The Industrial Affiliates Program at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez

The Industrial Affiliates Program (IAP) is an industry sponsored undergraduate research program at the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez. The program has the support of more than 12 companies, many of them internationally recognized companies. IAP is administered by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and has student and professor participation from all departments in the School of Engineering. The program seeks to provide undergraduate students with research experience, to work on problems relevant to industry, and to improve collaboration between UPRM faculty and industrial representatives. Industrial partners pay a yearly membership fee and propose projects for students to solve. Also professors interested can submit proposals to the program. Every year, the best proposals are selected and awarded a budget of $3000. Students work under the direct supervision of a faculty advisor. At the end of the year, an annual conference is held where all students present their results in a technical conference format. Some of the other activities organized by IAP include: tutorial for students on how to make effective presentations, a poster session of other undergraduate research projects not sponsored by IAP, publishing a resume book of all students working in IAP projects, as well as several dinners and meetings with industry representatives. This paper describes in detail the rationale for the program, the different activities held every year, the importance of such a program in undergraduate education, some of the success stories of its 10 years of history, and future plans.