John McNeill, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Jeanine Plummer, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering

“Lehr und Kunst” Theory and Practice OR Someday You’ll Thank Us

Failure It’s OK Honesty Ethical behavior is the most important thing Mentors Seek out people to help you meet your goals These apply both at WPI and in the future!

When Professor McNeill was in college…

What you like and don’t like What you excel at, and what you can learn to excel at How to be resilient How to appreciate success How to ask for – and receive – help Thomas Edison purportedly took 1,000 tries before successful light bulb prototype. “How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?” a reporter asked. “I didn’t fail 1,000 times,” Edison responded. “The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”

At WPI It’s OK to try something new (NR grade) In the Future Easy problems are solved already Solve difficult problems by learning from “failure” Failure is not the opposite of success Find your motivation and run with it

Honest Data Dishonest Data Paper published w/ awesome looking data Integrity intact Paper rejected this time  Guilt; lack of integrity Possible discovery Successful, Full Professor Much Prettier! That blip must have been a fluke, right???

Nature retracted two controversial papers on stem cells Over 5 month period: Errors found Attempts to replicate experiments failed Lead author found guilty of misconduct Center where lead author worked was threatened with dismantlement

Be impeccable with your word Your words have power – use them for good Don’t take anything personally Other people do things for their own reasons Don’t make assumptions Don’t project your motives / beliefs onto others Always do your best Forgive yourself for your mistakes, learn, move on Don Miguel Ruiz, "The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book)"

At WPI Ethical behavior: Inform yourself & ask for help It is.. a matter of great and mutual concern to all members of the WPI community that a concerted effort be made to maintain high standards of integrity, both to protect the value of the educational process in which we are engaged and to maintain the credibility of the institution. Excerpted from the National Society of Professional Engineers In Your Life Be proud of your choices Build successful relationships In Your Profession Find standards for your field & ask for help

When Professor Plummer was a senior in college…

At WPI: Faculty and Staff We’re here to help you succeed It’s part of our job We like mentoring students (most of us) Not just academic advising! More than just choosing course / major Building professional relationships

General Give knowledge and life experiences Listen and advise Inspire and encourage Academically Help you set goals and plan your education Identify academic resources Professionally Advise on careers, professional development, culture Help networking and meeting people Help with your résumé, interviewing skills, etc. And don’t forget, we are simply HERE for you

Letter of Recommendation From a “generic” Professor No, I’ve never really written this letter, but you get the point…

A letter that can say He/She was a leader in the designing… He/She provided thorough critical analysis of… His/Her insights into … were instrumental to the progress of the project He/She shows great maturity in challenging situations such as…. Etc. Specific Descriptive Personal

Failure Is an option! As long as you use it for positive change Honesty Ethical behavior is the most important thing Mentors Seek out people to help you meet your goals These principles will lead you to: Find your passion Achieve your goals and Be proud of your accomplishments