2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Sowing the SEEDs (Scholars of Excellence in Engineering Design): Starting the SEED NSF S-STEM Program at Texas State University

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

Texas State University received an NSF S-STEM award to support two cohorts of talented, low-income engineering majors, with the first cohort starting their freshman year in Fall 2024. In addition to the scholarships awarded, this program aims to increase students’ engineering design self-efficacy, engineering identity, and improve persistence to graduation. The program includes unique strategies for achieving these goals, emphasizing mentoring and building a sense of community among participants. The SEED scholars were paired with a faculty mentor in their engineering major prior to their arrival on campus for their freshman year. This early contact was intended to open lines of communication with a faculty member, so the students felt they had a trustworthy source of information from someone who cared about them. As Texas State University has a high number of first-generation college students, there was an expectation that this program would likely attract a fair number of first-generation students. Without another family member’s experience about how to be a college student, having this faculty mentor gave these students a person who could help them answer questions and navigate the process leading to their first semester on campus. For instance, mentors were able to talk with students about dorm selection, mathematics course placement (including strategies for placing into a higher-level mathematics course), and what to expect in their engineering coursework. Student participation in an Engineering Living Learning Community (LLC) is another unique program feature to enhance community among the SEED scholars. A general description of the program and preliminary results from the students’ self-reported sense of belonging in engineering, engineering design self-efficacy, and engineering identity are presented in this paper.

Authors

Dr. Kimberly Grau Talley P.E. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6235-0706 Texas State University [biography]

Dr. Kimberly G. Talley, P.E. is an associate professor in the Department of Engineering Technology, PERSIST (Promoting the Engagement and Retention of Students In STEM) Lab Director at Texas State University, and a licensed Professional Engineer. She received her Ph.D. and M.S.E. from the University of Texas at Austin in Structural Engineering. Her undergraduate degrees in History and in Construction Engineering and Management are from North Carolina State University. Dr. Talley teaches courses in the Construction Science and Management and Civil Engineering Technology Programs, and her research focus is in student engagement and retention in engineering and engineering technology education. Contact: talley@txstate.edu
Dr. Karim Heinz Muci-Kuchler http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2272-2886 Texas State University [biography]

Dr. Karim Muci-Kuchler is a Professor and Mechanical Engineering Program Coordinator at the Ingram School of Engineering of Texas State University. Before joining Texas State University, he was a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Experimental and Computational Mechanics Laboratory at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Iowa State University in 1992. His main interest areas include Computational Mechanics, Solid Mechanics, Product Design and Development, and STEM Education. He has taught several different courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, has over 80 publications, is co-author of one book, and has done consulting for industry in Mexico and the US. Dr. Muci-Kuchler is an ASME Fellow.
Dr. Damian Valles http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5684-9498 Texas State University [biography]

Dr. Damian Valles is an Electrical Engineering Associate Professor at Texas State University. He received his B.S., M.S., and PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from The University of Texas at El Paso.
Felipe Gutierrez Texas State University
Dr. Jitendra S. Tate Texas State University [biography]

Dr. Tate, associate professor of manufacturing engineering, has established safe handling practices for industrial (such as nanoclay) and engineered (such as carbon nanotubes) nanoparticles in his research and teaching, dealing with advanced polymer nanocomposites. His research lab will serve as the training site on health and safety issues of nanomaterials. Dr. Tate is a mechanical engineer by training and has 16-plus years of academic and two years of industry experience. His research areas include developing, manufacturing; and characterizing the high-performance polymeric nanocomposites for rocket ablatives, fire-retardant interior structures of mass transit and aircraft, lighter and damage-tolerant wind turbine blades, and replacement of traditional composites using bio-based materials. He has mentored undergraduate African-American students under NASA-PAIR at NC A&T University, an HBCU, and Hispanic students under H-LSAMP at Texas State. He is a member of AIAA, ASME, ACMA, ASEE, and SAMPE. He is a recipient of a prestigious national teaching award, the 2009 Dow Chemical Educator of the Year by the Society of Plastics Engineers’ Composites Division.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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