Faculty of Engineering Graduate Research Symposium organizing committee members Atefeh Kordzadeh, Mohsen Mohammadijoo, Ahmad Al-Dabbagh and Nisarg Tripathi (absent: Sourayon Chanda).
Edmonton-A spring research symposium will provide engineering graduate students with professional development opportunities and a chance to present their research and learn about projects underway across the Faculty of Engineering.
And this year's Faculty of Engineering Graduate Research Symposium is expanding to include research presentations from scholars outside of the faculty - and even from other universities.
"It's interdisciplinary and it's educational. People get to see different research that's being done across the faculty and we've opened submission to people from other faculties and universities," said Ahmad Al-Dabbagh, a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering who's leading the symposium's organizing committee.
The idea to invite participation from beyond the faculty's borders is actually to be more reflective of the fact that engineering graduate students and their professors have collaborators across campus and around the world. "Those who we are inviting to submit abstracts should have connections to the Faculty of Engineering," said Al-Dabbagh, adding that invitations have been sent to research collaborators in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and to graduate student associations at the Universities of Calgary and Saskatchewan.
Committee member Atefeh Kordzadeh says it's important to include partners outside of the faculty. Kordzadeh is working towards a PhD in biomedical engineering and has supervisors in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Biomedical Engineering-the latter department is shared administratively between the Faculty of Engineering and the faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
"Biomedical engineering has many different disciplines within it," she said, "like electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and medicine. For me, including these partners in research is important."
Running June 15 - 16, the symposium also offers professional development workshops, with topics ranging from job-finding skills to information immigration information for international students. There are also oral and poster presentations of research and panel discussions.
One keynote speaker has already been confirmed: professor emeritus Jacob Masliyah, an internationally respected oil sands researcher, will deliver one keynote address. Others will be announced as bookings are finalized.
A Research Elevator Pitch competition, introduced to the symposium last year, will once again be held.
A call for research submissions is opened until April 13.
For more information on the symposium and abstract submissions, visit the FEGRS website.