Navy Engineering Innovation & Leadership (NEIL)
The IUPUI Navy Engineering Innovation & Leadership (NEIL) training program will provide scholarships and training in leadership, research, teaching, and career development for selected high-achieving engineering and computing students.
The next information session will be held online on September 15, 2022 at noon via zoom. Additional details are available at the link below
Information session for 2022-23 NEIL scholar program
Apply to the 2022 NEIL Scholar Program
NEIL scholars must be US citizens or permanent residents enrolled in an eligible engineering or computing BS degree major of the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology. While NEIL scholars will learn about Navy civilian STEM careers, there is no obligation to work for the Navy or to serve in the military.
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Program Overview
Through the program, students will:
- work as peer mentors for specific student groups or as peer leaders in STEM courses, to help peers in overcoming STEM learning and college graduation challenges
- perform research in research labs, or work as interns in defense-related industry focused on Navy-priority areas: operational endurance and sensing & sense-making
- receive focused training in leadership by Organizational Leadership (OL) faculty
- participate in career-development visits and engagement with NSWC Crane
- promote their Navy-priority experiences in the school’s diversity outreach programs
Program Details
- After a competitive selection, all active NEIL scholars will receive a $1000 scholarship each year sophomore through senior year. In addition, a NEIL scholar will earn an hourly wage for work on campus as a peer leader or mentor and as a research assistant. A NEIL scholar can earn up to $5000 in a year in scholarship and pay for work. Additional earnings are possible at an outside organization through an internship, if chosen.
- The NEIL program will also provide additional scholarships for freshmen in these majors or in IUPUI University College with interest in the target majors. A freshman can receive a $500 scholarship for participating in NEIL events. Students with a background that is under-represented in engineering and computing-related majors are especially encouraged to apply in freshman year.
- The NEIL scholarship may be competitively renewed each year through the recipient’s senior year, provided the recipient has maintained a minimum GPA of 2.5, and has met the requirements of the program.
- The NEIL program may end in the summer of 2024. Although the scholarship component will not continue past the program expiration, NEIL scholarship will be placed in appropriate paid peer leadership and undergraduate research positions untill they graduate
Peer leaders serve as role models and mentors for students who follow them in learning difficult topics and skills, or into a new learning environment. For example, IUPUI hires high-achieving undergraduates as peer leaders to work in collaboration with STEM course instructors to teach student teams through active and collaborative peer-led team learning (PLTL). Instead of traditional recitation in STEM classes, peer leaders mediate weekly problem-solving sessions and facilitate team discussion of concepts and strategies. Peer leaders could also help create a learning community beyond the classroom, for example, to encourage under-represented students to persist and graduate successfully. Peer leaders are enthusiastic and motivated and have the desire to contribute to the learning of their peers. They are catalysts in forming a community of students that can serve as a support group for each other. With time, peer leaders become increasingly independent at performing these tasks and in taking on other leadership roles.
Each NEIL scholar will be placed in peer leadership roles for one semester each year in the NEIL program, and will also enroll in a series of three 1-credit courses in tandem with their leadership and mentoring assignment. The peer leadership work will require 4-8 hours/week during the semester, with a pay rate from $12/hour up to $15/hr for experienced 'superleaders'.
Projects will offer undergraduate students the opportunity to engage in a substantive research experience focused on a significant research problem. This is a unique opportunity provided to IUPUI faculty and researchers for mentoring students while conducting pilot projects or testing new techniques and designs. Selected NEIL scholars will be paid $15.00 an hour to work 200 hours during the project (6-8 months of the academic year or 10 weeks in the summer), and meet regularly with the faculty mentor to discuss progress on the project. NEIL scholars must participate in the writing, reflection, and poster presentation activities common to programs of the IUPUI Center for Research & Learning (CRL).
Projects are in certain Navy priority areas, broadly defined:
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Typical research projects in these priority areas could be on many topics, such as:
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To be selected as a NEIL Scholar, each student must be
- a US citizen or a US permanent resident
- enrolled full-time, and with superior academic achievement in one of these BS programs:
AI (Intelligent Control Systems), BME, CE, CGT, CIT, Cybersecurity, EE, ENE, ME, MSTE, - interested in learning about US Navy careers related to engineering and computing,
- committed to working as a peer mentor/leader for 1 semester for each remaining undergraduate year, including enrollment in peer leadership courses
- committed to working as a research assistant in a faculty-supervised project for 1 academic year or 1 summer,
or committed to working as an intern at a Navy facility or in defense industry for one semester or one summer.