Academic Careers

Our department is committed to mentoring students who have interests in careers in academia to ensure that they are prepared to begin independent careers as faculty members. Our involvement in cutting edge research makes certain that our graduates are at the forefront of engineering research and are well-prepared to formulate and tackle their own research questions.  Our graduates gain significant experience in teaching through their roles as teaching assistants and our Teaching Apprenticeship Program (see below).  Graduate students have ample opportunities to travel to and present their work at professional meetings, which helps them to network and to keep abreast of advances in their fields.

A special opportunity for students interested in academic careers is our Teaching Apprenticeship Program.  In this program, a graduate student works closely with a faculty mentor to teach two to four weeks of a class.  The apprentice functions as fully as a faculty member would, preparing lectures, assigning homework, and writing and grading exams.  The faculty mentor attends the apprentice’s lectures and provides feedback for improvement.  Formal evaluations from the students in the class provide additional feedback about the apprentice’s performance.  Interested students typically participate in the Teaching Apprenticeship Program in their fourth or fifth year.  Up to two Teaching Apprentices are selected each year by the Graduate Committee.  Typically, the participants teach an undergraduate core chemical engineering class.  Participants are excused from the usual teaching assistant assignment during the year in which they serve as an apprentice. Profiles of participants in the Teaching Apprenticeship Program who have recently started careers in academia can be found under alumni profiles. If you would like to learn more about the Teaching Apprentice Program, please contact the Graduate Program Director, Professor Lonnie Shea.

Careers in Industry and Government