The goal here is to have all research-active faculty belong in a small research group; in this context, “research-active” faculty are faculty who are major professors for theses and dissertations. Research facilities may include spaces, equipment, computers and special software. Research personnel may include faculty, technicians, post-doctoral scholars, and undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students. We propose that formal SRGs can provide a sustainable set of research units. Once established, these research units will provide graduate students with research opportunities through which they can develop the knowledge, skills, and relationships needed to be a research engineer. As graduate students engage with the SRGs and demonstrate (to themselves and significant others) their capabilities as researchers, the process of self-verification, will promote internalization of a Research Engineer Identity.

Membership of SRGs and SRG Operation Guide Template:

Research-active faculty self-select the SRG theme they will belong to. The group develops a template for the operations of the SRG. The primary goal of this document is be to inform prospective and current graduate students about the operations of the group as it relates to their research progression.

SRG Operation Guide:

Each SRG convenes to adopt their SRG Operation Guide. It is anticipated that every group defines roles for each of its members (both students and faculty), and the model adopted for its functioning may provide for the development of its members’ skills in support of the goals of the group.