The objective of this project is to support 30 graduate students from the United States, particularly those from underrepresented groups and institutions that traditionally lack funding for such support, to attend the 28th International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO 2009), which is an annual conference organized by Laser Institute of America (LIA), to be held in Orlando, Florida from November 2 to 5, 2009. This support opportunity will be advertised though emails to be sent out by Laser Institute of America. The students can apply for the support by replying to the e-mails sent from the Laser Institute of America. The student selection process will be based on the following priorities: 1) students from groups traditionally underrepresented; 2) students from universities and colleges that traditionally lack funding to support graduate student attendance at conferences; and 3) students who present high-quality papers, as determined by the conference chairs in consultation with the program committee. The selected students will be expected to present their papers during the conference and compete for student-paper awards
The efforts to be made in this project will blend research and educational activities for the graduate students who attend. By participating in the conference, these students will be exposed to state-of-the-art research topics and will interact with academic and industrial leaders. They will learn how to best use their time in graduate study and how to be prepared for their future careers. The priority of support will be given to the graduate students from underrepresented groups, such as women, African American and Hispanic students, and from universities that lack financial resources.
