The Network      

November  2006

AISES Honors GEM Alumnus

Frank Martinez (MS E) was named the 2006 AISES Professional of the Year.  Martinez accepts his award at the organization's 28th Annual National Conference in Detroit, Michigan this week.

Martinez is the worldwide digital inclusion program manager for Intel Corporation's Customer Solutions Group. 

Read more about Martinez and his perspective on being a Native American in engineering in Diversity/Careers .

Alumni: Stay in Touch!

Your life is always changing.  GEM is changing, too.  Make sure you receive the latest news about your GEM community by updating your contact information now.

Why?  Your current information is more than a mailing list.  It yields data GEM uses to prove our value to prospective and current Fellows, members, and partners.  You confirm that GEM works. 

Also, e-mail us to share high rez photos and submit your profile.  We may feature yours on GEM's web site! Send news about a promotion, publication, award, patent, tenure, or media coverage, too.  Your news is important to The Network .

Alumni in Action With the season giving and thanksgiving upon us won't you consider joining the GAA as Alumni in Action?  Your gift of $250 helps grow the endowment to support fellowship awards.

Contact a GAA officer today to learn how your time and talents can strengthen "the third pillar of GEM".

Engaged
Dr. Anthony Belvin (PhD E) announces his engagement to Dr. Reeshemah Burrell (MS E, PhD E).  The wedding is planned for Spring 2007.

November 1 marks the deadline for the 2007 GEM fellowship application.  With high profile recruiting events still to come, the application deadline has been extended to 5 pm EST Monday, November 13.  Supporting documents such as transcripts, letters of recommendation must arrive at the GEM office by the November 13 extension.  Executive director Michele Lezama said, "Many students are taking the GRE this month during a time of the year that better fits their academic schedules.  We also  weighed accommodating some key segments to increase representation in the applicant pool with still having a selection meeting before Christmas.  I think we achieved a balance that will result in a good outcome this year."  

THE OUTREACH 
Key recruiting events this year included regional events such as the Boston GRAD Lab and Berkeley EDGE as well as the national conferences of HENAAC,  MAES, SACNAS, and SHPE.  More GEM sessions were also held on member and non-member campuses to cast the widest net possible for top applicants.

"This year we tried something different", said Lezama.  "Staff, including Dr. Marcus Huggans as our new Senior Recruiter and Programs Specialist, met to review the literally hundreds of opportunities to meet students and professionals.  We looked strategically at those we felt would help us meet the applicant pool targets and aggressively sought opportunities to present special sessions, give keynotes, or sit on panels to get the word out about the benefits of graduate school and GEM's fantastic funding model."

Look for a feature on Dr. Huggans and his role with GEM in the December issue of The Network.

THE RESULTS 
From the September 30, 2006 GRAD Lab alone (see photo and link below), sponsored by the Massachusetts Consortium of STEM Programs, 75 registrants were identified as potential applicants.  Lezama said this was but one example of a more targeted, strategic approach to outreach that leverages existing or prompts new partnerships. 

THE SELECTION MEETING
Scheduled to meet in Washington, D.C. on December 13, the Selection Committee will begin the process culminating in the 2007 academic year fellowship awards.  Look for news on award results in an upcoming issue of The Network.


Boston GRAD Lab a Success!

Executive director Michele Lezama engages the audience during her keynote address on September 30.  The event was held at Boston University.  Read more [link to stories on web site ] about this successful outreach event now.

Back to top

At the June 2006 Board of Directors meeting, Michele Lezama and the Executive Committee presented the business case for the relocation of GEM from the University of Notre Dame to Educational Testing Service offices in Washington, D.C. and Princeton, New Jersey.  Within months of presenting the recommendation, the Board of Directors returned a vote of 55-5-3 in favor of the new strategic direction and vision for the organization.

On September 29 the press release officially announcing ETS as future host of The National GEM Consortium was distributed to thousands of media outlets and GEM's constituents. 

Lezama said, "I am proud of the way we were able to arrive at such an important decision.  We accomplished that together through honest dialogue and a deep commitment to the future of everyone involved.  So although we must aggressively execute the transition to our new host home our current operations continue uninterrupted.  No processes will change for this fellowship application and award selection cycle.  We still have fellowships to award and that remains our primary focus."

The move to ETS is scheduled to be complete by June 30, 2007.

Back to top

Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young (PhD S) is the National Program Leader for Biobased Products and Bioenergy Production in the United States Department of Agriculture�s National Research Initiative. She provides national leadership and is an internationally recognized authority in the field of value-added biobased products including non-food processing, biotechnology, metabolic engineering, bioenergy production, and forest products research.  For these accomplishments she received the GEM's 2006 Outstanding Achievement in Government alumni award.

Chavonda currently has direct programmatic and administrative responsibility for competitive grant allocations totaling $7 million which she has successfully leveraged by actively facilitating partnerships with other federal agencies. Her expanded duties include administrative and budgetary oversight of $180 million for the National Research Initiative (NRI), the largest competitive program in the USDA.

She has said, "GEM opened door for me and assisted in my becoming the first African American PhD in Pulp and Paper Science.  I'm so thankful for the opportunities I've been given."

Prior to joining the Federal Government Dr. Jacobs-Young served as a faculty member in the Paper Science and Engineering Department at the University of Washington. She was an active researcher and published regularly in the area of biotechnology for the production of bioproducts.  Her corporate experience includes E.I. Dupont De Nemours, Kimberly-Clark Company, Federal Paper Board, Kraft General Foods and Weyerhaeuser Company.

"As my career progresses it is my intent to continue to be a positive role model and an inspiration for all students, but especially those students who would not traditionally choose a career in science and engineering," she commented.

Dr. Jacobs-Young received a B.S. in Pulp and Paper Science and Technology in 1989, a M. S. in Wood and Paper Science in 1992 from N. C. State University, and the Ph.D. in 1998.  She currently resides in Gaithersburg, MD with her husband Arland Keith Young, a Program Manager with the Department of Homeland Security, and their two children Autumn and AJ.

Back to top

Norfolk State will be this month's site for GRAD Lab--the second regional event since the undergraduate encouragement program's debut this past June.  The National Science Foundation will select 100 students to attend, making it the largest projected registration to date!

GRAD Lab is being held in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Future Tech Conference.  Future Tech allows underrepresented students to participate in hands-on interactive workshops that showcase the cutting edge research taking place at the NSF Science and Technology Centers nationwide.  NSF STCs are also GEM members.

GRAD Lab Popularity Growing

Exactly as designed, GRAD Lab is preparing to travel the nation to other top regional events drawing a diverse undergraduate engineering and science audience.

Upcoming events where GRAD Lab organizers are working to make appearances include the conferences of AISES and SHPE, as well as the six regional NSBE conferences.  By the end of November, up to nine GRAD Labs  will have spread the inspiring message that graduate school is within reach.

November Recruiting Events
Consult this month's calendar .

Back to top