Justin Zhan (Computer Science) and Paul Oh (Mechanical Engineering) received a $600,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) Site in Big Data at UNLV. Zhan is the principal investigator on the project; Oh is the co-principal investigator.

The RET in Big Data will help close the critical gap in workforce training in big data by providing middle and high school teachers with first-hand knowledge in conducting big data research, the opportunity to learn new teaching skills, and experience developing lesson plans for classroom implementation. The funding will help cover six-week stipends for teacher participants, in addition to travel costs to present their research at the National Science Teacher Association conference and the expenses for classroom materials and supplies.