Research in Industrial Projects for Students (RIPS) 2010

Overview | Projects | Application | Contact Us

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, an academic 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 academic 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 2009 sponsors were The Aerospace Corporation, Arete, The Center for Applied Molecular Medicine, Jet Propulsion Lab, Los Alamos National Lab, Los Angeles Police Department, Pixar/Walt Disney Animation Studios, Placental Analytics, and Symantec. The RIPS-LA 2009 project descriptions are posted here.

http://www.ipam.ucla.edu/programs/rips2009/sponsors.aspx

Eligible applicants include undergraduate students or recent graduates (December 2009 or May/June 2010). International students are eligible to apply for RIPS-LA. Due to the large number of applications we typically receive, we do not accept applications from previous RIPS students.

A resume, two letters of recommendation, and an academic record or transcript (unofficial) will be requested along with the completed application form.

The link below will take you to our online application form. The deadline for applications and all supporting documents is Monday, February 15th, 2010. While there is no preference given to people who apply early, try to do so for your own benefit as to give yourself time to submit all required documents. 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.

We no longer accept applications for our RIPS2010 program.

Contact Us:

Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM)
Attn: RIPS2010
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/rips2010/

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