CAHSI Virtual REU Program

About

Building Research Capabilities of Academically Talented Undergraduate Students from Hispanic-Serving Institutions through Virtual Research Experiences 

To identify and broadly engage the next generation of computer science researchers, the Computing Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institutions (CAHSI), an NSF INCLUDES Alliance, piloted a national virtual Research Experience for Undergraduates (vREU) during the summers of 2020 and 2021. Funded by an NSF RAPID grant, the pilot provided undergraduate research experiences to students and faculty across CAHSI colleges and universities widely distributed throughout the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico, with faculty mentoring students at other institutions in the majority of cases. The program used the Affinity Research Group (ARG) model to guide faculty mentors throughout the experience. ARG is a CAHSI signature practice with a focus on deliberate, structured faculty and student research skills development. At weekly meetings, the facilitators discussed and provided resources for specific skills that were appropriate at a specific point in time of a student’s research experience. Faculty mentors put skills development into immediate practice throughout their summer research program. The efforts allow CAHSI institutions to extend summer REUs to those students who might be excluded through alternative approaches to physical travel and residency due to year-round jobs, family obligations, lack of short-term housing options, and other insurmountable logistics. Summer REUs are vital to the national interest, as they serve as a key identification point for the next generation of graduate students and researchers. Responding to this, CAHSI’s vREU program distinctively uses the ARG model for the mentor-mentee engagement, and the vREU faculty mentors become part of a cohort community themselves. CAHSI vREU faculty mentors meet weekly to discuss best practices for working with undergraduate researchers, share ideas, and receive mentoring training and materials for use with their students in the following week. The CAHSI vREU methodology supports constructive critique and the deliberate development of research skills without requiring student relocation, enabling a larger community of students and faculty to participate and move undergraduates towards graduate study.  To learn more, please read the 2021 ASEE article.

Contact:  Dr. Patricia Morreale, regional lead of CAHSI North, pmorreal@kean.edu  

2021 CAHSI vREU Student Participants

Andrea Corrales
Northeastern Illinois University

Bio

Angelica Walker
Merced College transferred to University of California Merced
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Anibely Torres
Kean University
Bio

Anthony Diaz
Kean University
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Brayan Garcia Pong
The University of Texas at El Paso
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Elizabeth Soto
Northeastern Illinois University
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Emilio Ramirez
The University of Texas at El Paso
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Eric Landaverde
Kean University
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Felix Rodriguez
Florida International University
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Jacob Whitlow
California State University, Fresno
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Jason Castillo
New York City College of Technology
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Jennifer Ly
California State University, Dominguez Hills
Bio

Megan Phillips
Merced College
Bio

Michael Segovia
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Bio

Nathaniel Valdez-Cagua
Kean University
Bio

Phillip Aguilera
California State University, Dominguez Hills
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Rachel Varghese
California State University Long Beach
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Ricardo Sillas
The University of Texas at El Paso
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Shagota Dasgupta
New York City College of Technology
Bio

2020 CAHSI vREU Awards

Poster-Elevator Speech

Gabriel Soto
UPRM (Jose Baca, TAMU-CC) Assessing Rehabilitation Exercises via Movement Pattern Recognition
Video Link

Juliana Judge
TAMU-CC (Jenn Li, Kean) Where is the Boundary of Deep Learning Capability?
Video Link

Poster

Gabriel Lopez Lugo
UPRM (Jenn Li, Kean) Optimal Deep Learning Neural Network Designs
Poster Link

Christopher Rosado Rivera
UPR-A (Jose Baca, TAMU-CC) Monitoring Astronaut’s Performance Based on Patterns Assessment
Poster Link

Jesus Vega
UPRM  (M. Shahab, CSU-Fresno) Performance Analysis of Hashing Schemes in HDMA
Poster Link

Elevator Speech

Petra Bazan
UT Rio Grande Valley  (Eliana Valenzuela, UPR-A); Understanding the Underrepresentation of Hispanics in Computing, and Improving Outreach Programs for Hispanic Women
Video Link

Ging Gonzalez
SJSU (Marvin Andujar, UCF) A Motor Imagery-Based Virtual Brain-Controlled Drone to Increase User’s Attention Retention: A Face Recognition Approach
Video Link

Preston McCullough
CSU-Fresno (Dvijesh Shastri, UHD) Classifying Food Dishes A Deep Learning Approach
Video Link

Easysoftonic