A new effort by the College of Engineering with help from the General Electric Fund is going to try to change some of those perceptions. Right now, because industry does such a good job of recruiting women and minorities after they finish their undergraduate work, there just aren't many going on to get their Ph.D.'s and teach in engineering. The program encourages talented women and minorities to pursue academic careers using undergraduate research and teaching experiences while also providing support through mentoring and networking.
Students advancing into graduate school can then receive fellowship support for their studies.
In addition to encouraging undergraduate and graduate students to consider faculty careers, the program will also try to recruit industry people who are considering career changes. We're trying to bring women and minorities back to campus for graduate school or teaching. Through the program, industry people returning to academia will receive an intensive introduction to research as well as forgivable loans to help them to make such a change. The principal investigators on the project are John Mason , associate dean graduate studies and research, and Pangborn. Bogue and Saundra Johnson , director of the Minority Engineering Program , serve as project coordinators.