How to Concentrate, Gingerbread Engineering, Funding Opportunities, AND MORE!

Dec.

2019

Student News & Voices

Find news that affects engineering, engineering tech, and engineering ed students, what they're up to, and what they have to say...in their own words.

Perky Processing: Coffee is the second-most-traded commodity worldwide, trailing only oil. It's also incredibly wasteful. A team of five engineering students from North Carolina State University wants to change that. They've developed the Peak Coffee Processing system that reuses water, generates fertilizer, and yields more coffee. Read more here.

Rebalancing Act: When a prominent astronomy foundation launched a new fellowship aimed at balancing the gender divide, only two of the 12 recipients were women. The committee reached out to industrial engineers to help them figure out why--and how to correct the imbalance. Read more here.

Future Tense?: What will education look like in the near-to-middle future? How quickly will it change? Stanford University stepped up to the plate to offer "Stanford 2025," a plan for the future of college education. Using design thinking, it restructures our current "block" learning approach (large chunks of early and later-life education before going to work) to include lifelong learning. See the plan here.

Academic & Professional Development Resources

Tips on navigating politics, from classroom to office.

Ditch Distractions: Multitasking is the mode most of us work in these days. There is so much to do that it seems that, if we're not doing it all at once, nothing will ever get done! Turns out that--surprise!--dividing our attention makes us do less. Harvard Business Review tells us why we do it and how to overcome it. Read more here.

BONUS: To reinforce your New Year's resolutions, the same publication teaches you How to Break Up with Your Bad Habits.

Fresh Meat: So you've graduated. You've got that sweet new job. Congrats! Now what? No matter how many classes or internships you've had, your first job will present challenges you never expected. What do your new employers wish you knew coming in? Ask a Manager has some answers.
Read more here.

How to Unclench: As a faculty member, you're involved in the rewarding work of teaching and fascinating research...but what about fun? This often goes by the wayside, says the Chronicle of Higher Education. Here are a few tips to build some fun into your schedule. Read them here.

Funding & Internships

Opportunity abounds!

This month's highlights:

Vertical Flight Foundation Scholarships: Each year, Vertical Flight Foundation (VFF) scholarships are awarded to college students demonstrating an interest in pursuing engineering related careers in vertical flight technology. There are categories for undergraduate students, M.S. students, and Ph.D. students for prizes of up to $6,000. Deadline: February 3, 2020. Learn more here.

American Society of Civil Engineers Scholarships & Fellowships: ASCE offers many scholarships for undergraduates and fellowships for graduate students, including a scholarship for young professionals. All applicants must be ASCE student members in good standing. Deadlines: Young Professionals Scholarship: January 3, 2020. All other applications: February 10, 2020. Find scholarship opportunities here. (Scroll down.) Find fellowship opportunities here.

Virginia Space Grant Consortium: The VSGC Undergraduate STEM Research Scholarship Program provides awards of up to $8,500 to rising juniors and seniors who are enrolled full-time in a program of study in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) and have a specific faculty-mentored research project that has NASA or aerospace relevance. Allied Health Sciences majors are not eligible for this program. Deadline: January 31, 2020. Learn more here.

AIAA Foundation Scholarships & Graduate Awards: The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics offers many scholarships and fellowships for students pursuing careers in aerospace engineering and research. Prizes range from $500 to $10,000. All applicants must be AIAA student members. Deadline: January 31, 2020. Learn more here.

Videos & Entertainment

Because sometimes you just need a break!

Photo Inspo: Cookie Cutter Houses - Most of the time, gingerbread houses are made by painfully obvious amateurs, not engineers. Gingertown to the rescue! Check out this elaborate gingerbread city made by architects and engineers to inspire your post-finals holiday making! Find last year's gallery here.

BONUS: See if there's a contest near you for next year's revelry! Full site here.

Video: Beach Combers - For some finals (or post-finals!) eye-bleach, check out Theo Jansen's "Strandbeests," wind-and-water-activated "creatures" engineered to walk beaches. These kinetic sculptures are hypnotizing sites to behold! Watch them here.

BONUS: Find videos on the engineering behind the Strandbeests so you can make your own--or improve upon the design! Watch them here.

Podcast: EngineeringIRL - EngineeringIRL helps prepare you for life in the Industry. For those of you who just graduated or who are graduation-curious, this "Making vs. Managing" episode will help you navigate time management in the real world! Listen here .