to meet staff scientists one-on-one, participate in LLNL facility tours (e.g., the National Ignition Facility and Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry), and gain a better understanding of the various science programs at LLNL. Due to the travel and access restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 NS 3 IP was organized as an “all-virtual” internship program. With LLNL’s extensive institutional support, students accessed the laboratory’s cyberinfrastructure through a secure virtual desktop environment and all seminars, mentor interactions, summer presentations, and laboratory tours were performed remotely. While this virtual internship format did not allow for hands-on laboratory research projects, both the interns and their mentors constructed creative research projects that maximized student exposure to nuclear science research that is relevant to DTRA and LLNL interests in nuclear security.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗