ACerS Education and Professional Development Symposium : Introduction to Education and Professional Development Opportunities
Sponsored by: ACerS Education and Professional Development Council
Program Organizers: Jessica Rimsza, Sandia National Laboratories; Yolanda Natividad, American Ceramic Society; Ashley Hilmas, Air Force Research Laboratory
Monday 8:00 AM
October 18, 2021
Room: B142/143
Location: Greater Columbus Convention Center
Session Chair: Jessica Rimsza, Sandia National Laboratories; Ashley Hilmas, Air Force Research Laboratory
8:00 AM
Grad School: An Entrée into the Knowledge Creation Enterprise: Frank Zok1; 1University of California, Santa Barbara
Imparting knowledge creation skills to students is arguably the principal goal of graduate education in science and engineering. Here we will outline a conceptual organizational framework of elements and processes involved in the knowledge creation enterprise. The framework is based on synthesis of the knowledge hierarchy, the cognitive structures used in navigating the hierarchy, the role of communication in knowledge transfer, the notion of knowledge utility, and the modes of knowledge expression.
8:30 AM
Individual Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace: Ryan McCarty1; Victoria Christensen2; 1University of California Irvine; 2University of California Santa Barbara
This talk will focus on the importance, challenges and benefits of diversity to individuals in professional settings. The value of diversity in professional settings is often linked to the workplace benefits it brings: diversity increases the creativity of teams, increases revenues, enhances productivity, evades public criticism, and attracts top talent, among others. While this business line of reasoning has helped drive workplace initiatives, it often fails to capture the importance of individual and interpersonal motivations, which underpin long-term success of diversity initiatives. Inclusive environments rich in empathy and support are created at the individual level, where they aid in growing self-esteem and building relationships. This presentation will summarize relevant research and present several short stories from individuals within the materials workforce to demonstrate the benefits of diversity on an individual-level.
9:00 AM
The Materialism Podcast: A New Medium for Materials Science Education: Taylor Sparks1; Andrew Falkowski1; 1University of Utah
Communicating science has always been an important, yet challenging task. The tools used for this task have morphed dramatically over time. In the last decade podcasts have grown from relative obscurity to enormous popularity with a majority of US households listening to podcasts regularly. In this talk I describe why and how we created the Materialism Podcast. I will discuss the philosophy behind the podcast and specific strategies that we have employed to enhance scientific communication skills. Some things I will cover include relying on narratives and backstories when covering topics, training interview guests to provide short responses without relying on jargon, meeting listeners where they are by taking advantage of evolving social media trends such as Reddit, Instagram, Twitter, engaging listeners and creating community settings for learning, accepting the limitations of the audio medium, and embracing different facets of materials science.
9:30 AM
Professional Development Opportunities with The American Ceramic Society: Mark Mecklenborg1; 1The American Ceramic Society
The American Ceramics Society (ACerS) is a premier materials society, with a strong focus on connecting glass scientists and technical ceramicists around the world. ACerS includes numerous organizations to support involvement and volunteer opportunities within ACerS Divisions, U.S. Sections and International Chapters, and Technical Interest Groups. Mark Mecklenborg, ACerS Executive Director, will highlight the different opportunities for increasing your involvement in ACerS for early, mid, and late career scientists and engineers. For every career stage, industry, and geographic location, there is a way are opportunities to be involved with ACerS.
10:00 AM Break
10:20 AM
Real Innovation in the 21st Century – How Can Business Do It?: Cullen Hackler1; 1PEI
This presentation explores Innovation in today’s business climate to help leaders understand and implement initiatives that uncover creative solutions to complex problems. Common solutions embrace buzzwords like; teams, diversity, multi-cultural, inter-departmental, entrepreneurship, alignment, collaboration, vision, ideas and leadership. Management writings for businesses to innovate describe strategies including; mindset, implementing change, incentives, tolerance for mistakes, culture of innovation, openness to new ideas, understanding customers and the list goes on and on. In this talk we’ll approach innovation from a different direction; where do businesses find novel solutions to complex problems? Looking at the people in the organization and how to use them to innovate. Considering what skills they need to have, learn or develop. And emphasizing breadth and its intimate connection to successful innovation. Finally, we will show that innovation does not happen by accident. Businesses must understand that people innovate, and we will highlight key strategies to support innovation.
10:50 AM Panel Discussion Experiences with EPDC and ACerS