2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

To increase the participation and graduation rates of post-secondary students from underrepresented and minority groups in the field of engineering, the Smart City Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experience for Teachers (RET) (SCR2) Mega-Site program was introduced in 2018. The SCR2 initiative, which has been successfully run for the past four years with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), involves a partnership of 14 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and one Institution serving Hispanic students (HSI). The leading university for this program is Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. Underperforming REU students are encouraged to participate in research opportunities through the SCR2 program, which has been shown to increase student retention and graduation rates. Participants in RET are chosen from the area's high schools and community colleges that feed into the consortium institutions. RET participants' involvement in practical engineering research projects enables them to inspire their students to choose engineering as a career. With an emphasis on smart and connected cities, the SCR2 program provides summer research experiences (eight weeks for students and six weeks for teachers). This paper presents our learnings and insights of the program for the past four years with evaluation findings. There have been 116 students and 44 teachers who have successfully participated. The research program was conducted on campus in 2019, but due to COVID-19, the program was conducted online in 2020. In 2021 and 2022, the program was redesigned to be hybrid, and six host sites participated. Despite the changes in the program, students' prowess was enhanced by their teamwork and engagement in the projects. The post-program survey raised concerns about females' participation in the program for four years. Even though the number of female participants decreased from 2019 to 2022, the participating females reported they were confident, satisfied, and gained knowledge by the end of the program. The assessment results, however, make it clear that additional focus is required on women's experiences in the program to increase their sense of belonging in the engineering sector. The SCR2 program's transition from an on-site to a hybrid serves as an example of how innovation in engineering education may address the problems and give insights into the tools and technologies needed for efficient cross-site communication, faculty advisor/mentor involvement, participant engagement, and making the most of the strong network connecting the participating schools.