Faculty Member’s NSF Grant Expands Undergraduate Research Opportunities

A grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to a University of Miami College of Engineering faculty member will facilitate actively involving several undergraduate students in research. Ramin Moghaddass, an assistant professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering, received the funding through the NSF’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program.
Faculty Member’s NSF Grant Expands Undergraduate Research Opportunities

A grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to a University of Miami College of Engineering (UM CoE) faculty member will facilitate actively involving several undergraduate students in research. Ramin Moghaddass, an assistant professor in the CoE Department of Industrial Engineering, received the funding through the NSF’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. REU grants are designed to provide funding to create research positions and experiences specifically for undergraduate students.

The students who benefit from the grant Moghaddass received will heavily focus on research into data analytics and machine learning. They will receive hands-on experience in some of the practical tools and approaches for data analytics in engineering systems. They will participate in research at the CoE and travel to other REU sites for additional experiences.

“I believe that engaging undergraduate students in research projects not only has educational benefits to them, but can also significantly increase student awareness across the campus regarding research opportunities in industrial engineering, data mining and related areas,” Moghaddass said.

Students are expected to present some of the outcomes of their work at  national and regional conferences, such as the national conferences of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) and the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). Students interested in joining Data Analytics Lab can send their CVs via to Moghaddass.

REU is an NSF-wide program that supports active participation in science, engineering and education research by undergraduate students. The program seeks to expand student participation in all kinds of research — both disciplinary and interdisciplinary — including efforts by individual investigators, groups, centers, national facilities and others. It draws on the integration of research and education to attract a diverse pool of talented students into careers in science and engineering, and helps ensure that these students receive the best education possible.