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MEM Junior Prepares for Grad School as a McNair Scholar

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Each year, highly motivated UConn undergraduate students can participate in two opportunities within a special program, called The McNair Scholars Program. This program prepares students for graduate studies in science, technology, engineering and math. One program is a fall semester research apprenticeship for students to apply for during their 1st or 2nd year and participate the following fall, and the other is a lengthier program for 2nd and 3rd year students to apply for to evolve into independent researchers and be immersed, year-round, in graduate school preparation including a 2 month fully-funded summer component.

As part of UConn’s TRIO programs, both McNair opportunities are open to low-income, first-generation college students or those from populations underrepresented in STEM graduate fields who are seeking to pursue a graduate degree, such as M.S. or Ph.D.

Interested students apply to the program at two different parts of the year; for 1st and 2nd year students interested in the apprenticeship, applications are due each February, and for 2nd and 3rd year students interested in the robust, full McNair Scholar experience, applications are due each October.  When they are accepted, the McNair Scholars are paired with faculty mentors for academic enrichment, research, and internships.

Joshua Hoang, UConn MEM Class of 2023 was accepted as a McNair Fellow apprentice for this fall and is currently working on a research project with Dr. Calvert in the School of Business.

“I heard about it through an email and wanted some kind of experience [to start on] that summer,” Hoang said. “I hadn’t gotten an internship and had heard getting research experience could be good as well.” While at first Hoang was just trying to strengthen his resume, he found he really learned a lot, gained some important research experience and is now considering graduate school.

“This program is really geared to prepare students for graduate school, or to help students decide if grad school might be a fit for them,” he said. “I hadn’t really considered grad school before, but I definitely am considering it now.”

Hoang is working with Dr. Craig Calvert on a project to model the supply chain of cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “Cobalt from there is used in cell phones and electric cars, so if we didn’t have cobalt there would be a lot of things we would not have that we use every day,” Hoang explained.

He went on to explain that he has been learning a little Monte Carlo simulation, as well as some Python on the side, due to the coding elements and the nature of the research. He also said he had the chance to do a little bit of analytics and apply some of what he has learned in classes.

McNair Scholars and Fellows also participate in workshops and seminars led by Program Coordinator, Dr. Renee Gilberti, McNair alumni, and graduate students to also have as additional mentors, and conferences designed to help them secure admission to doctoral programs and obtain financial resources for graduate study.

“The biggest takeaway for me, was having the chance to learn how to write a scientific paper, like a research paper, how to format it… I had no experience at all going into this, and it was overwhelming at first, but [Dr. Calvert] walked me through it,” Hoang said. During the course the McNair Fellow apprentices take together for the fall semester, the students also learn step-by-step how to build a research paper, become critical thinkers, seek summer internships, and about applying to be McNair Scholars.

Hoang recommends this program to anyone considering grad school even a little bit. While it is an unpaid, one-semester commitment as an apprentice, students have the option to reapply for a longer duration as a Scholar and gain even more experience and training to be a competitive grad school applicant.

“Beyond the research, it was great to also just be able to ask Dr. Calvert questions about my career and education. He really goes out of his way to be helpful, and I am sure all the mentors are that way.”

Should You Apply?

If you are among the first generation in your family to attend a 4-year college AND meet the low-income guidelines on the application chart based on your family size (regardless of your racial or ethnic identity), and/or self-identify as an underrepresented racial or ethnic group as listed on the application, you are eligible for McNair opportunities.

This fall 2021 semester, the McNair program is recruiting 2nd and 3rd year students wanting to pursue undergraduate research in a STEM discipline who are curious to learn more about graduate school preparation and career options to be a McNair Scholars.

Benefits of the program include conducting research during the academic semesters with an optional, fully-funded summer program under the guidance of a faculty mentor; opportunities to present and publish; assistance with the graduate school application process; professional conferences; workshops and courses to prepare students for graduate study, and a close mentoring experience with the McNair Scholars Program Coordinator and a faculty advisor.

Applications must be submitted by Thursday, October 14 before 12 noon, and two recommendations are due by October 21.

To apply, applicants should click on the SCHOLAR button on the linked application, and then also promptly email Dr. Renee at renee.gilberti@uconn.edu to state your intention to apply and coordinate a virtual interview session. Note, if you are a 1st or 2nd year student, applications for the fall 2022 semester STEM McNair apprenticeship will open in January 2022. For more information, contact Dr. Renee Gilberti.

Apply

 

Landing an Internship on the Production Floor – Archana Velathaupillai Shares Her Experience

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Getting an internship is something every MEM student thinks about at some point during their undergraduate career. It can help you gain professional experience, apply concepts you’ve learned and develop professional connections that can help you navigate your future career options. Archana Velathaupillai, MEM junior, had the opportunity to work for 12 weeks as a Manufacturing Engineering Intern with Otis Elevator at their manufacturing plant in Florence, South Carolina.

Archana Velathaupillai on the Production Floor at Otis
Archana Velathaupillai performing an internal ISO 9001 audit at Otis Elevator’s plant in South Carolina.

“This was a really unique internship because most of the time interns don’t get to really work on the production floor, but this internship gave me that chance,” Archana said.

Archana had the chance to work in operations on the production floor at Otis where she did time studies on production lines, 5S implementation on the production floor, improved standard work procedures, conducted internal ISO 9001 audits on specific production lines and participated on continuous improvement initiatives. She also spent time observing and seeing how the concepts she has learned in classes at UConn are applied in a real world setting. She enjoyed getting to talk to people in various areas within the manufacturing operation, including supply chain, engineering, and operations which helped her expand her network and career exposure, as she refined her ideas of jobs she would and would not enjoy in her future.

“At first I wasn’t really comfortable, but as time went on, I got better at networking and scheduled appointments in other areas,” Archana said. “As a result, I was able to expand my network, get more familiar with other areas and really refine what kinds of jobs I might want. I learned there were some roles that didn’t suit me and others I may want to try to gain experience in during a future internship.”

Archana says she landed this internship in the traditional way. She attended career fairs, had her resume reviewed by the Center for Career Development, and took advantage of mock interviews. At a career fair, she met and talked with the recruiter from Otis and made sure she maintained contact afterward.

Associate Professor Awarded Grant for Manufacturing Sustainability

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Liang ZhangDr. Liang Zhang, Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and MEM Faculty member, was recently awarded a grant that could change the face of Connecticut manufacturing. In a partnership between the University of Connecticut and the University of New Haven, Dr. Zhang will be leading the UConn team as they participate in a massive national research effort to help local manufacturers reduce their carbon footprint.

UConn Today has the full story. Click to read more.

Industry Advisory Board Members Selected Among MEM Alums

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The Management and Engineering for Manufacturing (MEM) program has recently selected two new members for its Industry Advisory Board, Adam Duong, B.S. in MEM ’16 and Victoria Marino, B.S. in MEM ’19.

The MEM program and its directors have recently decided to expand its industry advisory board members to MEM young alumni in order to gain a valuable perspective from recent graduates who are familiar with the program from the inside, how it prepares its students for careers in various fields, and ways the program might be strengthened. Duong and Marino will be the first two MEM alumni to join the board of manufacturing professionals from across the state of Connecticut.

Duong, is currently employed by Pfizer as a Digital Client Partner / Experience Designer for the pharmaceutical giant’s Global Operations move to Hudson Yards in Manhattan. He is working on planning space and emerging technologies. Previously, prior to his 2016 graduation date, he also worked for Pfizer as an Analyst and for Southern Tide as a Brand Ambassador.

Duong says, “The MEM program is a rigorous and dynamic curriculum that balances both the business and the technical which is invaluable in today’s climate, because the ideal leader today balances both.” He goes on to say how pleased he is to be joining the advisory board and to “bring a cross-industry, cross-disciplinary perspective on how the program can best cultivate well rounded individuals.”

Victoria-MarinoMarino, is currently employed by Kaman Precision Products as a New Product Development Engineer. She has also served as a Leadership Development with the company, rotating through various areas within the company, such as Sustaining Engineering, New Product Development and Program Management. Prior to her 2019 graduation date, she also worked for Wireless Zone as a Supply Chain Purchasing Intern and for Legrand North America as a Quality Assurance Intern.

Marino says she is excited to bring a young professional’s perspective to the Industry Advisory Board. “I greatly enjoyed my experience in the MEM program. The diverse coursework and strong student-alumni network greatly prepared me to enter the manufacturing workforce. Having started my career in a multi-department rotation program, I was able to be a valuable contributor in each role I explored.”

The first meeting of the board for the 2021-2022 academic year is scheduled to take place in August 2021.

Q&A With Natiya Washer – 2021 Grad Hired by Senior Design Sponsor

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“I got to interact with the assembly line workers all the time. That was a really great way for me to display my set of skills of working with people that streamlined me into this engineering job, where my primary function is working with assembly line workers in the company. So, it was a direct transferable set of skills that I was able to showcase during the senior design project…”

Hi Natiya and Congratulations! I was so happy Professor Calvert shared with me that you were hired by your Senior Design Team sponsor! Wow! Can you tell me about that?

Natiya: The company I got hired into is called Prysmian Group. They’re based in the Willimantic area and my senior design project was really unique in that I got to go onsite even during the pandemic. We took all the necessary precautions to do that, of course, but that meant that I really got to meet all of the sponsors and the workers face to face about every 2 weeks and it really helped build my relationship with them. When I heard that there was a job opening, I asked about it and I was actually able to skip a couple of interviews. It really helped streamline me into the interview process and ultimately get the job.

That’s fantastic! So did your other teammates go over with you as well?

Natiya: Yes, we went over as a team and actually, in the 2nd semester, one of the workers at Prysmian was just asking us out of curiosity, “what are your plans after college?” My two teammates had other plans outside of looking for jobs, but in that moment, I was like, “oh, I’m looking for a job! Do you have any postings?” And he’s like “yeah. Here’s a link. You can all look at it if you’d like.”

That’s great. It shows that there was some dialogue going on between you, the team, and the company and that there’s sort of an almost nurturing aspect. How did you feel about the relationship building process?

Natiya: On the senior design project, the relationship building process was really fantastic. It was nice from the very beginning. We set up a very open dialogue between our sponsors and our team and so it meant it was very relaxing and not nerve wracking to email them any questions or just having constant line of communication. So it was nice to have the setting where I was able to talk to the professionals in the field without having a lot of that nervousness if I went up to them during a career day or anything like that. It was just since I already was in a project with them it made it a lot more relaxing and I was able to talk to them more on a personal level than a high stress level.

Do you feel like there was anything specific about your senior design project that made you a natural fit for the job?

Natiya: My senior design project specifically was helping redesign parts of this assembly line at their company which meant that I got to interact with the assembly line workers all the time. That was a really great way for me to display my set of skills of working with people that streamlined me into this engineering job, where my primary function is working with assembly line workers in the company. So, it was a direct transferable set of skills that I was able to showcase during the senior design project which was why, when I went in for the interview, so many of the workers, already knew that I was fit for that aspect of the job. I just had to prove it to all the other people that were interviewing me. So, that was very nice.

That’s great. During the interview process, aside from being able to skip the steps and having them already know you, do you feel like it made you more at ease? Or do you feel like it gave you a leg up in any way?

Natiya: I think I got a leg up because during the interview process, there were some people who reached out to me who were my senior design sponsors and they said, normally I would be in this interview right now, but you’ve already convinced me so, I won’t sit in on the interview, but here’s some other people you haven’t met yet. And when I would call into those, it’d be like, “Hi, Natiya, we’ve heard so much about you. We’ve heard such good things. We’re just hoping to clarify some points or just have you elaborate on other ones,” so it was really nice to not be working off an empty slate. I kind of already had this reputation built for me that was very positive so, it was really more them validating and asking about some of this past experiences I had with the company already and then using that as a stepping point to go back into my previous internship experiences and resume bullet points.

Will your job will be a continuation of your senior design project in some way or is it a completely separate thing?

Natiya: So I’m getting hired in as a process engineer, and the job I’m hiring into is not a continuation of my senior design project. I’m actually working on a different part of the facility, but I’ll still be using the same skills that I use on the same design project, which is really cool.

So when do you start?

Natiya: My official start date is June 17th, but I’ve actually been lucky enough that they wanted me to come in so we’ve actually started a part time agreement where I can work anywhere between 4 to 16 hours every week to just shadow all my other process engineering coworkers – ultimately, just get more comfortable with the plant. On June 17th, I can hit the ground running and we’ve already done all my onboarding. I’ve already met everyone in the entire plant, and so I just jump right into full on projects. I have been extremely thankful that they offered the part time position to me because again, it makes it so much less stressful because I’ve had so much time to really ease in right now while the expectation is only for me to shadow. So, it’s a really great way to see exactly what I’m doing before I have to hit the ground running.

Wow! What a great opportunity! Did you have any different kinds of jobs in mind before being offered this, or did it change during your senior design project or at some other point?

Natiya: I’ve always been really open minded about what field I wanted to go work in. Prysmian manufactures cables, which sometimes people might think that’s not as stimulating as working in aerospace or working on assembling fighter jets, but for me, I’m really passionate about process flow, and process flow can be found in any industry and in any factory. So, once I was able to go in and see the factory and get a feel of the culture and what they were doing there, and just meeting all the management and even the people working on the floor, I realized that the company’s values aligned with my own and that’s why I was really excited about interviewing with them because they had all the processes I was interested in and a great company culture. And what more can you ask for.

Supply Chain Management Course Offered for Fall 2021

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For the last several years, in the Management and Engineering for Manufacturing program, more and more of our graduates are finding jobs related to supply chain management. With the evolving nature of manufacturing and industry in the United States, it’s really no wonder.

Supply chain management is defined as the process of managing the movement of goods and services from suppliers, as raw materials, and to end users, as finished goods, in an efficient and effective way. Careers in supply chain management can take the role of sourcing, negotiating, contracting, purchasing, logistics, product design and development, inventory control, distribution and more.

The world is getting smaller, but that doesn’t mean that managing the supply chain for manufacturers is getting any easier. In fact, while the world has become more and more accessible with parts of the supply chain traveling around the world in record time, we know it is necessary to produce graduates ready to enter manufacturing in this field, and to bring with them the skills and the creativity needed to expedite the segments of production and access to supplies.

That is why, Dr. Calvert, professor in the School of Business and the co-director of MEM, is developing a course for students interested in supply chain management as a career.

“This course will examine the supply chain from a practical perspective.” Calvert said. “Class time will focus on active discussions and case analysis over the lecture format.”

The topics, including sales, materials management, logistics, and transportation, and will include real-world examples from the professor’s own professional experience.

In addition, external experts such as former MEM and School of Business students, now employed at Unilever, will discuss how supply chain management is performed at their company. Other guest lecturers in the field will include an independent consultant with more than 30-years of experience in the field.

Supply Chain Management, OPIM 4895, will be offered Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 12:15 pm.

Supply chain management is an exciting business and engineering field, perfect for MEM students, as well as other engineering and business students as they consider the future of manufacturing leadership in the United States.

Flyer promoting Supply Chain Management Course OPIM 4895 (Fall 2021)

Logan Miller Named 2021 MEM Top Dog

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Logan Miller, a Somers, Connecticut resident and University of Connecticut senior was awarded the Management and Engineering for Manufacturing Top Dog Award for 2021 for his academic achievement as well as his participation and commitment to the MEM program.

Each year the MEM Society, co-directors and staff work together to select the student who best represents and contributes to the MEM program. This student is evaluated based on criteria such as willingness to help other MEM students, volunteering at open houses and other MEM events, participation in the MEM Society, their reputation for treating students, faculty and staff with respect, and his or her positive demeanor, good character and ability to be a role model for other MEM students. It’s a high bar worthy of the honor of Top Dog.

What does it mean to be Top Dog of MEM? Each year the MEM Society, co-directors and staff work together to select the student who best represents and contributes to the MEM program. This student is evaluated based on criteria such as willingness to help other MEM students, volunteering at open houses and other MEM events, participation in the MEM Society, their reputation for treating students, faculty and staff with respect, and his or her positive demeanor, good character and ability to be a role model for other MEM students. It’s a high bar worthy of the honor of Top Dog. This year, our 2021 Top Dog Award is going to graduating senior, Logan Miller. Logan Miller portrays all of these qualities, always representing the MEM program with enthusiasm, consideration and integrity. He has served for two years at the MEM Lab Manager, assisting students with lab questions and working hard to make sure it was a place all students felt welcome and supported. When COVID-19 struck, he coordinated and implemented lab safety plans and used the time to train next year’s lab manager, reorganize the lab and help think through ways MEM can be even better for future students. He also served as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant during his Junior Year for the MEM 2212 course, spent time studying abroad, served as the Treasurer for the MEM Society, interned at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, achieved a high level of academic excellence, volunteered at every MEM open house where he answered questions and shared his experience with new prospects, and has been enrolled in the MS-BAPM 4+1 program. Logan Miller is certainly the 2021 MEM Top Dog! We are very proud of his accomplishments and thankful for his contributions. We know that even though Logan is going onto greater things after this May, that he will continue to contribute to the future success of MEM in meaningful ways.Miller portrays all of these qualities, having always represented the MEM program with enthusiasm, consideration and integrity. He served for two years at the MEM Lab Manager, assisting students with lab questions and working hard to make sure it was a place all students felt welcome and supported. When COVID-19 struck, he coordinated and implemented lab safety plans and used the time to train next year’s lab manager, reorganize the lab and help think through ways MEM can be even better for future students.

He also served as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant during his junior year for the MEM 2212 course, spent time studying abroad, served as the Treasurer for the MEM Society, interned at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, achieved a high level of academic excellence, volunteered at every MEM open house where he answered questions and shared his experience with new prospects, and has been enrolled in the MS-BAPM 4+1 program.

“Logan was not only able to excel academically, but also outside of the classroom,” said Professor Craig Calvert, co-director of the MEM program and Senior Design instructor. “He has been a consistent source of assistance to the MEM program and his peers through his lab manager position and his involvement in the MEM student society. My experience with him in his senior design project shows that he will do great things in the future.”

Miller, who graduated May 2021 from UConn with his Bachelor of Science degree in Management and Engineering for Manufacturing from both the School of Business and the School of Engineering jointly, plans to go on to complete his Master of Science degree in Business Analytics and Project Management at the UConn School of Business. He began working toward the MS-BAPM program during his undergraduate studies as part of a 4+1 program with the School of Business and MEM.