During the summer, UCF hosts Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs in disciplines ranging from nanotechnology and machine learning to computer visioning and optics. The programs aim to encourage undergraduates to pursue research endeavors and graduate school.
Nearly 200 undergraduates from schools across the nation have taken part in the Computer Vision program, UCF’s longest running—going on 21 years. Its participants have co-authored more than 60 research papers, and six are now faculty members at universities.
Director Mubarak Shah, Pegasus Award winner for 2006, believes that the REU program is great exposure for students who want to excel in the computer vision field. “This program has contributed to science and engineering by exposing undergraduates to the excitement and challenge of research,” Shah said. “Due to that, roughly half of the students have gone on to graduate school.”