New grant promotes physics, engineering

Great news from the Franklin College department of physics today.  A National Science Foundation grant will help promote and recruit students with an interest in either physics or engineering.  Through a program known as Developing Excellence in Engineering and Physics (DEEP), the grant will provide 20 scholarships to academically talented students with demonstrated financial need so they may pursue degrees in physics or a variety of engineering tracks.  This is exciting news for UGA.  Promoting these fields will help meet workforce needs in the future and this program aims to pave the way for other similar programs at other institutions. 

"We need more students and professionals in these fields both here in Georgia and throughout the country," said Steven Lewis, principal investigator for the grant and associate professor of physics in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "There are tremendous workforce needs, and we need to prepare our students to fill those positions."

A key goal of the DEEP Scholars program is to recruit and retain students from groups traditionally underrepresented in physics and engineering, including women, African-Americans, Hispanics and first-generation college students.

Each incoming student will be assigned a faculty mentor from either the department of physics and astronomy or the College of Engineering who will guide pupils through the program of study, help solve any problems they encounter along the way and facilitate meetings with professionals who currently work in academia or industry.

"We want our students to network and interact with working scientists and engineers as much as possible," Lewis said. "Simply talking with different working professionals will let students see the variety of career options they can pursue and what skills they need to be successful in those positions."

DEEP students will participate in and plan several seminars throughout the academic year and an annual symposium, giving them the opportunity to present real scientific research and engineering design to an audience of their peers and mentors.

This is great news for the future.  Congratulations to those who have worked together to make this grant possible--William Dennis, professor of physics; Timothy Foutz, professor of engineering; Charles Kutal, associate dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, director of the Office of STEM education and professor of chemistry; and Judy Milton, assistant dean in UGA's Graduate School. Kudos for receiving this important grant award.  Read more about the program here.