We will present a two (2) part workshop (3/23/18, 3:15 – 4:15) and panel (3/23/18, 4:15 – 5:15) titled, “Maximizing your PhD, preparing for academia or industry” at the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) National Convention in Pittsburgh, PA to current Ph.D., MS, and BS students.
Abstract: To maximize success as a graduate student there are several of best practices that students should follow. Students are rarely given clear goals and descriptions of what is expected along their path. In this workshop session we describe what it takes to be an attractive candidate for academic or industry positions. First, we discuss the benefits of choosing academia or industry. We describe traditional and nontraditional career opportunities available to doctoral graduates. Second, we provide well-defined criteria to be competitive in either academia or industry. We discuss the expected range of publications, industry experience and teaching appointments to be a highly qualified candidate. At the conclusion of the workshop, undergraduate and graduate students will be able to design or improve their roadmap to maximizing ability to obtain an academic or industry position. One interesting aspect of the workshop is that we explicitly contrast the requirements for academia vs industry.
Workshop Presenters (3/23/18, 3:15 – 4:15)
Dr. Christan Grant, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Oklahoma. Dr. Grant leads the OU Data Analytics Lab. His research interests include the development and use of databases along with text analytics to create novel systems for answering difficult questions. His work has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the United States Department of Agriculture. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship award in the area of “Database Information Retrieval and Web Search”. He was also awarded the Florida Georgia LSAMP Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship and a diversity award from the College of Engineering. Christan has served as an external editor reviewer for ACM SIGMOD, ACM VLDB, ACM CIKM, and IEEE ICDE conferences. He is also on the program committee for Broadening Participation in Data Mining workshop. He holds several publications and patents from internships at IBM Almaden Research Center. He completed his Bachelors of Science, Masters of Science, and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Florida where he was a member of the Data Science Research lab. You can follow him on Twitter at @drcegme.
Dr. Corey E. Baker, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Kentucky. Dr. Baker is the director of the Network Reconnaissance (NetRecon) Lab. Dr. Baker’s research interests are in the area of cyber physical systems specializing in opportunistic wireless communication for the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, smart homes, and mobile health environments. Particularly, Dr. Baker is interested in pragmatic applications and the fundamental issues related to real-world resource availability in today’s operating systems for opportunistic wireless communication. Dr. Baker was a recipient of the University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California San Diego, GEM Ph.D Fellowship, Intel Scholarship, McKnight Dissertation Fellowship, and the NSF LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship. He received a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from San Jose State University, a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from California State University, Los Angeles, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Florida where he was advised by Professor Janise McNair. Corey has served on the board of directors of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) numerous times as a two term National Treasurer and CFO, two term National Treasurer Emeritus, and as the Region 6 Chairperson. Dr. Baker is currently a NSBE Region 6 Finance Zone Advisor. Formerly, Dr. Baker was the official blogger for GEM and blogged about topics to promote success amongst STEM graduate students which included securing graduate school funding, navigating Ph.D. programs, and publishing. His blogs can be found at http://coreyebaker.com. You can follow Dr. Baker on Twitter at @DrCoreyBaker.
Panelists (3/23/18, 4:15 – 5:15)
Dr. Kimberly Cross, Systems Engineer, Chemical Engineering, Northrop Grumman.Dr. Kimberly Cross received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California Riverside in chemical engineering with a concentration in chemistry. Additionally, Dr. Cross obtained a Master’s of Science in chemical engineering from the University of California Los Angeles with a concentration in Semiconductor Manufacturing, and later a doctoral degree in chemical engineering from UCLA specializing in the fabrication of materials with nano-sized features for alternative energy applications. Dr. Cross is currently employed as a Systems Engineering at Northrop Grumman Corporation- Aerospace Systems within Engineering & Global Product Development as a principal investigator and project manager on multiple internal research efforts. Recently she was awarded the 2017 Northrop Grumman Space Park Research and Development Center of Excellence Engineering Excellence award winner. Currently Dr. Cross is the Region 6 Advisory Board Chairperson for the National Society of Black Engineers providing mentorship and guidance to the regional executive board members within the 13 states of the western region. During her NSBE tenure Dr. Cross has served on the chapter, regional and national level as Chapter Vice President and Chapter President at University of California Riverside, Region VI Southern Vice Chairperson, Region VI Chairperson, and National Convention Chairperson for the 35th Annual Convention in 2009.
Dr. Christan Grant, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Oklahoma. Dr. Grant leads the OU Data Analytics Lab. His research interests include the development and use of databases along with text analytics to create novel systems for answering difficult questions. His work has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the United States Department of Agriculture. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship award in the area of “Database Information Retrieval and Web Search”. He was also awarded the Florida Georgia LSAMP Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship and a diversity award from the College of Engineering. Christan has served as an external editor reviewer for ACM SIGMOD, ACM VLDB, ACM CIKM, and IEEE ICDE conferences. He is also on the program committee for Broadening Participation in Data Mining workshop. He holds several publications and patents from internships at IBM Almaden Research Center. He completed his Bachelors of Science, Masters of Science, and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Florida where he was a member of the Data Science Research lab. You can follow him on Twitter at @drcegme.
Dr. Chukwuebuka Nweke, California Alliance Postdoctoral Fellow, Civil Engineering, University of California Los Angeles. Dr. Nweke received his B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Davis, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental (Geotechnical) Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Nweke’s current research focuses on assessing the effects of sedimentary basins on earthquake ground motion models in hopes to reduce uncertainty in design and enhance the understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms. His dissertation research focused on modeling the behavior of bio-cemented sands and other weakly cemented sands, in hopes to develop a tool for design purposes that will expedite the usage of bio-mediated methods in practice. In the future, Dr. Nweke plans to incorporate dynamic aspects into the model to account for seismic analysis (liquefaction and ground motion). More importantly, he plans to investigate the usage of bio-inspired solutions within the geotechnical field, such as the emulation/mimicry of ant burrows or worm transport to improve tunneling, or tree roots to enhance foundation structures.Dr. Nweke has been a graduate student instructor for undergraduate courses (Intro to Programming: Matlab) and graduate courses (Advanced Geomechanics). He has also been involved in a variety of outreach activities through the National Society of Black Engineers (where he has served as 2011-12 Region 6 Programs Chair and President of the UC Davis campus chapter), and Oakland after school programs (Tutor for Citizen Schools). He received the NSF Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship, and the University of California Dissertation Fellowship. Once Dr. Nweke has completed his postdoctoral program he plans to acquire a tenured faculty position at a research university in order to pursue his dream of being a mentor, teacher, scientist, engineer, and role model. Overall, he relishes in taken the road less traveled.
Dr. Makita Philips, ASEE/NSF SBIR Postdoctoral Fellow, Mechanical Engineering, Carbice Corporation. Dr. Makita R. Phillips is an ASEE/NSF SBIR Postdoctoral Fellow at Carbice Corporation. She holds a B.S. and M.S in Mechanical Engineering from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering. She earned her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University where her research focused on understanding the effects of insulation materials on the thermal management of superconducting coil systems. She is also a former University of California Los Angeles California Alliance Postdoctoral fellow. Currently, her research involves the numerical study of phase change composites for electronic cooling, the usage of multiferroic materials for thermal energy harvesting and diversification in the approach to engineering education. Additionally, she is a former National Leadership Institute chair and has served in various capacities within NSBE.
Dr. Corey E. Baker (moderator), Assistant Professor, Computer Science, University of Kentucky. Dr. Baker is the director of the Network Reconnaissance (NetRecon) Lab. Dr. Baker’s research interests are in the area of cyber physical systems specializing in opportunistic wireless communication for the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, smart homes, and mobile health environments. Particularly, Dr. Baker is interested in pragmatic applications and the fundamental issues related to real-world resource availability in today’s operating systems for opportunistic wireless communication. Dr. Baker was a recipient of the University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California San Diego, GEM Ph.D Fellowship, Intel Scholarship, McKnight Dissertation Fellowship, and the NSF LSAMP Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship. He received a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from San Jose State University, a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from California State University, Los Angeles, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Florida where he was advised by Professor Janise McNair. Corey has served on the board of directors of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) numerous times as a two term National Treasurer and CFO, two term National Treasurer Emeritus, and as the Region 6 Chairperson. Dr. Baker is currently a NSBE Region 6 Finance Zone Advisor. Formerly, Dr. Baker was the official blogger for GEM and blogged about topics to promote success amongst STEM graduate students which included securing graduate school funding, navigating Ph.D. programs, and publishing. His blogs can be found at http://coreyebaker.com. You can follow Dr. Baker on Twitter at @DrCoreyBaker.
