Student Support for Americas Workshop on Solid-State Sensors & Actuators (?Hilton Head 2010?) ? Executive Summary
The objective of this proposal is to request funding support to increase US graduate and undergraduate student participation in the 2010 Solid-State Sensors and Actuators Workshop (Hilton Head 2010). The purpose of the workshop is to share and disseminate research results on MEMS practices amongst a group of participation which is primarily from the Americas. The workshop agenda includes plenary speakers from academia and industry to discuss state-of-the-art in research areas on the fringe of ?micro/nanosystems.? The workshop is set up in a single session format. There will be 27 contributed oral presentations, and ~65 contributed posters. The Hilton Head workshop is very selective, and with travel support for student presenters, advisors are much more likely to send their students.
Intellectual Merit The workshop will disseminate MEMS research and technology breakthroughs. The workshop consists of 27 contributed oral papers, and contributed posters. There will also be an open poster session where recent work (and educational programs) can be discussed.
Broader Impact The workshop will have broad impact for the entire MEMS community. The knowledge gained and experiences shared from the workshop will be captured electronically and broadly disseminated via a website. By receiving travel support, students will get the opportunity to present their newest research results among their peers. The discussions which result from such presentations are invaluable as an educational aid. Benefiting from the recommendations and improved teaching and training, students will be better prepared for both MEMS research and MEMS-focused careers.
This award provided $15K in travel support for students to attend and present original research at the 2010 Americas Workshop for Solid State Sensors & Actuators. Through this support, 30 students were able to each receive $500 in travel support to attend the meeting. This allowed more students to attend and participate in this single-session technical workshop. Intellectual Merit The intellectual merit of this grant was improved by allowing additional students to attend the meeting. WIthout this support, students might have had to remain at home while their research advisors presented their work. AS conferences are an important way for students to network and share technical information, it is very important for more students to take advantage of these situations. The ability to give a talk or poster in a single session workshop, with an audience of 300-400 people is a very important experience for students. Broader Impacts Through attending the workshop, students were also able to enjoy the social aspects of interacting with students and researchers from all over the Americas. In particular, women students were given a special invite to a Women in MEMS breakfast, where they were able to discuss issues relevant to women in underrepresented fields such as MEMS. The networking and stories shared were very relevant, and over 40 women attended! This was the best attended women in MEMS event to date! In addition, all students helped volunteer throughout the meeting, thus exposing them to many of the attendees, thus forcing more communication and networking. These experiences definitely broaden the impact of the travel grants, and improve the experience for everyone.
