Is there a plan B?

Even though there is snow on the ground, you might want to start thinking about what you’ll be doing in the summer.  Well, if you are planning to be chief tater tot fry cook at your local Sonic, then you’ve got plenty of time.  But if you’d like to get paid to do cutting edge research in math, physics, biology, engineering, computer science, …., then now is the time to get moving.

There are literally hundreds of programs around the country.  We’ve already mentioned a few:  like this one. The biggest bunch are the REUs (Research Experience for Undergraduates).  These are programs funded by the National Science Foundation (aka the government).

To give you an idea, here are the places which had an REU in 2009:

P.S. There are ones in Hawaii and the Arctic, too!

The right question to ask yourself is “How to I get one of these sweet gigs?”  The answer is simple.  Follow these easy steps:

• Go to the OU Math Department’s page on REUs. This has lots of good informaton, including some excellent advice on how to go about applying.
• Go to the NSF master list of REUs for 2010.  You can search for REUs by location and area of research.  It also provides links to the programs so you can learn more details about what exactly they will be doing for research.
• Important! There is lots of interesting REUs beyond math.  It is well worth applying to other REUs if they look interesting (your intrepid correspondent did a mechanical engineering REU!).
• There are also other REU-type programs which are not on this list.  The OU webpage lists several and no doubt you can google others.
• Don’t delay! Although the deadlines are still weeks away, it takes quite awhile to get everything put together and you don’t want to rush it.  Plus, you usually need letters of recommendation from professors and nothing annoys letter writers like short deadlines (and you don’t want annoyed recommendation writers!)

QM Careers will re-open after the Christmas break on Monday the 4th of January. If in the meantime you find yourself with some spare time over the holiday, or if thinking about your career is one of your new year’s resolutions, you might want to have a look at http://icould.com/ for some ideas and inspiration.

It is a collection of videos from people in a whole range of different careers, talking about how they chose that path and what they like about their jobs. The site covers graduate and non-graduate level careers and it’s a great way of getting insider awareness of particular occupations. It is also good to hear about how other people have found work that suits them.

Alumna Patti Kuhn (BFA 2000) has worked at the Washington, DC, office of The Louis Berger Group, Inc., for the past three years.  While in DC earlier this week, I met with her to chat about her experiences as an architectural historian in the Cultural Resources division of one of the largest environmental engineering firms in the country.  She discusses projects that she’s involved in, including the history of the naval base at Pearl Harbor and the cultural landscape of 15,000-acre Prince William Forest Park.

Listen to the interview.

Are you an end of the year student or a recent graduate? Do you feel you have barriers to access to employment?

Reach is an online community designed for University of London students who feel they face barriers to reaching their potential. These may include social background, disability, age, gender and sexual orientation – it all depends on the individual and the career they are aiming for. Visit the site here: http://reach.thecareersgroup.co.uk/

NIST Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

Deadline: February 16, 2010

http://www.surf.nist.gov/app.htm

Synopsis

The SURF program is an opportunity for undergraduates to spend part of their summer working elbow to elbow with researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), one the world’s leading research organizations and home to three Nobel Prize winners, Gain Valuable hands-on experience, work with cutting-edge technology, and sample the Washington, D.C. area. The SURF program is for students majoring in science, mathematics, and engineering. Note that applications for participation in the SURF program are only accepted from colleges or universities, and not from individual students. Students can participate in any one of the nine NIST laboratories:

·         Building and Fire Research

·         Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology

·         Chemical Science and Technology

·         Electronics and Electrical Engineering

·         Information Technology

·         Manufacturing Engineering

·         Materials Science & Engineering

·         NIST Center for Neutron Research

·         Physics

To begin a proposal for this program, fill out the Infosheet at http://research.ou.edu/proposal/infosheet/infotype/InfoMain_2008.asp

Search for additional funding opportunities at http://fundingopps2.cos.com

Contact Research Information Services at 325-5868

Contact Proposal Services at 325-3901

Contact Research Administration at 325-4757

Henry Neeman, the director of the OU supercomputer facility, has passed along the following great opportunity for those of you with a background in engineering:

Please see the announcement below for an exciting opportunity
for undergraduate engineering students.

Please reply directly to Susan Brown (stbrown@hawaii.edu).

Henry

>———- Forwarded message ———-
>Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 14:12:47 -0800
>From: Susan T Brown <stbrown@hawaii.edu>
>To: cascmem@casc.org
>Subject: [Cascmem] HARP – HPC Applications in engineering REU Program,
>    fluid dynamics
>
>We are looking for undergraduate engineering students with an
>interest in CFD that would like to spend the summer in Hawai’i,
>learning to model cutting edge problems with Fluent on High
>Performance Computing Clusters.  Apply at
>
>  http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/reu
>
>now for this competitive program — generous stipend, lodging,
>and travel provided.  Must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
>You can duplicate the trifold at that website freely.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Susan Brown, Ph.D.
>Adjunct Professor, College of Engineering
>University of Hawai‘i, M�noa
>Email: stbrown@hawaii.edu
>Ph: 808-375-6821
>Fax: 808-236-7116

You might want to skip the three hour tour.

]]> http://architecturalhistoryscad.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/robin-williams-and-alumnus-nathan-walker-ma-2006-attend-sah-board-of-directors-meeting/ Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:21:40 +0000 rwilliams http://architecturalhistoryscad.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/robin-williams-and-alumnus-nathan-walker-ma-2006-attend-sah-board-of-directors-meeting/

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the semi-annual meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians Board of Directors held in Chicago, where the SAH is based.  This is my third year on the board, which has provided me with tremendous insight into the workings of this professional organization and a sense of its ambitions and goals for future growth.  Defining the strategic direction of the Society was the focus of this meeting.  I’m very excited about the potential growth of the society beyond its traditionally academic research focus to embrace more public outreach in such areas as K-12 education, non-academic professionals, and more international representation.  One of our alumni, Nathan Walker (MA 2006), also attended in an ex-officio (i.e. non-voting) capacity because of his role as the Society’s Listserv Moderator.  He proved himself a worthy contributor in the company of many highly ranked and esteemed academics.  He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Architectural History at Brown University.  While in Chicago, the board met for two receptions at the SAH headquarters at the Charnley-Persky House, designed by Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Architectural History students Bradley Allen, Kristin Rourke, Brittany Bryant, Bridgit Byrne, Ruben Acosta and Bethany Zedalis meet with Dr. Richard Cloues

Half a dozen Architectural History students, along with department chair Dr. Robin Williams, met with Dr. Richard Cloues, the Deputy Historic Preservation Officer for the State of Georgia, yesterday for an informal interview to learn about Dr. Cloues’ experiences as an architectural historian.  Trained with a Ph.D. in Architectural History from Cornell University, he has worked at the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) since 1978.  A focus of his work there has been the National Register of Historic Places, which he now directs statewide.

Listen to the Interview.

Dr. Roger Bey, a professor of finance at the University of Tulsa, will be talking in the Math Club this

Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 5pm in PHSC 1105.

Notice the unusual day!

Dr. Bey will be talking about careers in the finance industry for math and science majors.  As Dr. Bey says:

Math, engineering, computer science, and science majors (physics, chemistry, geology, etc) are excellent candidates for finance careers.  The combination of their strong analytical skills and problem solving ability make these students extremely well qualified for our MS in Finance program.  Our new MSF/MS in Applied Mathematics program should appeal to some of your students.  Students earn two degrees:  a MS in Finance and a MS in Applied Mathematics. Our experience with students who already had a MS in Math and then earned the MS in Finance degree is that they are sought after in industry.  Industry likes their analytical training and problem solving skills.  Approximately, 25% of our students have undergraduate degrees in mathematics.

–Dr. Roger Bey

If you are thinking about a career which uses math and are wondering what you can do besides teach, then this is an excellent opportunity to learn about an interesting option.

As always, there will be Free Pizza!

To see the flyer, click here. To learn more about U of Tulsa’s program, go here.

As cnn.com reported, there are a wide variety of high paying jobs for “math wizzes” (if you want to make your math professor laugh out loud, tell them that cnn.com reported that average annual salary for a mathematician is $94,960.  We don’t know where they got that number, but the majority of professors are well below that number!  Although there are notable outliers…).

One job they failed to mention was Secret Agent!

What?!?  you say.

Well, Adrienne Jablonski has passed along the following job information:

The following employer information sessions will be held over the next week.

·         Tuesday, Oct. 27: State Farm Insurance, 1-2pm, Kaufman 232, Free Pizza

·         Tuesday, Oct. 27: The Buckle, 4-5pm and 6-7pm, OMU Traditions Room, 2nd floor

·         Monday, Nov. 2: CIA, 1-2pm, Kaufman 232, Free Pizza

·         Tuesday, Nov. 3: CIA, 12-1 and 5-6pm, OMU Regents Room, 3rd floor

Please pass this message on to your students.

Best regards,
Adrienne Jablonski

Description:
A Beauty Therapist provides facial and body care treatments including massage and electrolysis (the application of an electric current to hair-roots).
 
Salary Range:
$40,000 to 60,000

My career choice in beauty therapy is listed and the demand slowly increases on a yearly basis.

Undergraduate Architectural History major, Bradley Allen, served as one of six panelists invited to speak at the 3^rd Annual School of the Building Arts Sophomore Career Networking Social held Thursday night, Oct. 22, at the Pei Ling Chan Gallery.  Bradley had been invited following the posting to YouTube of his mini-documentary that he made of his summer internship.

The six student panelists included three interior designers, a historic preservationist, an architect, and Bradley representing architectural history.  They were on hand to discuss their internship experiences, and give positive insight to the internship process.  Students also had the opportunity to ask questions, talk to advisors from career services, and of course network with fellow classmates.

Valuable issues concerning the internship process were discussed including: lodging, salary, basic job requirements, location, personal obstacles faced, results and opportunities of employment that may have came out of the experience. Many attended the event, including students from other SCAD departments outside the School of the Building Arts.

The Careers Group has created a series of podcasts and videocasts. They cover diverse topics from difficult interview questions to networking to writing a CV.

On top of that there are recordings from workshops that we have run. This includes videocasts of the talks given by the speakers on the Arts Administration Course.

There are also recordings from he following workshops: Careers in Charity, Graduate Entry into Medicine: Entrance Exams and many more.

To watch/listen to these recordings please go to: http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/output/Page795.asp

Happy viewing!

As a student getting their cosmetology degree, you would be learning about hair, makeup, nail and skin care in order to help others look their best.  This is a great career to look into if you are interested in fashion and beauty.  There steps to take before becoming a cosmetologist.

Perspective cosmetologists are required to receive their associate of cosmetology degree which gives students training in all areas of a salon.  They will obtain skills such as hair cutting/dressing, how to use and mix chemicals, use electrolysis equipment correctly, and provide healthy manicures and pedicures.  It will also give students the foundation to begin their own business if desired.  There are areas which students are allowed to specialize in.  The average salary earnings of a regular cosmologist holding an associate’s degree in cosmetology ranges from $20,000 – $30,000. 

After getting your cosmetology degree and as you gain more experience, there are advancement opportunities.  You are able to start your own business, become a sales representative or image consultant or you could teach in barber or cosmetology schools. 

On a typical day, your duties would include cutting, trimming, bleaching, dying or styling hair and hair pieces.  You would also massage and treat scalps for hygienic and remedial purposes and recommend and apply cosmetics and lotions to clients to enhance and restore skin appearance.  There are also duties such as cleaning and polishing fingernails and toenails as well as shaping eyebrows, eyelashes and removing unwanted facial hairs.

Thinking about teaching, or just not sure what you’d like to do after graduate?  Then you should check out Teach for America.  It’s a program which lets you teach for two years at a school which serves students who don’t have the best possible educational opportunities.  And you can imagine that people who can teach math and science are in high demand!

To learn more, go to the Teach for America informational session on

Tuesday, Oct. 13th at 6 p.m.

It will be in in Adams Hall room 150.  You can RSVP to Adrienne Jablonski (her email is on the flyer linked below).

And, of course, there will be Pizza!

For details, you can also check the flyer.

There were two really positive articles today in the Independent and Mirror both drawing attention to the fact that companies are beginning to recruit more people onto their graduate schemes.

The title of the article in the Independent announces Graduate Job Market Bounces Back the article mentions that there has been a 7% rise in graduate jobs, however it is still early days; green root as opposed to green shoots.

The article in the mirror is entitled: Jobs! There are still great jobs up for grabs the article discusses how top employers have already started to accept applications for students wishing to start a graduate scheme in 2010. It encourages students to apply early to ensure they don’t miss the deadline. It also provides some useful job application and interview tips.

This is promising news for everyone and not just recent graduates. It implies that organisations are thinking about the long term future of their company and furthermore starting to invest in it. It’s great news that businesses are planning beyond the recession and still recruiting.

Lets hope these “green roots” start to turn into shoots soon!