![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/foundrymodel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2025\/09\/Stock_COE_Chemical-engineering_Department-Publication_12Sep2024_00053-1-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nImage caption: Chemical Engineering students in the lab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the News<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Grant Spotlight: Holistic Foundry Undergraduate Engaged Learners (FUEL) Program<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Published Tuesday Aug 4, 2020 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Grand Challenge<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rural Reimagined congratulates PIs and Co-Directors Dr. Andrea Arce-Trigatti (Curriculum and Instruction), Dr. Stephanie N. Jorgensen (Chemical Engineering), Mr. Michael Aikens (Rural Reimagined\/TCRI), Dr. J. Robby Sanders (Chemical Engineering), and Dr. Pedro E. Arce (Chemical Engineering) for receiving the Holistic Foundry Undergraduate Engaged Learners (FUEL) program grant from the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR). The FUEL program uses the Renaissance Foundry Model, an innovation-driven pedagogical engine, coupled with the Rural Reimagined Grand Challenge initiative at TN Tech, to provide students with an opportunity to transform learning towards the development of skills associated with holistic engineers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The program\u2019s purpose is to provide inclusive and comprehensive training to diverse populations in engineering that will help them develop learning strategies aligned with those of holistic engineers useful for their academic career through the development of a student-team research project. Regarding the core platform which uses the Renaissance Foundry Model, Dr. Arce states, \u201cWe are excited to be leveraging the Foundry as a central guiding tool towards meeting this program\u2019s objectives to develop students as holistic learners.\u201d Dr. Jorgensen supports this by indicating, \u201cThis pedagogical engine has been a useful tool in the classroom setting as revealed by increases in students\u2019 critical thinking skills. We are very excited to see a larger application of this effective tool to enhance student learning in this extracurricular context.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Holistic engineers are trained within an approach that emphasizes contextualized problem formulation and encourages innovative solutions to complex social challenges. Dr. Sanders says the following about holistic engineers, \u201cGiven the complexity of the challenges facing society today, the development of professionals with strong content knowledge and the ability to work within and across disciplines represents an important goal for facilitators of learning to help students develop these skills for their careers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Program objectives align with Rural Reimagined, with the expectation that the research projects will have ties to participants\u2019 hometowns via outreach activities in partnership with Mr. Carlos Galindo and the Science Olympiad Collegiate Scholars program. Regarding the FUEL program, and associated collaborations, Dr. Arce-Trigatti states, \u201cThis is a passionate, interdisciplinary team that cares deeply about students\u2019 holistic development and growth. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share the Foundry Model in various contexts to help foster student learning and fuel growth through the training offered in this program.\u201d Mr. Aikens shares, \u201cThe FUEL grant is in the true spirit of what Rural Reimagined is all about. I am very excited to see how this represents one more example of the way in which TN Tech will serve rural areas and under-served populations, and I can\u2019t wait to see its impacts.\u201d Wings up! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Arce-Trigatti, A., Oyanader Sandoval, S., Arce, P. E., & Sanders, J. R. (2023). Supporting virtual student research opportunities: The Holistic Foundry Undergraduate Engaged Learners program experience. In Digital Teaching, Learning and Assessment the Way Forward<\/em>. Chandos Information Professional Series (Chapter 1 – 1-20). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/B978-0-323-95500-3.00008-0<\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oyanader Sandoval, S., Arce-Trigatti, A., Arce, P. E., & Sanders, J. R. (2022). The Holistic FUEL Program: A Renaissance Foundry-designed mentoring approach for underrepresented populations in STEM. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 33<\/em>(4). Retrieved from The Holistic FUEL Program: A Renaissance Foundry-Designed Mentoring Approach for Underrepresented Populations in STEM | Journal on Excellence in College Teaching<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Description The Holistic Foundry Undergraduate Engaged Learners (FUEL) program was funded by a grant from the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR). The FUEL program uses the Renaissance Foundry Model, an …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-544","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/foundrymodel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/foundrymodel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/foundrymodel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/foundrymodel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/foundrymodel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/foundrymodel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":553,"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/foundrymodel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/544\/revisions\/553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/foundrymodel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.tntech.edu\/foundrymodel\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2025\/09\/image.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAdditional Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n