Academic and Research Leadership Symposium

The Academic and Research Leadership (ARL) Symposium is co-located with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Annual Convention. The ARL Symposium has two threads: (1) a faculty development thread, and (2) a research networking thread. The faculty development thread hosts workshops organized by members of the ARL network that strengthen and demystify fundamental components of academia. Past topics include: Obtaining a Faculty Position, The Ins and Outs of the Tenure Process, How to Write a Successful Proposal, How to Successfully Manage a Research Group, Strategies for Diversifying your Research Funding Portfolio. The researcher development and networking thread is critical to the goal of a self-sustaining ARL ecosystem. This year, topics will include Lessons Learned from Winning Grant Recipients, Creating a Thriving Research Enterprise: Developing a Research Agenda, and Moving Beyond Service: Engaging in Strategic Mentoring Relationships.

The ARL Symposium provides an opportunity for seasoned researchers (university, corporate, government) to nurture connections with their peers, and be excited and inspired by the latest discoveries and technical advances across many disciplines of engineering and science. Opportunities for new collaborations and strategic career advancements are anticipated. The researcher development and networking thread consists of a networking reception with a keynote presentation by a leader in the engineering field, a session on career development in an R&D centric environment, and a poster session organized by members of the ARL network for more in-depth technical discussions.

About ARLS and NSBE

The choice to locate the ARL Symposium at the NSBE annual convention is strategic. Currently, minimal programming is available at the NSBE National Convention for senior graduate students focused on academic careers, and researchers in academia and industry who may have participated in previous K-12, undergraduate and graduate NSBE activities. The ARLS will improve membership retention and help other minority engineers matriculate successfully through the academic and research workforce in universities, national laboratories and industry. The impacts of the ARL Symposium are many-fold, and include the following: this symposium serves as a (1) meeting place for minority researchers to share and gain new ideas leading to new intellectual products and technologies that benefit society; (2) constant pool of diverse faculty candidates for universities and researchers for government/industrial laboratories; (3) pool for funding agencies’ program managers needing to diversify their review panels; (4) pool of qualified senior Ph.D. students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty that can develop content for and teach workshops that are of critical importance to the success of the current NSBE graduate school conference (GSC); (5) critical mass of engaged minority researchers that can introduce ideas for increasing minority interest in the Ph.D. in ways not currently possible; and (6) “showcase” of minority researchers on scales that have never existed, that is also strategically placed in a venue with a built in audience of emerging minority engineers.

2018 Venue

NSBE's 44th Annual Convention in Pittsburgh, PA

Address
Omni William Penn Hotel
530 William Penn Place
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
More Information
Please visit the NSBE website
Accomodations

Kimpton Hotel Monaco
620 William Penn Place,
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
$226.86 (including taxes and fees)

Additional Information

To register to attend this symposium, please fill out the form here.

Information regarding the speakers for this symposium will be made available here soon.

March 23, 2018

7:45 am
Networking Breakfast
8:45 am
Welcome and University of Pittsburgh Remarks
9:00 am
Cell Engineering and Biomaterial Strategies for Tissue Engineering
Josephine Allen University of Florida, MSE
9:35 am
Engineering Tools to Study the Cardiac Microenvironment
Samuel Senyo Case Western Reserve University, BME
10:10 am
Coffee Break
10:40 am
Mechanisms of Tissue Destruction in Engineered Living Systems
Manu Platt Georgia Institute of Technology, BME
11:15 am
Let There Be Light! Optical Tools for Human Health
Audrey Bowden Stanford University, EE
11:50 am
Luncheon
1:05 pm
Creating Useful Nanostructured Soft Materials by Directed Self-Assembly
Chinedum Osuji Yale University, CEE
1:40 pm
Large-Scale Simulation of Solid-Liquid Interfaces Under Realistic Conditions for Energy Conversion and Storage
Ismaila Dabo Penn State University, MSE
2:15 pm
Coffee Break
2:45 pm
Coupling Molecular Design to Structure and Activity of Sequence-Defined Macromolecules
Christopher Alabi Cornell University, CBE
3:20 pm
Hybrid Thin Film Deposition by Matrix-Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation
Adrienne Stiff-Roberts Duke University, ECE
4:30 pm
Travel to University of Pittsburgh
Location: Shuttles
4:50 pm
University of Pittsburgh Tour
Location: PITT
6:00 pm
Poster Session, Light Hors D’oeuvres
Location: PITT

March 24, 2018

7:45 am
Networking Breakfast
8:45 am
Building Your Brand
Samuel Graham, Georgia Institute of Technology Rosalind Wynne, Villanova University Fostering public/private partnerships that provide significant value to your research program.
9:35 am
Tenure Process at Research Universities
C. Fred Higgs III, Rice University Shawn Blanton, Carnegie Mellon University Breaking the code of the tenure review process and elucidating key strategies for strong dossier preparation.
9:35 am
Interdisciplinary Research
Lynford Goddard, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Translating your research beyond the boundaries of your specific discipline, and maximizing the impact and innovation engine of your program.
10:25 am
Coffee Break
10:55 am
Managing Research Groups
Tahira Reid, Purdue University Implementing effective strategies for managing your research team to maximize productivity, including leadership training, effective communication tools, building a shared vision, and conflict resolution.
11:45 am
Interviewing And Negotiating
Monique Head, Morgan State University Demystifying the art of navigating the academic job market with a focus of interview tips and negotiation tactics.
12:35 pm
Paths To Professorship Success, Luncheon
Raheem Beyah, Georgia Institute of Technology Ralph Etienne-Cummings, Johns Hopkins University Charting your own pathway to a successful academic career.
1:50 pm
Engaging Your Chair and Dean Effectively
Stephanie Luster-Teasley, North Carolina A&T State University Engaging and maintaining a healthy relationship with senior administration at your university.
2:40 pm
Candid Discussion on the Low Numbers of AA Women as Full Professors in Engineering
Rhonda Franklin, University of Minnesota
3:30 pm
Closing Reception, Light Hors D’oeuvres