Theme, Vision & Goals
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The theme for this IGERT program is to educate/train Ph.D. students in engineering and science for the new entrepreneurial and interdisciplinary environment by developing a center of excellence for Fuel Cell education and Fuel Cell research focusing on manufacturing, materials, and modeling. |
Motivation for IGERT program
Our doctoral students now enter work environments that have changed radically compared to a few years ago; the luxury of maturing in an isolated lab experience with a narrow focus is gone. Unfortunately, the education of our students to operate in this new environment has not kept pace with the change—until now.
Traditional, disciplinary doctoral study has been very effective in producing highly specialized individuals who, ideally, are capable of functioning as independent investigators. However, industry, government, and, increasingly, universities are recognizing that the myriad of problems facing technological advancement in a modern society are so complex that narrow-focused research is incapable of developing satisfactory solutions. Graduate students (and some faculty, too) are adept in understanding narrow aspects of their focused research, and it is relatively straightforward to train the students in specific literature, research techniques, and in-depth knowledge of their chosen field of study. What is much more difficult to do is to educate students to become aware of the broader implications of their work, to understand how it fits into bigger and more complex patterns (LaPidus, 1997), to strengthen and improve their research by searching for different ideas and skills and interacting with people outside of traditional, disciplinary boundaries, and to develop into scholars capable of following a career in either a university, industry, or government lab.
A report to the National Science Foundation noted that U.S. universities are the envy of the world, but, at times, our graduates are not necessarily prepared for the continuous change present in modern society, capable of working in the global environment with all the diversity that entails, or understanding of ethical, political, social, and economic forces that are may be as important as the technical issues influencing a problem. The IGERT program was developed to change this situation.
Theme of Rensselaer’s IGERT program
The theme for this IGERT program is to educate/train Ph.D. students in engineering and science for the new entrepreneurial and interdisciplinary environment by developing a center of excellence for fuel cell education and fuel cell research focusing on manufacturing, materials, and modeling.
Innovation
A great impetus to innovations in technology and to job growth has been entrepreneurial activities by small companies and individuals. Small companies create 60-80% of the net new jobs annually and generate 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large firms (SBA 2003). Faculty at research universities must operate as entrepreneurs by generating and selling ideas through proposals, managing “venture capital” (i.e., grant funds) and “employees” (i.e., graduate students) similar to a start-up business, and, recently, forming companies to commercialize their results. Because this entrepreneurial method is effective in developing and commercializing new technologies, many large companies (e.g., GE, 3M, Bose) are beginning to operate research and development groups more like incubator centers with employees as champions for research commercialization. A similar trend can be seen at government labs (e.g., Sandia National Lab, NIST), with new technologies licensed to existing or start-up companies.
Entrepreneurship
Within the entrepreneurial environment of these small companies, university and corporate research centers, and government labs, the fuel cell industry is positioning itself as a potential major contributor to solving the world energy problem through the development of a hydrogen economy. For this to happen, there must be significant “…cost reductions of fuel cells through the development of large-scale manufacturing capabilities for stationary and mobile units” (DOE 2002a). In addition, “significant advances are needed for stack materials, oxygen cathodes, and membranes” (DOE 2002b), particularly high-temperature PEMs (DOE 2003).
Interdisciplinary Systems
Fuel cell systems are inherently interdisciplinary, providing an ideal research focus for our IGERT students. We prepare our students to operate in this entrepreneurial and interdisciplinary environment and to aggressively pursue research and development of many aspects of fuel cell systems, so that the U.S. will not forfeit the economic and security advantages of leadership in value-added manufacturing of fuel cell technology as it strives to achieve world leadership in fuel cell design and development.
Vision and Goals of Rensselaer’s IGERT program
Just as ocean estuaries—at the intersection where fresh and salt water mix—are some of the most biologically productive ecosystems on earth, the intersections of technological fields often have the greatest potential for breakthroughs. However, these intersections are difficult locations to work in, because different fields have different vocabularies, cultures, expectations, and skill sets (e.g., Golde and Gallagher 1999).
Throught this IGERT program, students learn to be comfortable and productive in interdisciplinary, entrepreneurial environments, addressing present needs, as well as becoming next-generation thinkers. Thus, the vision and goals for this IGERT program are to educate/train Ph.D students to have depth of knowledge in a particular field, breadth of knowledge to contribute effectively to interdisciplinary projects, and entrepreneurial skills to operate in the new work environment.
Approach to Rensselaer’s IGERT program
To accomplish our vision and goals, IGERT faculty and instructors adapt teaching approaches from medical schools/teaching hospitals (effective for training doctors about the interdisciplinary nature of medicine) and business schools (effective for teaching entrepreneurship). Our IGERT program uses a combination of formal and informal activities to help students integrate contributions from many communities to arrive at problem solutions. While fuel cells are the research focus, the skills learned by our students are usable in any industry or position.
What?
We educate and train our students to not only ask the question “What?” but be able to arrive at an answer through inter-disciplinary means.Why? How?
We help our students grow professionally so that they will be able to ask the question “Why?” and more fully understand all dimensions of the problem. Then students will be able to propose integrated solutions to the question “How?”, incorporating valuable inputs and contributions from many diverse communities, whether the community is in a university, industry, government lab, field different than theirs, or an international source.
Positioned for Success
Rensselaer is well positioned for success in this IGERT program because we systematically combine technology and entrepreneurship. Here students of various cultural, socio-economic, political, and functional backgrounds combine their talents to create truly special events. We have a strong tradition, enthusiasm, and support for pedagogical innovation and have won numerous national awards for these advances. In the Rensselaer Plan—the institute’s guiding document for advancement—a major initiative is entrepreneurship across the curriculum, which includes a Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship.
Our IGERT participants from six academic units and two research centers at Rensselaer have wide experience in developing products and starting companies. Plus, the following facilities and industry ties illustrate the depth and breadth of resources at Rensselear.
Center for Automation Technologies and Systems
Located in the Low Center for Industrial Innovation, our Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (formerly the Flexible Manufacturing Center) developed the first fully automated, high-temperature membrane electrode assembly (MEA) pilot line for PEMEAS in Germany .
Lally School of Management and Technology
The Lally School of Management and Technology has one of the top 12 entrepreneurial programs in the nation.
Industry Ties
We have active collaborations with several Fuel Cell industry companies including: