Collaborative undergraduate research

A joint undergraduate research project between University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) started four years ago. Each year a group of students, varying between six and ten, from WPI will come to Puerto Rico to work with a group of students, varying from six to ten, from UPRM on a well defined research project. Although the topics of the projects have been different all follow the same goal, vibration control of structures by utilizing shape memory alloys. Each year the project starts in January and ends in May. Both groups of students will start the project simultaneously in their respective university. Seven week after the start of project, WPI students come to Puerto Rico and joint the UPRM group and continue their research as "one group." The requirements for completion of these projects are two major presentations, one at each university, and one written report. The presentations are all open to public, and students, faculty members, the local industry, and parents. The projects have been sponsored by United Technology, Center for Loss Prevention and Structural Integrity (CLPSI) at WPI, WPI and UPRM. The results of these projects have been presented at CANAM 97 and 12/sup th/ ASCE Conference. There have also been numerous published articles and interviews related to these projects in engineering journals and televisions. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) entered into a cooperative agreement in 1995. That agreement enabled broad areas of exchange, collaboration, and joint research.