Manuel Rossetti, holder of the John L. Imhoff Chair in Industrial Engineering, would like more Arkansas students to gain experience in graduate school and use this experience to improve the state’s engineering work force. Rossetti, professor and holder of the John L. Imhoff Endowed Chair in Industrial Engineering, has initiated a new program to achieve this goal.
The Student Integrated Intern Research Experience aims to increase the number of highly skilled employees in Arkansas who are ready to apply engineering research. It will serve engineering students with financial need, connecting them with faculty and industry through mentorships. Students in the program may participate in either co-operative education, earning class credit through a paid job, or an internship. They will work with faculty and industry mentors to identify a research project related to their job or internship. This project, which will become the student’s master’s thesis, will help the student and mentors understand how engineering research can be applied on the job, and it will highlight the benefits to companies of hiring engineers with graduate degrees.