Dr. Berke is committed to broadening participation of underrepresented groups in engineering, and believes in pro-active outreach to create equal opportunities for such groups. To date, our lab has supported at least 35 women, 9 racial/ethnic minorities, 6 LGBTQ+ students, 3 students with disabilities, and 1 veteran (last updated Jan 2024). Our group has been consistently between 30-60% female (or gender non-conforming) almost every semester, which is over double the rate for the College of Engineering and triple the rate for the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. By including underrepresented groups in our research, Dr. Berke hopes to expose them to a broader range of engineering experience that will propel them into successful engineering careers.
If you are from a group not represented on this page, Dr. Berke wants you to know that you are welcome in engineering too. He believes very strongly that anyone interested in engineering should be free and encouraged to pursue it.
If you are from a group not represented on this page, Dr. Berke wants you to know that you are welcome in engineering too. He believes very strongly that anyone interested in engineering should be free and encouraged to pursue it.
Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM)
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Dr. Berke was the inaugural faculty advisor for USU's student chapter of oSTEM, a professional society which supports LGBTQ+ engineers and scientists across all STEM fields. Our chapter ratified its constitution in Spring 2017 and finished registering with the USU Student Association in Fall 2017, and registered with the oSTEM national organization in Spring 2018.
To date, the chapter has organized science-themed outreach events which include:
In addition, Dr. Berke has completed USU's Allies on Campus training program and his office is listed as a safe space. |
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Native American STEM Mentorship Program (NASMP)
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Our lab participates annually in NASMP. Each summer, we host 1-2 Navajo students from USU Eastern for a week-long research experience. Students experience hands-on lab activities working side-by-side with our undergraduate and graduate researchers, contributing to our ongoing projects. At least one of these students (last updated Nov 2017) has since transferred to the USU Main Campus, enrolled in MAE, and became an undergraduate researcher in our lab as a result of participating in this program.
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