The George R. Brown School of Engineering has launched a Future Faculty Fellows program to support Ph.D. and postdoctoral students who are interested in pursuing academic careers.
“The goal of the program is to help our students become more competitive for faculty positions. Fellows will receive support in preparing all elements of the faculty application and interview,” said Anjli Kumar, administrative research manager for the engineering school.
Tracy Volz, director of the school’s Engineering Communications Program, will aid fellows in preparing their written statements, curriculum vitae and faculty interview presentation. The dean of engineering and chair of the fellow’s department will conduct mock faculty interviews and provide feedback to strengthen interview skills.
Fellows will attend workshops designed to support them as they prepare for faculty interviews. To enhance teaching skills, fellows will complete a practicum in which they teach or co-teach a course within their discipline. The Center for Teaching and Excellence will provide training and observation evaluations. A monetary award of $4,000 will support each fellow for speaking at conferences and university seminars.
Rice Engineering named its first 11 fellows including Yinlin Li and Lauren Taylor.
Yinlin Li was born in Shanghai, China, and is a postdoctoral research associate in the Polymer Engineering Lab of Rafael Verduzco, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2013 and a second Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Washington State University in 2015. His research focuses on developing multifunctional conjugated polymers for multifunctional organic electronics. Li’s career goal is to become a faculty member who contributes to education and research.
Lauren Taylor is a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering in the laboratory of Matteo Pasquali, professor of ChBE. She was a 2015 National Defense Science and Engineering Fellow. Her research focuses on understanding the effect of solution processing parameters on the structure and properties of carbon nanotube fibers. She earned her B.S. in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 2014, researching electrolyte materials for intermediate-temperature solid-oxide fuel cells. Her research focuses on optimizing carbon nanotube fiber processing for applications in wearable electronics and sensors.