Project Grant 2600419

The National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education awarded the University of Texas at Dallas $1,499,258 on October 1, 2026, to conduct a five-year longitudinal mixed-methods study of manufacturing skills workshops embedded throughout the undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum. The award funds research examining whether early, repeated hands-on experiences in machining, welding, and tool use strengthen students' engineering identity, technical self-efficacy, and interest in manufacturing careers. The study will track more than 1,000 mechanical engineering students across four entering cohorts from 2026 through 2031, testing five hypotheses along a competence-to-confidence-to-career developmental pathway, with particular attention to first-to-second-year retention and the progression from basic hand tools and safety in the first year to milling, turning, and welding by senior year. The University of Texas at Dallas is conducting the work in collaboration with researchers at Texas A&M University. Performance occurs in Richardson, Texas, with a completion date of September 30, 2031. The project supports the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076), which funds development of the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education enterprise. This assistance type is a Project Grant.