Pursuing Graduate School and Computer Science Research Career University of North Carolina Friday November 22, 2002

Nancy Amato –Associate Professor, Texas A&M –Ph.D. from U. Illinois at Urbana- Champaign –Robotics, computational geometry, parallel and distributed computing Introductions

Maria Ebling –IBM Watson Research Lab –Ph.D. from CMU –File systems, mobile computing, OS Introductions

Michele Clark Weigle –graduate student at UNC, Ph.D. expected in May 2003 –Graduated from University of Louisiana at Monroe (formerly NLU) –Fellowships & Research Assistantship –Networking Introductions

Kelly Ward –3rd year grad student at UNC –Graduated from Trinity College –Research Assistantship (teaching assistantship during the first year) –Physically-based Modeling, computer graphics Introductions

Angela Dalton –1 st year Ph.D. student at Duke –B.S. in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech –Worked at IBM RTP before returning to grad school –OS, Energy management

Ming Lin, moderator –Associate Professor, UNC –Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley –3D graphics for virtual environments, physically based modeling, robotics, applied computational geometry Introductions

Some Questions Why did you go to grad school? How do you get good letters of recommendations? What excites you about your research/career choice? How is the grad school experience different from the undergrad experience? What is it really about? Myths and Surprises about grad school. How to prepare? Finding out if you like research. Advice on applying. Ph.D. or MS.? Funding: Teaching- vs. Research- assistantship. How and where to apply for fellowships?

More Questions Biggest challenges? How to handle problems? Tips for staying in grad school when it gets hard. How did you choose your research advisor? What kind of support do you expect from your advisor? What does your advisor expect from you? How did you decide on your research interests and specific topic (dissertation research) area(s)? What are some career options in computing? Academia vs. industry; research vs. development. Any tips on applying for jobs and interview?

Resources Graduate School Information brochure Advice for undergraduates considering graduate school: How to succeed in graduate school: Choosing a ph.d. program in computer science

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