This article originally appeared in the September 9, 2002 issue of Engineering News. Engineering News is a weekly newsletter for students in the College of Engineering.

I can't drive over here!" announced EECS student Marga Chiri recently. This wasn't a typical case of road rage, just a note of frustration during the presentation of his joystick-controlled robot car at the Summer Undergraduate Program in Engineering Research (SUPERB).

The program, geared to underrepresented students, is a way to gain valuable research experience, at the side of engineering faculty and graduate students. Chiri worked with EECS professor Kris Pister and graduate student Sarah Bergbreiter.

ChiriÕs inability to maneuver his vehicle on the tight space of the presentation table prompted his nervous announcement. He moved the car to the floor of HP Auditorium where it was able to zip around freely. Audience members craned their necks to see, then oohed and ahed.

The innovation of this particular design is its price. While a typical prototype costs $3,000 to produce, Chiri's design only set him back $250. The secret was using off-the-shelf instead of custom parts. With lowered costs, larger networks of robots can be created, he said. This army of toy cars can use the mote technology under development by Berkeley faculty to explore and map floors of buildings without human intervention.

Chiri added to the concept of autonomous exploration with the advent of joy stick control, which allows for pursuit and evasion games. "If these car move too fast, the joystick can slow them down," he said.

Filling The Pipeline: SUPERB Introduces Minority Undergraduates To Research Opportunities

-Tamar Laddy-

This article originally appeared in the October 16, 1995 issue of Engineering News as the second article in a series on Berkeley programs to recruit and retain minority engineering students.

For five years now, the Summer Undergraduate Program in Engineering Research at Berkeley (SUPERB) has given minority students from across the country the chance to work with Berkeley professors and graduate student mentors on research projects.

"The intent is to increase the pipeline of underrepresented students who are getting graduate degrees in engineering," says Laura Darby, outreach coordinator for the Center for Underrepresented Engineering Students.

Darby, who has helped organize SUPERB since 1992, says the program offers minority students an ideal opportunity to gain an exposure to research that is traditionally unavailable to undergraduates.

This past summer, 14 minority engineering students from across the country traveled from as far as New Jersey and Puerto Rico to participate in SUPERB. During their eight weeks on campus, the students spent 40 hours a week conducting research and preparing a report that they presented at the conclusion of the program. In addition to their research, participants met with graduate students on an informal basis to socialize and get tips on applying to graduate school.

"Working with top minds in the country is a unique experience," says Sergio Mairena, ME '96, one of two Berkeley students to participate in last summer's program. "It's not every day someone hands you a rose and asks, 'Would you like to take a sniff?'"

"The intellectual environment was great because you had to make sure that you were constantly on your toes," says Kenneth Davis, a Clemson University senior majoring in electrical engineering. "I was never really considering graduate school, but after participating in SUPERB, I decided that it was worth looking into."

SUPERB got its start in 1990, when it was established by a group of minority students, under the auspices then of the EECS department. Spearheaded by EECS academic coordinator Sheila Humphereys, the program was funded by a National Science Foundation grant, and the seven participating students were assigned to work with EE researchers.

SUPERB has since doubled in size and has become a Collegewide program that now incorporates research projects from electrical, civil, and mechanical engineering and computer science.

Along with the continuing support of the NSF grant for the EECS participants, this year's ME and CE students were sponsored by grants from the Provost, the College of Engineering, and the Minority Engineering Program (MEP). A budget of $5,000 per student provided for travel expenses, lodging, a stipend, and funding for a graduate student mentor.

Despite the program's expansion, SUPERB's mission remains the same: to spark minority students' interest in research and graduate school.

According to statistics, over half of the 69 students who have participated in SUPERB since its inception have continued on to graduate school. Twenty-one students have enrolled in programs at Berkeley's College of Engineering, while 12 students are currently pursuing doctoral degrees at other universities.

Darby says many SUPERB students are interested in coming to Cal and use the program as a way to test the waters. Every attempt is made to pair students with professors who are conducting research in the undergraduate's expressed field of interest, she notes.

John Davis, currently a fifth year graduate student in EECS at Berkeley, began his career at Cal as a SUPERB participant. Davis was a student at Howard University in Washington, D.C., when he heard about the program at a recruiting session.

One of the first SUPERB participants in 1990, Davis says his involvement in the program directly effected his decision to apply to Cal. "I had developed a rapport with some students and faculty that I could build on," he says, noting that attending another school would have meant starting from ground zero.

Davis continues to play an active role in the program. He has served as a mentor to students and an adviser, offering academic advice and tips on preparing for the GREs.

"I think [SUPERB] is very valuable in its role in helping to diversify graduate schools," Davis says. "It helps increase the enrollment of minority students in graduate school."