Research in Industrial Projects for Students (RIPS) 2009

June 21 - August 21, 2009

Overview | Projects | Application | Contact Us

RIPS-Beijing: In addition to our annual RIPS-LA program held on the UCLA campus, we will offer RIPS-Beijing for the second time. In collaboration with Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA), eight U.S. students and eight Chinese students will work on cross-cultural teams on four projects, each sponsored by an MSRA research group. You may use the application form below to apply. Please go to http://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/rips2009/beijing.aspx for detailed information.

Overview:

The Research in Industrial Projects (RIPS) Program provides an opportunity for high-achieving undergraduate students to work in teams on a real-world research project proposed by a sponsor from industry or a national lab. RIPS recruits its students from all over the world. Each RIPS team is comprised of four students, a faculty mentor, and an industrial sponsor. The research problem is developed by the industrial sponsor in consultation with IPAM; it is always a real problem of serious interest to the sponsor and that offers a stimulating challenge to students. The students, with direction from their faculty mentor and industrial sponsor, spend nine weeks learning about the problem, mastering the latest analytical approaches and techniques to solve it, and developing report-writing and public-speaking skills to be able to make professional presentations about the progress and results of their work to a scientific audience. Industry mentors provide regular contact between the team and the sponsor, monitoring and helping to guide student work. Ultimately, RIPS provides valuable real-world technical and managerial experience for students as well as valuable R&D for sponsors.

RIPS Program Director: Michael Raugh, Ph.D.

For more information, see Comments from RIPS Students and Frequently Asked Questions.

Projects:

Projects are selected to have a major mathematical component and to be something that will pose an interesting challenge to talented undergraduates. Recent projects have included how to do a physics-based animation of a lava lamp, how to stitch together two images, how to analyze cancer data using microarrays, statistical data assimilation methods for weather data, modeling particle transport phenomena in reactors, and designing missions to the moons of Jupiter. This is just a sampling of the types of projects assigned to RIPS teams. New industrial sponsors join the RIPS Program each year and the same projects are never repeated.

RIPS 2008 sponsors were The Aerospace Corporation, Amgen, Arete, Jet Propulsion Lab, Microsoft Research Asia, Pixar Animation, The Spielberg Family Center for Applied Proteomics, and Symantec. The RIPS-LA 2008 project descriptions are posted here.

http://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/rips2008/sponsors.aspx

Application:

IPAM is no longer accepting applications for RIPS 2009. We will accept supporting documents until Monday, February 23. Please use our RIPS "upload page" at http://rips.ipam.ucla.edu/secure/upload.aspx to upload your resume and transcript or academic record, preferably in PDF format. To help us track your supporting documents, please name the file with your last name, then first name, then the name of the document (resume or transcript), each word separated by a space. A message will appear on the upload page confirming receipt of your uploaded document.

Please give your two letter writers our Referee Instructions.

Applications were due February 15, 2009. IPAM will begin making offers to successful applicants (by email or phone) on or around March 15, and will continue until all spots are full. Please send your questions to mailto:rips2009@ipam.ucla.edu. Please do not send your supporting documents by email.

Contact Us:

Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM)
Attn: RIPS2009
460 Portola Plaza
Los Angeles CA 90095-7121
Phone: 310 825-4755
Fax: 310 825-4756
Email: ipam@ucla.edu
Website: http://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/rips2009/