2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

NSF REU Black Hills Applied Ceramic Engineering: Programmatic Cohort Building

Presented at NSF Grantees Poster Session II

The Black Hills Applied Ceramic Engineering (BACE) is a ten-week NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program that takes a holistic approach to integrate geology with ceramics engineering to train students on advanced ceramic materials and manufacturing. This cross-disciplinary program includes mentors from five different disciplines and a cohort that was just as diverse. With a BACE programmatic objective to recruit students with varying degrees and academic experiences, the 2025 student cohort included a group of student scientists and engineers ranging from sophomores to seniors. The BACE program had a two-pronged approach to support common technical language among the students and to build community within the cohort. The two programmatic approaches will be discussed in further detail as well as the evaluation of the efficacy of the cohort approach.

The first approach was the development of one week of technical training. The training ranged from geology to mineral processing to advanced materials with modules including lectures, instrument training, and hands-on laboratory training. The training provided the cohort an opportunity to interact with one another early on in the program, while simultaneously building a solid foundation in geology and ceramic materials.
The second approach to cohort building within the program took place throughout the summer and included four field trips that included the Crazy Horse Volksmarch, Black Hills geological field expedition, Badlands geological field expedition, and an industrial field trip. Through our integrative approach of combining geology with ceramics engineering, students gained a new understanding of advanced ceramic materials from the ground up.

Authors

Dr. Katrina J Donovan http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0410-7847 South Dakota Mines [biography]

Dr. Katrina Donovan received her B.S. degree from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in 2010. She received her Ph.D. in Materials Science from Oregon State University in 2019, studying the microfluidic investigations of capillary flow and surface phenomena in porous polymeric media for 3D printing. She worked for multiple years at HP, Inc. in the 3D Printing Department. She is currently a Lecturer at South Dakota Mines and Research Scientist at Dragon Materials, LLC, an engineering consulting firm. Her research involve experimental design and technique development for soft materials, complex fluids, and surface phenomena. She a wide range of experience in rheological, thermal, structural, and molecular characterization that she leverage fundamentally for academic purposes as well as industrially for applications. As her three patents can show, designing experiments and creating novel techniques to answer fundamental questions that drive applications and technology forward captivates her interest. She has volunteered countless hours to the community, led multiple STEM Education grants that engage the local K-12 schools of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and has submitted proposals that engage even more tribal communities.
Sharon Chontos South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Sarah W. Keenan South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

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