Seventeen students from colleges around the country arrived at the College of Computing (CoC) this week to take part in a summer research internship that will give them an opportunity to gain valuable research experience while getting acquainted with Georgia Tech.

“More and more graduate school applicants are coming to us with conference papers and research internships already on their resumes,” CoC Dean Richard DeMillo said at a welcome luncheon. “Building up your research portfolio here this summer will be a great springboard for you in graduate school or in your career, whichever way you go.”

Organized by the Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) Division of CoC, the Computing Research Undergraduate Intern Summer Experience (CRUISE) partners each student with a faculty member and a graduate student in the CSE Division, the School of Computer Science or the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Throughout the 10-week program, participants conduct research guided by their mentors and attend workshops and weekly seminars on high-performance computing, programming, compilers and processors. Several students will participate in interdisciplinary research in distributed computing, simulation and intelligent transportation systems. Others will be working on optimizing algorithms on the IBM Cell/B.E. processor for real-world problems in computational biology and national security. The program aims to help the students pursue advanced degrees or a career in computing.

Program organizers say CRUISE also helps Georgia Tech identify some bright prospects for graduate study here, especially among underrepresented groups in science and engineering. CRUISE focuses on racial minorities and women and tries to attract at least a few international students each session.

This year, eight students were sponsored through an NSF-funded alliance created by CoC between historically black universities and research universities. Another six come through a Department of Defense program called Joint Educational Opportunities for Minorities, while three students from Indian Institutes of Technology are funded by CSE researchers.

Several faculty members are acting as mentors, including CSE Chair Richard Fujimoto, and CSE Professors David Bader and Rich Vuduc; SCS Professors Hyesoon Kim and Nate Clark; and Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Michael Hunter.

“We want the students to have a good experience with research,” Fujimoto said. “At the same time, we introduce them to Georgia Tech and maybe feed the pipeline of talented students who might be candidates for our graduate programs.”