In his two-dozen years as an NPRE faculty member, Prof. David N. Ruzic has recruited hundreds of undergraduates to work in his laboratories.
"I believe that an engineering undergraduate education isn't complete unless a student is immersed in the actual creation of engineering knowledge and immersed in applying that knowledge to real world problems," Ruzic said. "I do that immersion through hiring as many undergraduate research assistants as possible and integrating them into my teams. I also pay them--a critical part of engaging the student and encouraging responsibility."
This dedication to expanding research opportunities for undergrads is now being recognized campus-wide. This year, Ruzic was honored with the 2009 Campus Award for Excellence in Guiding Undergraduate Research. Ruzic's peers selected him for the award, designed to foster and to reward excellence in involving and guiding undergraduate students in scholarly research. The award was presented April 29 during the Celebration of Teaching Excellence at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center.
The Center for Plasma Materials Interactions, which Ruzic directs, provides plenty of opportunities for undergraduate research. The Center’s group studies particle-surface interactions relevant to fusion power and materials processing systems through a combination of computational and experimental means.
Ruzic's purpose in employing undergrads in the labs is to give them an educational experience.
"At first a new student may merely act as a 'gopher' or a spare set of hands on a variety of projects,” he said. “After the student has a better understanding of the different labs, she or he is moved to a particular project where she or he starts taking on a specific set of responsibilities."
This was the case for J.R. Sporre, who earned his bachelor's degree in NPRE in 2007 and is now a graduate student in the department. Sporre said he moved quickly from his initial job of sorting nuts and bolts to more complicated tasks involving extreme untraviolet light lithography. The earlier work prepared him for a more challenging experience: spearheading the construction and operation of an ion-measuring device to be shipped to and set up at the University College of Dublin in Ireland.
Said Sporre, "I performed admirably on my task, and over winter break Dr. Ruzic awarded me the opportunity to fly to Ireland under the guidance of a post-doc and successfully take ion-debris measurements of a laser-produced plasma. This experience capped the transformation of my work habits, as I suddenly found myself fully committed to performing my best to meet and exceed expectations."
Wayne Lytle, another NPRE undergrad turned graduate student, also appreciated the mentoring Ruzic provided.
"Through his guidance and explanations, as well as his close ties with industry and national labs, which spurred other engineering internships for me, his advising and research guidance was of the utmost importance to me and one of the major reasons why I chose to become a graduate student at UIUC."
Writer: Susan Mumm editor/alumni affairs coordinator, Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering, 217/244-5382 (campus office), 217/821-6866 (cell) 217/347-2166 (home office).