The Georgia Tech College of Engineering’s Center for Engineering Education and Diversity (CEED) will double the number of students in its annual summer research program thanks to a new partnership with Amazon. The company is committing $730,000 to support CEED’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) during the next two years.

SURE is a 10-week summer program designed to attract qualified, underrepresented minority and women students into graduate school in the fields of engineering and science. It is one of the longest-running summer research programs in the country, with attendees coming from universities around the country.  

“Our SURE program has supported more than 500 students since it was established in 1992, with 75 percent ultimately attending graduate school,” said Felicia Benton-Johnson, director of CEED and assistant dean in the College of Engineering. “Georgia Tech is grateful to Amazon for its commitment to growing the number of underrepresented minorities in STEM fields.”

Beginning this May, 30 students will be identified as Amazon SURE scholars, bringing the total number of SURE participants to approximately 50. Attendees will also visit an Amazon location (in-person or virtually). Amazon staff will host professional development seminars and lunch-and-learns during SURE.

With the commitment, Amazon becomes a CEED platinum sponsor.

“Amazon is excited to collaborate with the Georgia Tech SURE program – which has opened new doors of opportunity for hundreds of students over the past three decades,” said Prem Natarajan, vice president of natural understanding, Alexa AI. “Through this collaboration, Amazon will support and help expand the impact of the program by providing additional opportunities to students to grow and flourish as future leaders.”

CEED has hosted SURE for more than 30 years. Each summer, junior and senior undergraduates are recruited to spend two and a half months at Georgia Tech. While conducting research within the Colleges of Engineering, Computing and Sciences, the students receive weekly professional development and graduate school preparation seminars. Each participant is also paired with a Georgia Tech grad student and faculty member for mentoring.

SURE attendees are provided campus housing and a stipend to cover costs of living. The program is supported by funding from the National Science Foundation, Intel Corporation, and other federal and corporate sponsors.

The application period for the 2022 summer program is open until February 15.