Undergraduate Research Experience and Creative Activity (URECA) Research Team Project Opportunities 

 

Autonomous Transportation

Want to be a part of a think tank that looks at the future of autonomous mobility?

The self driving car is more of a reality than a dream.  Companies such as Volvo, Waymo, Uber, and Apple are testing cars in several states across the United States.  The use of technology for mobility will transform our lives in the future, which leads to several questions:

  • How will riders/drivers react and will they adopt autonomous vehicles?
  • What will the infrastructure needs be in the future?
  • What are 'last mile' issues and concerns?  How will a car drop off passengers or park?
  • What type of sensors will become dominant in future vehicles?
  • Will individuals lease or buy cars?  If they lease, will it be a subscription model?

All of these questions and more are intriguing questions that can be researched.  Through interdisciplinary collaboration at MTSU, groups of faculty and students can dive deeply into one topic.

WHO:  Faculty and students across all of MTSU’s 41 departments and nine doctoral programs have much to contribute to the wide-ranging opportunities for mobility with autonomous vehicles and drones.  No idea is too small or too far reaching.  We welcome undergraduate students from all disciplines to apply.

We will begin with a “think tank” approach whereby autonomous systems participants will engage in multiple brainstorming sessions over the next academic year to: pose research questions and strategies; develop research projects and programs; and plan the eventual research opportunities (including websites, symposia, conferences, peer-reviewed journal articles and books, etc.).

WHEN:  Spring 2021

The project will kick off as soon as URECA awards are made in mid-September.  Selected students will work on the project from mid-September through the end of the fall term.  The project will pick back up again at the beginning of the spring term and run throughout the semester. 

HOW:  If you are interested in being part of our team, please email Dr. Jamie Burriss, Program Manager for the Undergraduate Research Center.  Dr. Burriss will tell you more about the project, the expectations, application process, and stipend you will receive if you are selected to join the research team. 
Learn more about the project.

Blue Mars Initiative

Blue Mars Initiative (BMI) project description:  Human kind is uniquely and dependently a product of Earth.  The human condition, our understanding of and approaches to ourselves, Earth, and the universe comes from our sole vantage point: life on Earth looking outward.  Investment and innovation toward human travel to and from Mars is accelerating with human landing and eventual settlement.   

The Blue Mars project will explore the human experience of inhabiting Mars – that’s all things biological, social, cultural, philosophical, psychological and technological. 

Our goal is to bring together innovative and future-oriented researchers from across the disciplines to build a critical mass of scholarship and grant funding that investigates how humans will travel to and settle on Mars. Undergraduate students who are interested in exploring their discipline through an extra-planetary and interdisciplinary lens are invited to apply to this research venture.    

WHO:  Faculty and students across all of MTSU’s 41 departments have much to contribute to the wide-ranging investigations of: the innovations necessary for building a civilization on Mars; how expected and unforeseen ways life on Mars may change humans and society; and how human habitation of Mars may change both Mars and the human experience on Earth. We welcome undergraduate students from all disciplines to apply.

We will begin with a “think tank” approach whereby BMI participants will engage in multiple brainstorming sessions over the next academic year to: pose research questions and strategies; develop research projects and programs; and plan the eventual dissemination of the Blue Mars Initiative research findings (including websites, symposia, conferences, peer-reviewed journal articles and books, etc.)

WHEN:  Fall 2020 & Spring 2021

The project will kick off as soon as URECA awards are made in mid-September.  Selected students will work on the project from mid-September through the end of the fall term.  The project will pick back up again at the beginning of the spring term and run throughout the semester. 

HOW:  If you are interested in being part of either team, please email Dr. Jamie Burriss, Program Manager for the Undergraduate Research Center.  Dr. Burriss will tell you more about the projects, the expectations, application process, and stipend you will receive if you are selected to join the research team. 

CURRENT TEAM MEMBERS:  Jared Frazier, Winton Cooper, Katelin MacVey, and Luke Gormsen.  

 

 

 

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