Renewable Energy Academic Partnerships (REAP) Student Summer Research Program Review Meeting, August 8, 2005 (Program and Abstracts)

The DOE-NREL Minority University Research Associates Program (MURA) is an undergraduate research program that encourages minority students to pursue careers in science and technology. In this program undergraduate/graduate students perform renewable energy research projects during the academic year with principal investigators at their university and are awarded summer internships in industry orat national laboratories like NREL during the summer. By providing renewable energy research opportunities, the program has proven to be very successful in retention of minority undergraduate students in the science and technology areas and helping many students reach their educational and career goals. Because of this program's successes, the program has been expanded to include additionalminority-serving colleges and universities and all solar energy technologies. Each university will conduct research in 1-3 areas: Basic Research, Photovoltaic Panel Measurement and Testing, and Solar Radiation Profile Study. This expansion will include Tribal Colleges-Universities, Hispanic, Alaska Native, and Hawaiian Native serving college and university students to be included along with theHistorically Black Colleges and Universities. Students involved in research excel in the classroom learning experience and are committed to contribute to the development of renewable energy technologies in order to create a sustainable environment.