Research Opportunities
Engineering Ambassadors
The Penn State Engineering Ambassadors is an outreach program providing opportunities for outstanding Penn State engineers to gain meaningful communication experiences both on and off campus. Ambassadors travel to high schools all over Pennsylvania to give short presentations on engineering topics to encourage the interest of these students in science and engineering careers. Ambassadors have many leadership opportunities and often give presentations and tours to prospective students and families, alumni and industry representatives. To be eligible to participate, students must first enroll in a special section of Effective Speech, CAS 100A for Engineers (look for sections that are controlled for only engineering students). Students who perform well in this course will have the opportunity to apply to become an ambassador.
Undergraduate Teaching and Research Experiences in Engineering
Undergraduate Teaching and Research Experiences in Engineering (UTREE) is a new organization dedicated to providing undergraduate students with teaching and research experiences in preparation for graduate school. UTREE students are undergraduates who have excelled both in their technical classes and in their communication classes. With this combination, UTREE students regularly go into undergraduate classrooms and teach classes on special topics such as making presentations and working in teams. UTREE students also run college-wide meetings on how to obtain and prepare for undergraduate research experiences. Visit UTREE's website for more information.
Undergraduate Teaching Internships
You are eligible to participate in an undergraduate teaching internship program during your senior year. If selected, you will be matched with a faculty mentor and assigned to work with him or her in the classroom. The workload is about 10 hours per week, and you will receive a stipend. The goals of this program are to improve your communication skills, develop interest and firsthand experience in teaching and develop a better understanding of basic concepts through teaching. Visit the Leonhard Center’s website for more information.
Student Space Programs Laboratory for Electrical Engineers
The Student Space Programs Laboratory (SSPL) at Penn State allows undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to design, fabricate, and integrate space systems. The SSPL provides hands-on projects to apply classroom knowledge to real world, interdisciplinary settings. SSPL students experience working through a complete design cycle and must develop a systems engineering mind-set in addition to their component-level experience.
Research Experiences for Undergraduates
There are a number of opportunities for undergraduate students to gain research experience outside of the University as well. The National Science Foundation keeps a database of Research Experiences for Undergraduates on its website.
Penn State Undergraduate Research
Penn State offers many opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research and creative endeavors. Working with faculty mentors, undergraduates engage in active learning in the laboratory, library, studio, and field. Through these experiences, students share in the excitement of discovery, develop important skills, and explore career choices.
Schreyer Honors College
Schreyer Honors College is the honors program at Penn State. Incoming student application requirements include excellent high school grades, strong extracurricular activities, and positive teacher references. The average high school GPA is typically 4.00/4.00. Typically, the average SAT score for incoming students is 2150/2400, although SAT scores are not used in the admissions decision process at the Honors College.
