NSF Award
0932173
The purpose of this award is to increase the participation of Hispanic undergraduate and graduate students in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) 2009 annual meeting in order to enhance their graduate school and academic prospects. Specifically, this grant proposes to provide travel funds for students to participate in the SHPE 2009 annual meeting (October 28 ? October 31, 2009,Washington, DC) for two purposes:<br/>(1) to allow students to participate in the SHPE undergraduate and graduate technical paper and poster competitions; and (2) to allow students to participate in graduate school and young investigator workshops, through the Grad Lab and Graduate Institute of the SHPE conference.<br/><br/>This grant will establish a connection between the Grad Lab, the Grad Institute, and the paper and poster competitions at the SHPE annual meeting, in order to enhance the conference experience of students with aspirations towards graduate school and/or academic careers. The Grad Lab is intended for undergraduate students who are considering pursuing graduate degrees with workshops such as funding opportunities and preparation for the GRE examination. The Graduate Institute is intended for graduate student and post-doctoral researchers who are considering pursuing academic careers. It will consist of workshops such as proposal writing, managing a research group, teaching effectiveness, and work/life issues. By this activity, we hope to have significant impact on the number of Hispanic students pursuing graduate<br/>degrees and/or academic careers.
