Undergraduate research
Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative (FURI)
The Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative (FURI) has become one of our premier undergraduate experiential opportunities. FURI is designed to enhance and enrich a student’s engineering education by providing hands-on lab experience, independent and thesis-based research and travel to national conferences. Students select, design and complete research projects under the guidance of faculty mentors and present their findings at an annual public symposium.
In 2009, FURI featured 160 research projects attracting more than 125 participants and over 400 visitors. Nearly 25 percent of the school’s faculty mentored FURI students, with female and underrepresented minority students comprising nearly two-thirds of FURI participants.
Students cite FURI experiences as being extremely valuable and rewarding. Students learn to pursue new knowledge outside of the classroom and textbook, develop confidence in their ability to be creative and innovative, and gain insight to what it is like to be a graduate student at a research-intensive university.
FURI is designed to enhance and enrich undergraduate students’ engineering educational experience by providing financial support for hands-on lab work, independent and thesis research, providing the opportunity to present at a poster symposium and travel to professional conferences. The focus is on increasing participation, retaining FURI students in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and creating a culture that supports undergraduate research.
FURI consists of four programs:
Research Program: This is a one-of-a kind program combining research, mentorship, hourly wage and a research supply budget.
Research Symposium: A poster showcase of research performed by undergraduates funded by the FURI programs as well as students funded under other grants.
Travel Grant: The grant assists in funding undergraduate engineering students to national conferences to present their research findings.
FURI Honors Summer Institute: This two-week commuter program is designed for incoming engineering honors freshmen. This program acclimates honors students to the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering and Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University.
FURI Participant Profile
- FURI began in spring 2005 with 35 participants. In spring 2010, FURI had 85 participants, an increase of 20 percent.
- Participants from all engineering programs represent our brightest students, with an undergraduate GPA of 3.80.
- Thirty percent of students are female.
- One-third of the participants are underrepresented minorities.
- Twenty percent of the schools’ faculty mentor FURI students; over ten percent of the mentors are female.
- FURI Symposiums in fall 2009 and spring 2010 featured more than 160 research projects and attracted more than 400 visitors.
- In total, 125 students participated in the four programs in the 2009–10 academic year.
- The FURI Honors Summer Institute was created in 2008 with 17 students participating the first year. In 2009, there were 14 participants and 17 are participating in the 2010 program.
