Vertically Integrated Projects at Virginia Tech
Abstract
In support of ONR???s work force development mission, Virginia Tech proposes to establish an experiential-learning educational system adapted from the proven Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) model started at Purdue University and subsequently expanded at Georgia Tech over the past 15 years; variants of the VIP model are currently employed successfully at 26 universities. The proposed VIP@VT will combine (1) a structured undergraduate research experience that stresses hands-on/minds-on research as a cross-disciplinary educational experience, tailoring long-term, large-scale projects to build a pipeline of STEM students that each contribute to and share in the project outcomes with (2) a focused online extension of the hands-on/minds-on experiential learning for Navy personnel for visualizing and optimizing dynamic spectrum operations through an enhanced hands-on learning for novel solutions to radio spectrum problems (E-HLSP) pilot. In addition to establishing the foundational framework for the VIP program at Virginia Tech, we will leverage ongoing US Navy funded research efforts and our US Navy stakeholders to make these projects more relevant to civilian Naval workforce development. Those objectives tie in superbly well with the VT Hume Center???s existing DoD/IC workforce development mission, with the E-HLSP extension offering a mechanism to engage both current practitioners and potential students at other universities. VIP project teams are each led by a dedicated faculty member who is invested in the research outcomes of the larger team, which typically consists of 1-2 graduate students serving as mentors and a larger group of 15-25 multi-disciplinary undergraduates. These undergraduates, many of which start during their freshman or sophomore years, are broken into teams, much like a series of integrated product teams (IPTs), each bearing ownership and responsibility for key elements of the overall project. As projects progress, the goal is for students to progress through the pipeline, where seniors can provide meaningful mentorship to underclassmen and the pipeline is refilled to offset graduating students. Our online experiential learning extension will broaden the VIP impact to audiences outside the university and offer a foundation for communicating results / educational tools to the broader Navy community. A unique feature of the VIP@VT program is tailoring of project definitions towards civilian Naval workforce development by leveraging Virginia Tech???s robust infrastructure for ITAR and classified research. Selectively choosing projects in these restricted areas will better align the participation, Navy stakeholder interests, project results, and student experiences to best support an emphasis towards a cleared/clearable U.S. citizen student pipeline. Pilot projects will engage students largely within Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Computer Science (CS) departments, defining an expansion path towards broader topics of interest to the US Navy via stakeholder feedback. A second key feature of the VIP@VT program will be the foundation for increasing dissemination of experiential learning as an outreach function to participants already in the Navy work force. The proposed effort will establish the overall educational framework for VIP@VT, consisting of curricular, experiential learning, and outreach functions. Pilot research projects, primarily funded through other sources, are expected to include: (1) Secure Waveform Development / Cognitive Radio (ITAR project) and (2) Machine Learning/ Cognitive RF (ITAR project). The outreach pilot, Enhanced Hands-on Learning for radio Spectrum Problems (E-HLSP) (non-ITAR project), will build upon ongoing ONR STEM efforts and proceed through the entire three years, but will establish a Continuing and Professional Education (CPE) foundation that is extensible to other future VIP projects.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 27, 2018
- Source ID
- N000141812411
Entities
People
- Alan J. Michaels
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- Virginia Tech