ASEE/NSF Small Business Postdoctoral Research Diversity Fellowship Program

American Society For Engineering Education, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The intellectual merit of this proposal is that this program allows highly educated scientists and engineers to acquire real-life research experience and to bring the latest innovative theories and techniques from the academic community o the country?s entrepreneurial technology sector. By working in a cutting-edge laboratory where research and development are accomplished within a framework of expected business outcomes and business constraints, researchers learn to work in multidisciplinary teams and to apply their academic expertise to the important work of product development and application in a globally competitive environment. The small businesses benefit from the fresh insights and most current technological skills and training that the recent postdoctoral students would bring. The program puts those skills and that training to work at creative and inventive research companies which otherwise would not be able to afford such expertise. These pairings would provide active SBIR Phase II companies the opportunity to enhance innovative collaboration, strengthen scientific rigor, and quicken the pace of technological breakthrough. Fellows are also encouraged to publish their work within the overall publishing guidelines set by each participating company. The broader impact of this program is to broaden participation of underrepresented groups such as women, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, American Indians, and Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders in small high-tech companies supported by the NSF SBIR/STTR program. ASEE has proposed stronger outreach strategies than implemented in the current grant to increase visibility and diversity by reaching out to institutions that supply a high number of candidates from underrepresented demographic groups. ASEE is strengthening its outreach by attending postdoctoral and professional organizational conferences that typically target women and underrepresented groups in STEM fields and by having a proactive presence in social media.