2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Redesigning US STEM Doctoral Education to Create a National Workforce of Technical Leaders

Presented at Graduate Studies Division (GSD) Technical Session 1: Recruitment and Support in Engineering Graduate Programs

The knowledge and technologies that move our society forward and preserve our international competitive advantage rely upon a highly skilled workforce that is adept at conducting complex scientific and technical research—and in translating its outcome into useful products and services. “Use-inspired” research is driven by specific needs and interests and naturally focuses on socioeconomically advantageous application, whereas academic research tends to be driven by an intrinsic quest for new knowledge. Each has its role in overall technological development, however, the skills and knowledge crucial for success in these domains can differ significantly. To integrate these two approaches in doctoral training in STEM fields, a national workshop of ~100 leaders of industry, academia, funding agencies and non-profits was held with the goal of developing a robust understanding of the current status of the pipeline from graduate degree programs in STEM into professional research environments. At the conclusion, the Workshop participants identified gaps in the present training of STEM doctorates. Then they endorsed the Pasteur Partners PhD (P3) track recently established at Lehigh University as a new model for student-centered workforce training based on use-inspired research in partnership with industry. Here, we present the key outcomes of the workshop and describe the four distinctive features of the P3 program: 1. Pre-program summer internship; 2. Co-advising of students by a university faculty member and an industry researcher; 3. Instructions for developing essential professional skills; 4. Industry Residency (as in medical school). In this context, ‘Industry’ is defined broadly to include private corporations, national labs, defense organizations, healthcare institutes, etc., which hire PhDs. Collectively, we consider this as a model for the much needed redesigning of the US STEM doctoral education to create a national workforce of technical leaders. Finally, challenges to the implementation of the P3 track are identified.

Authors

Prof. Himanshu Jain http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4382-9460 Lehigh University [biography]

Himanshu Jain is the T.L. Diamond Distinguished Chair Professor of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Director of Institute for Functional Materials and Devices at Lehigh University. He helped establish and served as the director of NSF’s International Materials Institute for New Functionality in Glass, which pioneered globalization of glass research and education, and led to multiple international glass research centers in different countries. Over the past three decades he has focused on introducing new functionality and novel processing of glass, and making glass education available worldwide freely. For the last several years, he has been advocating for use-inspired research, and led the development of a new STEM doctoral workforce training model: Pasteur Partners PhD (P3) based on Industry-University partnerships. He is an author/editor of 12 patents, 10 books and over 400 research publications on glass science, technology and education.
Volkmar Dierolf Lehigh University [biography]

Volkmar Dierolf is a Professor of Physics a Distinguished University Professor of Physics and Materials Science & Engineering at Lehigh University, where he has been a faculty member since 2000. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Utah in 1992 and a Habilitation in Experimental Physics from University of Paderborn, Germany in 2000. Dr. Dierolf's research focuses on the study of novel electronic and optical materials, with a particular emphasis on rare earth dopants in semiconductors and laser produced single crystals in glass. He has authored or co-authored over 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals, and has been awarded several patents for his work.
Dr. Anand Jagota Lehigh University [biography]

Anand Jagota is Vice Provost for Research and the Robert W. Wieseman Professor of Bioengineering and of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Lehigh University. His training is in Mechanical Engineering, from IIT Delhi for undergraduate studies and Cornell University for graduate work. He worked for nearly 15 years as a materials scientist at the DuPont company and moved in 2004 to Lehigh University. His research interests are in interfacial mechanical properties.
Zilong Pan Lehigh University [biography]

Zilong Pan is an assistant professor of teaching, learning and technology, his research focuses on emerging educational technologies and innovative methodological approaches in educational practices and studies in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) disciplines.
Nathan Urban Lehigh University [biography]

Nathan Urban is Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lehigh University. Urban earned his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh and was a postdoctoral scholar at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg Germany. He previously held faculty positions at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.

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