Materials & Devices Invites UCSD Alums to Mentor Students
 Ramesh Rao speaks to students. |
9.20.02 -- Recognizing that mentoring students need not be limited to the academic environment, the UCSD Materials & Devices layer, on September 14, hosted an event to acquaint students and postdocs not only with "rules of the road" of working in industry but some of the alumni who might grease the wheels of that transition.
The goals of this program are varied: discuss how the scientific enterprise in industry differs from that in academia, provide students with tactical skills in preparing for and securing industrial jobs, explore opportunities for joint research between faculty and industrial scientists, and reacquaint alumni with the research environment at UCSD.
Besides making technical presentations, the industrial visitors discussed how to prepare a resume and undergo an interview, how to "network" for a job, and the skills likely to be most useful to a career in industry.
The event was organized by Andy Kummel, professor in Chemistry and Biochemistry and a member of the Materials and Devices layer, with "invaluable support" from Susan Hall.
Says Kummel, "Calit² provided funds to pay for the industrial participants' travel. We tried to keep our costs low by inviting alums from the west coast. Even so, our costs were only a fraction of what they otherwise would have been because the industrial participants donated a full day of engineering time, for which we are very grateful." Participating companies included Agilent, Applied Materials, HRL, IBM, Intel, LSI, Motorola, and Novacrystals.
Awards were presented in a number of categories to students who made presentations. First place winners were
- Best Talk for a General Audience: James McGuire
- Best Speaking Style: Kevin Tetz
- Best Graphics: Alan Chen
- Best Question Asked of a Student Speaker: Blake Simpkins
- Best Question Asked of an Industrial Speaker: Phil Mages
Susanne Huttner, associate vice provost for research for the UC system and key liaison between UC Office of the President and the Cal ISI institutes, described the event as a "poster child" for the Cal ISI program in the skillful way it enables current students to learn from alumni's more experienced perspective.
Mike Hale, a graduate student working in Kummel's lab and a Calit² fellow, says the event "provided a great way for grad students to get a foot in the door with industry. I made several really good contacts."
"Very constructive," is how Jim McGuire, a Calit² graduate student fellow for the 2001/2002 academic year and one of the event's award winners, described the event. "It was enlightening to hear how former graduate students used their degrees in non-academic careers. I was surprised at how easily they seemed to 'mesh' with the business world. It made me think a career in industry might be a real possibility."
When asked about lessons learned, Kummel indicated that a survey has been sent to the students who participated to assess the event's success. But he already has some ideas: "Next year, we'd like to do mock practice interviews led by the industrial participants," says Kummel, "so the students can get the real flavor of what an interview is like with any given company. What the students may not appreciate is that different companies can have different interviewing 'styles,' and they need to be able to adapt."
Kummel further suggests, to fellow Calit² layer leaders, that holding these kinds of events in the fall might be better timing so as not to conflict with the many conferences that take place during the summer.
"What struck me about the industrials' perspective," says Ramesh Rao, Calit² Division Director, a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and one of the presenters, "is that, as UCSD alums, they were able to place their insight in a context that was absolutely relevant to the students. I was particularly impressed by the guidance from the representative from Intel, Mike Jacobson. He encouraged the students to consider contributing to a broad set of areas, including management. That message underscores Calit²'s 'Renaissance' philosophy that the best way to attack complex research projects - make a difference, if you will - is with a broad range of skills."
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