A “RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES” IN SIGNAL PROCESSING, CODING AND COMMUNICATIONS Todd K. Moon and Jacob H. Gunther Information Dynamics Laboratory and Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Utah State University Logan, UT 84322-4120 ABSTRACT A unique Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) was of- fered at Utah State University in the summer of 2009, with re- search topics drawn from signal processing, digital communica- tions, and error correction coding. Thirteen students participated in this ten-week program, working on nine separate projects. The program began with two weeks of intense instruction with five accompanying programming and writing assignments. Students were presented with a number of projects to choose from accord- ing to their preparation and preference, developing in them the in- dependence and “buy in” necessary for effective original research. Regular social activities were also planned to develop the research team and keep energy up. Results include several conference and journal papers and contributions to other ongoing research projects. 1. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY The REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) in Signal Pro- cessing, Coding and Communications at Utah State University pro- vides an intense ten-week research program in a unique environ- ment that is both directed and open-ended. Our program is, we believe, unique in several aspects. First, there is the general topic area, falling under the general umbrella of signals and communi- cations and thereby providing a mixture of mathematical and en- gineering emphases. While there are many sponsored REU pro- grams, the signal processing area is largely unaddressed by these. Second, there is the breadth of research topics offered: rather than shoeboxing students into some pre-selected problem area, a pal- lette of projects was presented to the students, allowing projects to be selected by them based on their preparation and interest. Third is the intense, hands-on educational session at the beginning of the program which provides students with vital background and sig- nal processing skills useful for the research and throughout their technical careers. Fourth is the technical and social interaction designed to keep the interest high and develop esprit de corps, including daily “tea” and physical activity and outdoor activities approximately every other week. We take very seriously the research aspect of the program. A primary goal was to introduce as many students as possible to the production of publishable, original research. Within the time con- straint of ten weeks, we established a culture of independent re- search with elements that they might encounter in a graduate or postgraduate program. • Rather than directing students onto specific projects, stu- dents are instead presented with a pallette of problems in the general area of the program: signal processing, coding, This work was supported by the NSA REU in Coding and Communi- cations, Summer 2009 and communications. The selection helps students to define their interests and abilities. • The research is highly interactive, with regular meetings with faculty and students together. The group met virtu- ally every day, with formal group meetings at least once a week. • Teaming is encouraged, but not required, suiting students’ tendencies. • The projects involve real research questions — there are no canned answers to be found. The research questions are known to be difficult, perhaps insoluble, and some are new (to us) requiring fresh insight for solution. The instructional part of the program involves two weeks of in- tense study, revolving around and accompanied by five program- ming projects. Each programming project includes a report written in L A T E X (with plots as appropriate) documenting the project. An invited technical speaker, who talked of Hadamard designs and their application to MIMO communication, and a tour of the Plasma Research Laboratory at the Space Dynamics Laboratory provided some variation on the daily routine. This is the second year that the program has been run [1]. This year had more students involved than the first year, and took on some projects more ambitious than the first year. 2. THE STUDENTS Prerequisites for the program are a course in linear algebra and some familiarity with probability and programming. These were minimal requirements, designed to make the program open to a broad cross section of students. Information about the program was sent to mathematics and electrical engineering departments across the country. The federal sponsor of this program requires that all students involved must be U.S. citizens. There were eleven students supported by the program, and two unpaid volunteers. Eight of these were first-time REU students coming from seven different universities from around the country. Two of these were female and six were male. These students were distributed accord- ing to majors as follows: electrical engineering, 4; mathematics, 4. The other three supported students (two EEs and a physics major), who had experience with last year’s REU, acted as teaching as- sistants (TAs) while also carrying out their own research projects. Given the variety of projects, their assistance proved invaluable. They spent a large fraction of their time working with the first- year REU students, while still managing to move their own re- search projects forward. In addition to these supported students, two other international students volunteered to work with the pro- gram because of their desire to gain research experience, bringing the number of students involved in the program to thirteen. 2938 978-1-4244-4296-6/10/$25.00 ©2010 IEEE ICASSP 2010