Research Opportunities for Students Academic Year, REU/RET

Each department in the College of Engineering offers hands-on research opportunities for undergraduates. Positions can be paid positions or for academic credit, depending on the program. Below is a brief listing as well as a contact name/Web site for more information.

Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering

  • Fabrication of Polymers
    • Professor Timothy Ovaert
      Academic year and summer opportunity
        Professor Ovaert has one position open for a student interested in assisting with the fabrication of an
        anthropomorphic head and biomimetic skull/brain for use in experimental impact testing. The work
        includes fabricating and casting polymers, rapid prototyping, installing instrumentation, and impact
        testing. Contact Professor Ovaert at tovaert@nd.edu.
  • Multi-scale Cardiovascular Bioengineering Laboratory (MSCBL)
    • Assistant Professor Philippe Sucosky
      Summer opportunity

        The MSCBLat Notre Dame partners with the local HealthWorks! Kids’ Museum to develop an interactive activity aimed at teaching children about cardiovascular risk factors, disease and treatments. As part of this effort, the summer project consisting of designing a simplified portable circulatory flow loop that will include the main heart components (atria, ventricles, valves), the major arteries and veins, and the major organs. Air bubbles produced by an aquarium air pump will help visualize the flow through the different components. The modular aspect of the design will permit viewing of the isolated/combined effects of different cardiovascular conditions on the flow through the manipulation of the pump frequency (to simulate tachycardia), the introduction of a constricted valve (to simulate valvular stenosis), or a constrained tube (to simulate atherosclerosis). The device will be used in the future to demonstrate how therapies can restore function by letting the children manipulate the loop components and observe the motion of the flow through the system.

        Interested students should be majoring in aerospace or mechanical engineering (with interests in biomechanics, biofluids and biology), have previous research experience, and be able to commit to the project for two semesters. Contact Assistant Professor Sucosky at Philippe.Sucosky@nd.edu.

Additional information about student research opportunities in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering can be found at http://ame.nd.edu/undergrad/UndergradRes2.html.

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Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

For a listing of research opportunities in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, visit http://cbe.nd.edu/undergrad/research.cfm.

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Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences

  • Energy Frontiers Research Center — Center for Materials Science of Actinides
    • Massman Professor Peter Burns

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Computer Science and Engineering

  • Computer Vision Research Laboratory (CVRL)
    • Professors Kevin Bowyer and Patrick Flynn
      Academic year and summer opportunities
        The CVRL pursues research in biometrics such has iris recognition, gender determination, gait, more)
        Descriptions of the research projects and open opportunities can be found at http://www.nd.edu/~cvrl.
  • Cooperative Computing Laboratory (CCL)
    • Associate Professor Douglas Thain
      Academic year and summer opportunities
        The CCL pursues projects that allow users to discover large amounts of storage capacity and harness
        shared computing power for data intensive applications. Descriptions of the research projects and open
        opportunities can be found at http://www.nd.edu/~ccl/reu.
  • Emergency Management Databases, Mapping, and Training
    • Professor Gregory Madey
      Academic year and summer opportunities

        This research project has three objectives: 1) to research, design, develop, and implement an online data
        management system that will enable disaster response agencies to be more effective and efficient in
        serving the community when responding to disasters and emergencies,         2) to explore all of the possible capabilities of online databases and increasingly popular smart phones that are GPS, web, and mapping enabled, and 3) to facilitate a wider use for such systems within such emergency management agencies.

        Technologies involved include PHP, SQL, HTML, CSS, Javascript, the Google Map API and MySQL.
        Contact Professor Madey at gmadey@nd.edu.

  • Experimental Research on Wireless Networking (ERWiN)
    • Associate Professor Christian Poellabauer
    Associate Professor Aaron Striegel
      Summer opportunities
        Ten 10-week positions are typically available in ERWiN. Student researchers work closely with faculty
        and graduate students in the area of wireless network and mobile computing. For application
        information and important dates, visit http://www.cse.nd.edu/~darts/reu.html.
  • Scientific and Engineering Online Databases
    • Professor Gregory Madey
      Academic year and summer opportunities
        Several scientific and engineering projects are in need of design and development support. Large
        scientific databases running on MySQL and PostgresSQL need to deployed to the web for access by
        various users. Technologies involved include, cybersecurity, virtualization, database design and
        optimization, web services, and web programming. Funding from the National Science Foundation and
        other agencies. Contact Professor Madey at gmadey@nd.edu.

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Electrical Engineering

For a listing of research opportunities in the Department of Electrical Engineering, visit http://xml.ee.nd.edu/undergrad/ugresearch.html.

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Center for Nano Science and Technology

  • Nanotechnology and Nanoelectronics
    • Center for Nano Science and Technology
      Summer opportunities
        The Center for Nano Science and Technology awards annual research fellowships for students during
        the summer. For details on the types of projects, open opportunities, and applications for upcoming
        opportunities, visit http://www.nd.edu/~ndnano/people/job_opps.html.

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Notre Dame Energy Center

  • Vincent P. Slatt Endowment for Undergraduate Research in Energy Systems and Processes
    • Notre Dame Energy Center
      Academic-year and summer opportunities
  • Forgash Undergraduate Fellowship in Solar Energy
    • Notre Dame Energy Center
      Academic-year and summer opportunities
        The Forgash Fellowship supports one student annually in his/her pursuit of research in solar energy.
        For more information, visit the energy center at http://energycenter.nd.edu.

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