Involving Undergraduates in Computational Science and Engineering Research: Successes and Challenges

The undergraduate years of one’s educational career are among the most formative in terms of education and research outlook. The university education should both broaden the student’s perspective, while simultaneously sharpening critical thinking skills. Though classroom experience is beneficial, it is incomplete. The purpose of this paper is to address some of the issues associated with providing computational science and engineering education at the undergraduate level by surveying efforts made at the University of Utah. Specifically, we will describe a program that allows students to become involved in research during their undergraduate years, and will provide two success stories demonstrating its efficacy. We also discuss efforts being made at associated undergraduate curriculum reform.