TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Diversity Award

• Call for Outputs/Acheivements

• Coming Events

• Annual Retreat

• Top 10 Paper

• New Member: Anne Runge

• SAB Meeting

• Signature Course

• Goodbye: Dana Riley Black

• Norfolk State Collaboration

• Discovery Corps Fellowhip

• Minority Expo

• Recruiting REU Students

• Recent Publications

Center representatives attend 12th Annual NSF Florida-Georgia Alliance for Minority Participation in Engineering and Science

Georgia Tech Center members, Seth Marder, Keith Oden, and graduate student LaKeisha McClary attended the 12th Annual FG-LSAMP Expo held in Orlando, Florida January 27-30, 2005 on the campus of the University of Central Florida. The expo brought together faculty and over 400 highly qualified minority undergraduate and graduate students in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (STEM) areas.

Expo workshops included topics on: Transitioning to Graduate School, Funding for Graduate School, Preparing for the GRE, Impression Management, Studying Abroad-Think Global, Mentoring, Building and Working in Teams, and Obtaining the Ph.D.: Demystifying the Process.

During the expo, CMDITR members had the opportunity to hear participants’ oral discussions, view poster presentations, attend workshops, and interact with exhibitors from national labs, industry, government, and graduate schools. During the Career Fair day, the Center hosted a booth with information on CMDITR research areas, participating universities, and summer research opportunities within the Center. More than 30 minority undergraduate students signed up to receive additional information about the Center.

According to Diversity Director, Keith Oden, the expo was extremely valuable for several reasons. “The expo provided a forum to share information about the opportunities that are available within our Center with a significant number of students and faculty” he said. “The expo also provided an opportunity to personally talk with both students and faculty… these types of linkages are important because they establish channels of communication to build mutually beneficial relationships. From these relationships academically gifted minority students and women have an opportunity to participate in career enhancing CMDITR research and academic programs that culminate in the completion of their doctoral degree.”

“The expo provided me with an opportunity to interact with other students and faculty of color who have similar career aspirations – which I think is very important”.
Lakeisha McClary, Graduate student from Seth Marder’s group

CMDITR Hosts REU Recruiting Session at NAU

CMDITR Associate Director, Neal Armstrong and Program Coordinator, Maggie Harden recently held REU recruiting sessions at Northern Arizona University (NAU). NAU, a mid-size university focused on undergraduate education, has a relatively large population of under-represented minorities (16% Native American, Hispanic, and African American in the Department of Biochemistry and Chemistry) and a large number of female undergraduates seeking science and engineering degrees. During their day-long visit, Neal and Maggie met with chemistry and physics faculty members individually to discuss the CMDITR’s REU program and possible student placement, visited several chemistry classes to talk to students directly, and hosted a pizza lunch. In addition, Neal gave a presentation on his research as it relates to CMDITR.

As a result of their visit, CMDITR received nine applications from NAU students (about 12% of applications submitted directly to our Center). Of these, two were accepted in this Summer’s program. Both are from under-represented groups.