Undergraduate Studies in Earthquake Information Technology (UseIT): Preparing Students for the Twenty-First Century Work Force via a Multidisciplinary and Collaborative Learning Experience

UseIT is one of the three undergraduate research programs sponsored by the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC). The program allows students to work in multi-disciplinary collaborative teams to tackle a scientific “Grand Challenge.” The topic varies each year but it always entails performing computer science research that is needed by earthquake scientists, educators, and other target audiences. The program allows undergraduates to use the advanced tools of information technology to solve important problems in interdisciplinary earthquake research. Since the program began in 2002, 145 students have participated in UseIT. The program stresses problem solving and interdisciplinary cross training. A key aspect of the UseIT program is its flexible, yet structured, team approach. Students share their diverse skills and interests, creating a powerful synergy through this peer mentoring. The majority of UseIT interns have considerable computer science skill or aptitude, but successful UseIT interns have hailed from nearly three-dozen disciplines, all class levels, and all skill levels. Successful UseIT interns have in common a willingness to step outside their comfort zones and try new things. During the 2009 internship the focus of the program was to deliver SCEC Virtual Display of Objects (VDO) images and animations of faults and earthquake sequences to SCEC, the Earthquake Country Alliance, and other virtual organizations via a content management system that captures the metadata and guides the user. SCEC-VDO is the SCEC intern-developed visualization software that allows the user to see earthquake related phenomena in three and four dimensions. The 2009 Grand Challenge had special relevance for the interns because the products they created were used for The Great California ShakeOut. This talk will discuss lessons learned from this program, how it addresses the needs of the 21st century STEM work force, and highlights of the 2009 internship.