Chassapis and team awarded $3 million GK-12 grant from NSF for multiscale research

“This is a multi-faceted project,” explained Chassapis, “which will provide Stevens with a unique and very exciting opportunity. It will combine a significant expansion of our research efforts in the area of multiscale engineered systems with innovative approaches to preparing doctoral students for careers in teaching, while at the same time stimulating wide-reaching transformative changes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at the high school and community college levels.”

In addition to their doctoral research, the Fellows, devoting ten hours per week during the academic year within a high school setting, will collaborate closely with engineering professors, education professionals, and high school teachers to design, develop, implement and help deliver motivating educational modules that are based on their research work, with the aim of motivating the next generation of students to pursue careers in STEM fields.

The fellows’ research will address a variety of issues related to multiscale engineered systems, one of the major multidisciplinary research areas identified in Stevens’ Strategic Positioning Plan. An additional focus on engineering design, innovation and inventiveness will help differentiate this unique doctoral program from competing offerings at other institutions.

“By developing and integrating a course on ‘Communicating Engineering’ and a nine-credit graduate education certificate on ‘Teaching and Learning in STEM Disciplines,’ this program will further enhance the educational and research experience of the participating fellows, helping to attract highly qualified and motivated candidates to our rapidly growing full-time Ph.D. student population in the area of multiscale engineered systems,” remarked Esche, Director of the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Program.

The outreach component of this project will positively affect approximately 11,700 high school students and provide considerable professional development opportunities to 130 participating high school teachers. Through the project, a sustainable model for a graduate education certificate program “Teaching and Learning in STEM Disciplines” as a supplement to traditional doctoral student technical training in engineering will be developed, assessed, and disseminated nationwide. “This project has the potential to enrich secondary science classrooms with exciting, leading edge research that enables students to apply their science learning to real-world engineering problems. The pairing of graduate students with talented high school teachers is a powerful combination that can yield valuable curricular products that will benefit students in New Jersey and throughout the US,” said McGrath.