The Research and Immersion for STEM Excellence (RISE) program is the unsung hero for science majors on campus. The program helps students, in a variety of ways, to succeed in their chosen field and provides opportunities to work on their own paid research projects.
The RISE program is designed to keep Stan State science majors on track to graduate. For many students, it is very easy to fall behind, especially when they lose themselves in the minutia of attending class after class. 
What RISE does best is help aimless students navigate their course load by allowing them to work one on one with faculty, where they can receive crucial advice about careers, jobs and graduate schools.
The perk that may interest students the most is the ability to become a paid undergraduate research associate.
The Director for the STEM Success program on campus, Iqbal Atwal said,”we are trying to create that belonging for the students, so they feel like they fit in to the STEM programs on campus.”
According to Atwal, the RISE program is unique to other STEM success programs due to their focus on recruiting new incoming students. “We are the only program [on] campus that helps fund freshman research,” Atwal explained.
In short, RISE not only pays students $14 an hour to work closely with faculty in STEM related research fields, but they also pay for all equipment for the labs. 
If a student’s research turns out to be successful, their program will send them to regional and national conferences to present their findings.
One RISE research lab has a focus on robotics. The lab is lead by Computer Science professor Dr. Kyu Han Koh and his team comprised of three STEM students.
Cesar Barajas (sophomore, Computer Science) talked about joining the program. “When I joined the RISE program, a big thing that caught my attention was A.I. technologies and how we can use a medium, like robotics, to teach different computer science and computational thinking concepts,” Barajas explained.
The program allowed Barajas to pursue this kind of research right out of the gate with a stipend. “It provides financial support for not only ourselves, but also for our living expenses,” Barajas said.
Another undergraduate research assistant is Autumn Pinkney (sophmore, Computer Science). Pinkney explained how the program helps her pursue her passion for computer science. “It’s pretty hard to get a foot in the door when it comes to computer science or the tech industry, so getting experience as a research assistant… that within itself is pretty beneficial.”
Barajas displayed his work with Cozmo, a little robot developed to recognize expressions in order to understand emotion. Cozmo helps Barajas teach students basic programming concepts.
Atwal explained that students with STEM majors should take advantage of RISE because they only have two more years of funding. “We only have year four and five left in this program. After five, our grant will end and then we will either reapply for another grant or institutionalize the RISE program.”  
For more information about the RISE program and how you could apply, visit https://www.csustan.edu/STEM-success/research-and-immersion-stem-excellence.