At the early stage, the research plan, goals and priorities are set by the faculty and graduate fellow.  Quickly, however, the undergraduate fellow develops sufficient skills and confidence to conduct independent research and often proposes new research ideas and directions with the guidance of their graduate fellow, their faculty advisor and a larger CISTAR thrust team. An undergraduate fellow learns that research is not just about conducting experiments but critical analysis, setting research goals, establishing priorities, understanding the impact of the results, teamwork, developing written and oral communication skills are all essential for research success.  In addition, getting feedback from guidance from other technical, management and industrial experts leads to more critical thinking, additional ideas and new insights.  Because of this unique undergraduate research opportunity, most of the CISTAR undergraduate fellow not only are co-authors on high quality manuscripts, but generally decide to pursue a graduate degree following graduation.