PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (July 11, 2023) — Eight students from Prairie View A&M University have been working on a series of cutting-edge, data-driven research projects as participants in the Texas-Wide Data Science Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) 2023 summer cohort. Their goal is to make meaningful contributions to faculty research projects involving machine learning, data analytics, and software development over the course of ten weeks, but the program puts them on the path to lifelong personal and professional success.
Sponsored by a grant from Google and led by Rice University, the REU launched in 2022 as a multi-site collaborative effort between several Texas schools – including PVAMU and Texas A&M University (TAMU) – with the goal of creating a steady and sustainable pipeline of highly trained talent to enter the data science and software development workforce.
The working hypothesis of the project – developed by Noushin Ghaffari, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Principal Investigator (PI) at the PVAMU site, along with the rest of the management team – is that participation in such a program can increase the likelihood of pursuing advanced graduate study in those fields. So, in addition to enhancing students’ skills with meaningful research experiences that prepare them for highly-sought after jobs in science and engineering, the program features a myriad of social and professional development opportunities – with cutting-edge resources, seminars, and workshops from corporate partners at AWS, Google, Chevron, BP, and more – aimed at igniting their fire for continuous learning.
Noushin Ghaffari, Ph.D.
“Combining undergraduate research education with workforce development serves as a long-term investment in our students and the potential for data science to develop solutions to challenges across industry and society,” PVAMU Vice President of Research and Innovation Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA said. “Projects like these help us sow seeds that allow us all to flourish in the future.”
Though the program is focused on the undergraduate research experience, the investment will have an impact across all levels of academia – graduate students, faculty, and the institutions themselves. Faculty gain student support to move forward with their data science and computer systems projects, graduate students get mentorship experience while enhancing their knowledge in the field, and undergraduates make significant research contributions while discovering an interest in graduate school and shaping their future careers. Graduate students receive $1,200 stipends while undergraduates receive $6,500 each.
Participation in the REU, and the iterative exchange between the consortium of R1 and R2 research universities, also grows PVAMU’s capacity to produce leaders among the next generation of scientists and engineers.
“Talent and excellent education are already in place at PVAMU’s College of Engineering. Adding research experience to students’ resumes in an empowering opportunity,” Dr. Ghaffari said. “I hope that all of our students seek internships and job opportunity by getting in touch with all the speakers and participants in the program that they got to know throughout the summer.”
Dr. Ghaffari’s main collaborators at PVAMU include Seungchan Kim, Ph.D., chief scientist and executive professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Center for Computational Systems Biology (CCSB); Na Li, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Computer Science; Lin Li, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Computer Science; and Xishuang Dong, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and member of CCSB and the Center of Excellence in Research and Education for Big Military Data Intelligence (CREDIT).
More than 20 students among all three sites participated in the program. The students will deliver poster presentations showing their final research outcomes at the program’s closing ceremony on July 28.
By Jada Smith