In an effort to prepare doctoral students for careers in academia, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has launched the Future Faculty Laureates Program. The goal is to recognize and prepare engineering students interested in careers at Research 1 academic institutions, which are considered very high activity by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
The inaugural group of selected laureates includes:
- Paul Amoruso 麻豆精品 S�21 麻豆精品 S�23MS 麻豆精品 S� Ph.D. in computer engineering
- Mohammad Hossein Akyash 麻豆精品 S� Ph.D. in electrical engineering
- Zubaidah Al-Mashhdani 麻豆精品 S� Ph.D. in electrical engineering
- Fangzhou Ye 麻豆精品 S� Ph.D. in computer engineering
As Future Faculty Laureates, these students have access to advanced opportunities that include the chance to teach courses, mentor undergraduate students, publish in academic journals, present at STEM conferences and draft research proposals. They can also participate in biweekly seminars at UCF and other universities, and receive a small discretionary budget for conference travel and professional development.
Al-Mashhdani says the program provides a unique and invaluable opportunity for doctoral students who aim to become professors.
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Amoruso says he is also grateful for the opportunity to hone his teaching skills, which he began to develop as a teaching assistant in his master 麻豆精品 S檚 program.
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The Future Faculty Laureates Program was developed by professors Ron DeMara and Azadeh Vosoughi to address the gap in STEM curricula for students who want to become faculty members.
Students can be nominated for the program by their dissertation advisor through a formal submission process. Applicants are reviewed by the department 麻豆精品 S檚 development committee and the graduate coordinator for final selection by the department chair. Although UCF electrical engineering and computer engineering doctoral students are the only students eligible for the program right now, the department does hope to expand it to multiple STEM disciplines and other universities in the future.
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Those who are interested in participating may contact the department chair, Reza Abdolvand, at reza.abdolvand@ucf.edu.
