Supporting the attendance of graduate students at this symposium will provide these future leaders with broader and better information on research areas, as well as momentum and clarity in their career pursuits. The unique approach proposed in this application is to provide graduate students with opportunities to learn about state-of-the-art multidisciplinary research and to interact with academic and industrial leaders. Symposium planners are organizing a special session to provide graduate students with presentations and discussions with leaders in academia and industry. The purpose of this session will be to give the students a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities to pursuing a career in either academia or private industry. The PI for this proposed project has been involved in organizing over 40 national and international conferences and symposia as a chair, session chair, program committee member, and advisory committee member.
The effort described in this proposal will blend research and educational activities for the graduate students who attend. By participating in the symposium, 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 career. The graduate students chosen will come from underrepresented groups, such as women, African American and Hispanic students, and from universities that lack financial resources, which will be targeted in the publicity for the symposium. After the symposium, the chairs and program committee members will evaluate the success of the project and share project activities and feedback with planners of other conferences and symposia in the field of engineering.
