Research Experience for Undergraduates Site

Hybrid Design and Fabrication (REU-HDF)

The University of Texas at Arlington

This maker-centered Research Experiences for Undergraduates will serve as a site for students from diverse and interdisciplinary backgrounds to participate in developing smart material toolkits, AI-assisted and sensor-driven tools, and smart creative environments.

Projects will focus on democratizing access to advanced materials and fabrication techniques across a diverse range of underdeveloped materials within digital fabrication including clay, silicone, glass, biomaterials, and textiles. Undergraduate researchers will help develop and disseminate digital fabrication toolkits and user interface systems to further promote material and technological literacy in both academic and independent "do it yourself" communities. Exemplar artifacts developed under the mentorship of professional art and design faculty will be disseminated through social and popular media and generate inspiration, excitement, and critical reflection around interdisciplinary collaborations between art and technology.

Participants will benefit from professional development in design thinking, additive and subtractive fabrication, and human subjects research. The interdisciplinary research experience and training will contribute to a high-demand research skill set for REU participants portable to a variety of science and technology disciplines. Each research project is situated within a community of practice and designed to engage REU participants with stakeholders and peer researchers, including external mentors from internationally recognized human-computer interaction programs.

Located at the University of Texas at Arlington, this summer experience will also include recreational field trips to the renowned Fort Worth Stockyards and Kimbell Art Museum.