For the fifth year in a row, the Penn Engineering Graduate Research Symposium proved to be a success, attracting over 100 graduate students, 25 faculty presenters and 40 attendees from outside companies ranging from Merck to General Motors.
"Many other universities hold events like these," said Engineering's Industry Liaison Matt Hamilton; however, they tend "to be fragmented among different departments. I think our idea of bringing together the entire school and finding a nice balance between academics and industry is the most productive and beneficial way to approach such an activity."
The GRS began in 1999 when David Edge, a chemical engineering graduate of Penn, realized that rather than job fairs, "the majority of graduate students entering industry get jobs through networking -- including connections through their advisers and alumni."
Therefore, Edge said he created the GRS as "an opportunity to provide students with a broader opportunity to network and present their research to potential employers."
Even Edge himself -- now a process engineer for Merck & Company and part of their Penn recruiting team -- benefited from this symposium. Merck has attended the GRS for several years.
This year's event, as in prior years, included both faculty presentations as well as a luncheon allowing graduate students to display their research. Posters that have been submitted and hand-selected by the symposium's graduate and administrative committees detail their findings.
"The luncheon is my favorite because it is highly dynamic and a good chance for me and others to see the wide array of projects that are being investigated at the School of Engineering and Applied Science," Hamilton said.
Hamilton added that when students present their research during this luncheon, it helps "trigger companies to increase recruiting, send scientists to explore collaborations and even see what new technologies might be possible licensing opportunities."
In addition to presenting their research and looking for future job opportunities, the graduate student with the best poster presentation was awarded $100.
Three specific areas of research were presented throughout the day, including computer and information science and engineering, biologically based science and engineering and physically based science and engineering.
For the computer science section, Engineering graduate student Evangelos Vergetis presented his research on the widely expanding Bluetooth wireless Internet technology.
In an abstract on his research, Vergetis explained, "We investigate the feasibility of transforming Bluetooth from a simple wire replacement to a full-blown ad hoc networking technology."
He added that his research demonstrates that "Bluetooth is likely to remain relegated to its initial role as a wire replacement."
Research was also displayed in the biologically based section of the symposium.
Engineering graduate student Peter Photos presented his research on drug delivery within the body.
According to an abstract, Photos explained that "drug efficacy has been greatly enhanced in recent years due to the advent of drug delivery vehicles ... . However, this in vivo lifetime could possibly be extended even further by exploring -- and replicating -- the body's natural mechanisms."
Through studies, Photos found that "controlled circulation and release kinetics" can be used to achieve such unique drug profiles.
Overall, according to Edge, the GRS served its purpose last week and "now, in its fifth year ... seems to be a definite win-win for students, industry and Penn Engineering."
