Research seminar designed for undergraduate students builds confidence and access to research opportunities.

Upper-division technical electives in undergraduate engineering curricula provide students with an opportunity to learn about various industries within the discipline, which are often aligned well with ongoing research areas conducted by professors in the department. As an undergraduate student, establishing a research area of interest is a first step towards becoming a researcher and is an important part of the pipeline to careers in academia. A semester-long seminar course was offered to undergraduate students in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of California, Berkeley to expose students to ongoing research, while providing an opportunity to network with researchers in the department. The course consisted of weekly research talks and discussions. Invited speakers presented a diverse array of research areas and their pathway to research. To assess the course's impact, we surveyed students at the beginning and end of the semester. Approximately half of the students in the course were 1st year students. Survey results showed improved confidence when engaging in research discussions, and better understanding of graduate student research. Additionally, students enjoyed listening to presentations and connecting with graduate students. During the seminar, students learned how researchers and engineers design their experiments and learned about the wide array of applications in mechanical engineering. These preliminary findings can aid faculty and staff developing initiatives to enhance the undergraduate experience in engineering. Future work is needed to understand the long-term impact of participating in such a seminar course (e.g., impact on retention and participation in research). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]