First, we have restructured how we conduct the management of our funded research. We want to provide a more continuous interaction during the planning and execution of the work and for the technical transfer of the results. Both these processes are in use in the Texaco-Schlumberger alliance that founded the MRI Petrophysical Applications Center. We meet twice a year formally. The students participate in this process and learn a lot about how actual research programs are formulated.
Summer is the intensive data collection time for most students.
The fall brings data reduction and a growing understanding and refinement of the work. At the end of the fall semester in December the students present their work before the sponsor at the sponsor's site. This greatly increases the contact area with the sponsor. The students do these presentations and discussions. It provides a relevancy to their work that can't be matched by classroom studies.