UTA workshop on mentoring and research 2010

UTA Workshop on Building a Successful Research Program and Mentoring Graduate Students Friday 15 October, 8:30am-3:45pm Nedderman Hall room 100 The University of Texas at Arlington map a

UTA Workshop on Building a Successful Research Program and

Mentoring Graduate Students

Friday 15 October, 8:30am-3:45pm Nedderman Hall room 100 The University of Texas at Arlington map at http://www.uta.edu/maps/

Our students are the energy that fuels our excitement as faculty members Without PhD students

it is difficult for faculty to do successful research Without students we cannot be fully developed as teachers As faculty members, each of us effectively runs our own small business which includes generating business ideas, developing funding, and building successful teams There are demands on faculty members from all sides

At this workshop, presenters will discuss philosophies and methods for building a successful career in academic research through mentoring of graduate students Presenters also share their tips and expertise about the tenure process, doing productive research and building a successful research program Topics will include:

Mentoring Graduate Students

 Techniques for making your students successful independent researchers

 Kindling the flames of desire for discovery in our students

 Recruiting and retaining top students for successful research programs

 Motivating PhD students

 Producing students who go on to become top performers in their own research programs

Tenure and Promotion

 Successfully negotiating the promotion and tenure process

 Balancing teaching, research, and service during the first years as an assistant professor

 Case studies illustrating how teaching, research, and service are "actually" evaluated at one US University

Research and Publishing

 Building a successful research team and publishing

 Doing research that leads to journal publications and patents

 Research Integrity

 Defining the balance between theoretical research and experimental implementation

 Developing research projects that are focused yet also remain free enough to encourage the development of original new ideas

 Tips on preparing Career proposals for National Science Foundation and other agencies

 The importance of networking and establishing collaborations

 Forming our individual colleagues and students into a coherent and internationally recognized research program

About the presenters

The presenters have developed successful careers in academic research and trained numerous

Friday 15 October, 8:30am-3:45pm

Nedderman Hall room 100

The University of Texas at Arlington

8:30am Welcoming remarks, Dr R.L Jackson, Graduate School, UTA

8:40 Opening remarks, F.L Lewis, Automation & Robotics Research Inst and Dept of

Electrical Engineering, UTA

9:00 Chaouki Abdallah, Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department,

University of New Mexico

9:45 Discussion

10:00 Darren Dawson, Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept., & McQueen

Quattlebaum Professor, Clemson University

10:45 Discussion

11-12:30 Lunch

12:45 Jagannathan Sarangapani, Rutledge-Emerson Distinguished Professor, Dept of

Electrical and Computer Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology 1:30 Rafael Fierro, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of New

Mexico

2:15 Discussion

2:30 F.L Lewis, Moncrief-O’Donnell Endowed Chair, Automation & Robotics Research

Inst and Dept of Electrical Engineering, UTA

3:15 Wrap-up and Discussion

Hiring and Mentoring Faculty Members:

A Department Chair's Perspective

Chaouki T Abdallah Professor & Chair, Electrical & Computer Engineering Department

The University of New Mexico

Abstract: The most important aspect of chairing an academic department is to hire and promote

productive faculty members In this talk, I will describe the dos and don'ts for a junior faculty member and chart an assistant professor path into tenure and eventual full professorship This will include a discussion on recruiting graduate students, building a research team, and publishing I will also discuss how teaching, research, and service are "actually" evaluated at one US university via a variety of case studies

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Chaouki T Abdallah obtained his MS and Ph.D.

in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia

Institute of Technology in 1982, and 1988

respectively He joined the Electrical and

Computer Engineering department at the

University of New Mexico where he is currently

professor, and ECE department chair

At UNM Professor Abdallah was the first

recipient of ECE’s Lawton Ellis Award for

combined excellence in teaching, research, and

student/community involvement Professor

Abdallah also received the school of engineering

engineering senior research excellence award in

2004, and was the ECE Gardner Zemke Professor

between 2002 and 2005 He served as director of

ECE’s graduate program from 1999 through 2005

Dr Abdallah was a visiting professor at the

Universita Degli Studi di Roma, Tor Vergata,

Rome, in 2005 He has published seven books

(three as co-editor and four as co-author) and more

than 250 peer-reviewed papers

Professor Abdallah conducts research and

teaches courses in the general area of systems theory with focus on control, communications, and computing systems His research has been funded by NSF, AFOSR, NRL, national laboratories, and by various companies He has also been active in designing and implementing various international graduate programs with Latin American and European countries He was a co-founder in 1990 of the ISTEC consortium, which currently includes more than 150 universities in the US, Spain, and Latin America He served as the general chair of the 2008 CDC, which was held in Cancun, Mexico Professor Abdallah is a senior member of IEEE and a recipient of the IEEE Millennium medal.

Some Principles for Mentoring (Advising) Graduate Students

(Learned the Hard Way)

Darren Dawson, ECE Chair & McQueen Quattlebaum Professor Holcombe Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Clemson University Abstract

In this presentation, we will discuss some principles for mentoring (advising) graduate students that I have learned the hard way over the past twenty years Specifically, we will discuss issues such as i) motivating students, ii) skills development, iii) setting expectations, iv) setting timelines, v) giving feedback, vi) rewarding students, vii) what to do when things don’t go well, viii) placement, and ix) career mentoring We will also look at some specific techniques that I have developed in my attempts to mentor graduate students more effectively

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Darren Dawson received a B.S degree in

Electrical Engineering from the Georgia

Institute of Technology in 1984 He then

worked for Westinghouse as a control engineer

from 1985 to 1987 In 1987, he returned to the

Georgia Institute of Technology where he

received the Ph.D degree in Electrical

Engineering in March 1990 In July 1990, he

joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering

Department at Clemson University where he has

the held the endowed position of McQueen

Quattlebaum Professor since 2001 From 2005

to 2007, he also served as the ECE Department

Graduate Coordinator As of August 2007, he

has held the position of ECE Department Chair

Since June 2004, he has served on the Methode

Board of Directors in which he currently serves

on the Technical Committee and the

Compensation Committee

Dr Dawson received the National Science

Foundation Young Investigator Award and the

Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award He has authored and/or co-authored one

graduate textbook, seven research monographs, four book chapters, over 185 journal papers, and over 300 conference papers His research group has presented over 300 talks at national/international conferences, universities and workshops Professor Dawson has directed

34 completed Ph.D dissertations and 53 completed master's theses

Strategies for Successful Research Program

Via Graduate Student Mentoring

S Jagannathan Rutledge-Emerson Distinguished Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Missouri University of Science and Technology

1870 Miner Circle, Rolla MO 65409.

Abstract

In this presentation, we will discuss some strategies of running a successful research program via graduate student mentoring Specifically, we will discuss: i) identifying mentors and writing winning proposals from federal agencies and companies, ii) recruiting and retaining students for quality research programs, iii) assigning projects and timelines for degree and project completion, v) placement and mentoring beyond graduation, and finally vi) balancing teaching, research and service

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Professor Jagannathan Sarangapani or

Jagannathan received a B.S degree in

Electrical Engineering from the Anna

University, Chennai, India in 1986 He then

worked for Engineers India Limited as a

consultant from 1986 to 1987 In 1987, he

attended the University of Saskatchewan,

Saskatoon, Canada where he received the M.S

degree in 1989 Subsequently, he worked as an

instructor at University of Manitoba, Canada

until 1991 He started his Ph.D degree in

Electrical Engineering in January 1992 at the

University of Texas at Arlington and completed

it in August 1994 During 1994 through 1998

he was at Caterpillar, Inc., Peoria as a Staff

Consultant In January 1999 he returned to

academics as an Assistant Professor at the

University of Texas at San Antonio and since August 2001, he is at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (formerly University of Missouri-Rolla where currently he is a Rutledge-Emerson Distinguished Professor and Site Director for the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center

Dr Jagannathan received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award and has authored and/or co-authored three books, seven book chapters, over 80 peer reviewed journal papers, 160 refereed conference papers and holds 18 patents His research group has presented over 250 talks at national/international conferences, universities and workshops Professor

Navigating the Tenure Track System:

An Associate Professor’s Perspective

Rafael Fierro Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001

rfierro@ece.unm.edu

Abstract

The new responsibilities and challenges that a new faculty member has to face can be overwhelming Suddenly, a new faculty member has new courses to teach, an empty lab to fill with both students and equipment, and requests of one’s time from all directions How to be better prepared to navigate the turbulent tenure-track system and climb the academic ladder?

I will present some lessons and strategies learned in the process of becoming an associate professor in engineering More specifically, I will discuss topics such as: Is a post-doc the way to go? How to balance teaching, research, and service during the first years as an assistant professor? Do I really want to do experiments? How important are networking and establishing collaborations? When should I submit my NSF Career proposal? Should I move to another institution before/after getting tenure?

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Rafael Fierro received a M.Sc degree in control

engineering from the University of Bradford, England and a

Ph.D degree in electrical engineering from the University

of Texas-Arlington He is currently an associate professor in

the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at

University of New Mexico Prior to joining UNM in August

2007, he held a postdoctoral appointment with the GRASP

Lab at the University of Pennsylvania and a faculty position

with the Department of Electrical and Computer

Engineering at Oklahoma State University His research

interests include hybrid and embedded systems,

optimization-based cooperative control, and heterogeneous

multivehicle coordination He directs the Multi-Agent,

Robotics, Hybrid and Embedded Systems (MARHES)

Laboratory

Dr Fierro was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, a

2004 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and

the 2007 ISA Transactions Best Paper Award He is serving

as Associate Editor for the IEEE Control Systems

Magazine, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and

Engineering, and Journal of Intelligent and Robotics

Systems

On Mentoring PhD Students and Doing Research

F L Lewis, Fellow IEEE, Fellow IFAC, Fellow U.K Inst MC

Head, Advanced Controls & Sensors Group

Automation & Robotics Research Institute The University of Texas at Arlington, USA

Abstract

Our students are the energy that fuels our excitement as faculty members Without PhD students

it is very difficult for faculty to do successful research Without students we cannot be fully developed as teachers Techniques are given that show how to make your students successful independent researchers How can we kindle the flames of desire for discovery in our students? What motivates students and how can we use it to make them persistent and tenacious researchers who can pursue problems to the finish? How can we stimulate students to search the literature inquisitively and fully develop a research idea? How can we inspire our students to generate the energy and ultimate perfection needed to produce journal papers? How can research ideas be turned into the fully expressed thoughts that result in successful winning funding proposals? How can we fit the pieces of the puzzle provided by our individual colleagues and students into a coherent and internationally recognized research program?

F.L Lewis, Fellow IEEE, Fellow IFAC, Fellow

U.K Institute of Measurement & Control, PE

Texas, U.K Chartered Engineer, is

Moncrief-O’Donnell Chair and Distinguished Scholar

Professor at University of Texas at Arlington’s

‘Automation & Robotics Research Institute.’ He

has advised 37 PhD students, most of whom have

won local or national awards for their dissertation

work, including 3 NSF Career awardees and one

Dept of Homeland Security Early Career Award

His students typically publish 3-5 journal papers

during the course of their PhD

Dr Lewis obtained the Bachelor's Degree in

Physics/EE and the MSEE at Rice University, the

MS in Aeronautical Engineering from Univ W Florida, and the Ph.D at Ga Tech He works in feedback control, intelligent systems, distributed control systems, and sensor networks He is author of 6 U.S patents, 222 journal papers, 337 conference papers, 14 books, 44 chapters, and

11 journal special issues He received the Fulbright Research Award, NSF Research Initiation Grant, ASEE Terman Award, Int Neural Network Soc Gabor Award 2009, U.K Inst Measurement & Control Honeywell Field Engineering Medal 2009 Received Outstanding Service

Award from Dallas IEEE Section, selected as Engineer of the year by Ft Worth IEEE Section Listed in Ft Worth Business Press Top 200 Leaders in Manufacturing Received the 2010 IEEE Region 5 Outstanding Engineering Educator Award and the 2010 UTA Graduate Dean’s Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring Award He served on the NAE Committee on Space Station in

1995 Member of NY Academy of Sciences He is an elected Guest Consulting Professor at South China University of Technology and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Founding Member of the Board of Governors of the Mediterranean Control Association Helped win the IEEE Control Systems Society Best Chapter Award (as Founding Chairman of DFW Chapter), the National