Pathways to success: Graduate student program develops future research leaders
People with motor disabilities one day could communicate through computers simply by using their brain signals, thanks to biomedical engineering MD/PhD student Elizabeth Felton.
Felton’s main research interest is neural engineering—specifically, brain-computer interfaces to help people with severe motor disabilities enhance or regain function and independence. She is working on the interface that one day may enable people with disabilities to interact with computers—not with a mouse, but with their mind.
She attributes much of her academic success to the support she received from the college Graduate Engineering Research Scholars (GERS) program.
Elizabeth Felton (large image) |
GERS ensures that minority students are immediately assigned a faculty advisor, receive financial support, and begin working in a research lab right away. Add regular group activities—everything from faculty speakers to an evening of darts—and the result is a “family” in which these students thrive. “I honestly can’t say that I would have taken the MD/PhD path if it weren’t for GERS,” says Felton, who came to the college in 2000 with the goal of completing an MS.
She credits her fellow participants and the program directors, Student Services Coordinator Kelly Burton and Professor of Engineering Physics Doug Henderson, with encouraging her to pursue doctoral studies. “The people in GERS definitely influenced my decision,” she says. “They really are amazing people who encourage students to maximize their potential.”
Civil and environmental engineering alumna Rachelle Duvall (MS ’02, PhD ’05) entered the program in 2000. The support she received for her research interests in air pollution control helped to pave the way for her current career as a research physical scientist at the National Exposure Research Laboratory of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“The GERS fellowship package was designed so that I didn’t have to worry about whether I would have funding each year,” Duvall says. “It was nice that I could concentrate on my research.”
However, Duvall says that research was only one career skill she learned in GERS. More than simply an avenue for research funding, GERS is concerned with students’ professional and personal development. The group holds twice-monthly meetings that cover topics ranging from academic success (such as research publications) to general well-being, including Myers-Briggs personality testing and healthy cooking options. The group also holds social events, banquets, and a spring poster session that showcases participants’ research.
“I was able to develop my networking skills with faculty, students and staff,” says Duvall. “I am a stronger and more confident individual due to my participation in GERS.”
Even beyond professional development, GERS fellows have a built-in support system: each other. Students can learn from each other, bounce ideas off each other, study together, and encourage one another. “I learned the meaning of community,” says Duvall. “I always knew that I had a support network during the good and bad times of graduate studies.”
The benefits of the GERS program are mutual. The college gains and retains quality graduate researchers—and some, like Felton and Duvall, extend their studies to a PhD—while producing well-rounded graduates. Meanwhile, the students are supported financially while gaining lifelong experience. “It is an amazing program that can also help your professional, academic and personal development,” says Felton. “Funding aside, it is a great way to meet students in all areas of engineering, interact with faculty, and have a fantastic supportive network from day one in graduate school.”