The first cohort of Texas A&M University’s National Research Traineeship (NRT) program collaborated with national experts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) during training at the National Science Foundation’s inaugural NRT Annual Meeting at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.
The meeting brought together representatives of the first cohorts of 18 NSF-funded NRT projects that seek to revolutionize interdisciplinary training in graduate education. Led by experts in STEM training, the teams participated in a discussion to develop strategies to efficiently coordinate this national challenge.
The following day, Texas A&M’s team showcased its NRT project, Data-enabled Discovery and Design of Energy Materials (D3EM) at the Future STEM Leaders Workshop, held in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Raymundo Arróyave, principal investigator and an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Dr. Joseph Ross, co-principal investigator and a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, attended the event. Additionally, graduate students Luke Johnson (materials science and engineering), Emily Conant (physics and astronomy), Anish Patel (chemical engineering) and Erick Braham (chemistry) attended the event.
In the fall of 2015 Texas A&M received a five-year, $3 million grant from NSF for graduate training and research. The D3EM project will provide approximately 40 NRT fellowships over a period of five years to graduate students from six different departments –– materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, electrical and computer engineering and computer science, as well as physics and chemistry.
To learn more about D3EM, visit its website