As STEM fields continue to grow in prevalence, there is an increasing need to educate and inform the younger population about engineering disciplines and scientific principles to better prepare students for STEM careers. The PROPEL Careers Program engages students to tackle real-world engineering problems by contributing to active research projects in laboratories at UMass Lowell. Placed into an active laboratory setting with faculty and student mentors, participants will have a direct impact on the development of their scientific research skills allowing them to discover potential passions and prepare them for potential careers in the discipline of their choosing.
Joining this paid summer internship program enables students to garner interdisciplinary research skills, ultimately providing them with an advantage in higher education and helping them to form important relationships with faculty and peers. Improvements in networking skills will lend them an advantage in their undergraduate career paths should they continue with a STEM-related degree path. By working in a team research environment, students will acquire specific interpersonal and technical skills that form a foundational understanding of the laboratory environment.
Through participation in the PROPEL Careers Program, students will:
- Be mentored in STEM research by UML faculty and students;
- Learn to apply problem-solving skills to research questions in STEM fields;
- Understand how laboratories operate in an academic setting within the university and gain valuable experience to take with them into their future education and careers;
- Learn valuable laboratory and technical skills, including safe lab practices and operation of relevant laboratory equipment;
- Learn critical interdisciplinary laboratory skills and research practices through hands-on project management and internship experience, and;
- Gain understanding that will help them pursue careers and further research opportunities within the scientific field of their choosing involving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).