Eleven teachers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area will participate in the University of North Texas' Research Experiences for Teachers in Sensor Networks program beginning June 11. The program gives teachers the opportunity to conduct engineering-based research projects while also learning how to translate their experiences into innovative classroom lessons. The program is funded by a $499,932 grant from the National Science Foundation that started in 2011 and will run through 2013.

"This program is crucial to promote STEM disciplines among high school students in the North Texas area. We critically need our youth to consider engineering among their first choices for college. Engaging their teachers in university research goes a long way in accomplishing this goal," said Dr. Miguel Acevedo, a Regents professor in UNT's Department of Electrical Engineering and coordinator of UNT's Research Experience for Teachers program.

This is the second year that UNT has offered the Research Experience for Teachers program. UNT also ran a pilot program in 2009. This year's participants will use electrical engineering concepts and tools to investigate air and water quality, the impact of emissions on the area's carbon footprint and the ability to equip robots with depth-capable vision. Read more about the Research Experiences for Teachers in Sensor Networks.