Students To Engineering Practice (STEP) is a manifestation of the National Science Foundation research project: An Industry-Academia Partnership Model for Students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Disciplines (NSF CSEMS Grant No. DUE-0422256). This eight-year project - starting August 2006 and ending July 2008, is a continuation from its predecessor project (NSF CSEMS Grant No. DUE-9987066) that started July 1, 2000 and ended June 30, 2004. Its purpose is to develop and evaluate new and improved ways to help talented students with financial need complete their undergraduate degrees in timely fashion and move successfully into careers in engineering and computer science.
STEP is organized into four phases, each of two-year duration. A cohort group of thirty talented junior-level students in engineering and computer science are participating in each phase. Our recipe is simple - combine unrestricted scholarships (funded by the NSF) with a paid internship in industry (funded by STEP Industry Partners) and mix in a variety of academic support and professional development activities (provided by the FAU College of Engineering & Computer Science). Centerpiece of these activities is a four-semester sequence of one semester-credit Professional Development Workshop courses developed especially for the STEP program.
