08-01 Coming out of the Pipeline: The UC Interdisciplinary Pathway to STEM Professionals.

Target: Students with an interest in Medical Device Design, Global Product Design, PACE, (Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education) and neurosciences. There is a graduate and undergraduate component. For the graduate students, they must want to continue on for a PhD.

This proposal focuses on generating an enhanced experiential pathway in the mid- and late-collegiate undergraduate years as well as in graduate education.

One portion of this award will use COFSP scholarships to incentivize the evolution of new undergraduate programs that follow a UC interdisciplinary educational model. Our vision is based on a unique concept which encourages Ohio’s students to enter into STEM professions: offering innovative educational pathways strengthens the promise of a career in Ohio upon graduation because of interdisciplinary training that increases the innovation and creativity potential of graduates. We have already developed two such programs in Medical Device Design and Global Product Design and Manufacturing and will use COFSP scholarships as an incentive to recruit more programs that span the STEM disciplines.