The Grand Challenge Scholars Program (GCSP) in the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University hosted Dr. Jenna Carpenter on Friday, Sept. 29 at a seminar on how success in the GCSP translates to success in one’s field.
Carpenter is a highly regarded national figure within STEM higher education, and is chair of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenge Scholars Program. As chair she is charged with leading a steering committee, of which Dr. Nancy M. Amato, senior director for engineering honors and director of the Texas A&M GCSP, is a member. Carpenter ensures that the programs currently implemented at more than 40 engineering schools worldwide, with 122 more schools to follow, support the overall GCSP objective of “educating a new generation of engineers expressly equipped to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing society in the 21st century.”
Carpenter is also the founding dean of Campbell University’s School of Engineering, launched in 2016. Previously, Carpenter was a Wayne and Juanita Spinks Endowed Professor, an associate dean for undergraduate studies, and director of the Office for Women in Science and Engineering at Louisiana Tech University’s College of Engineering and Science.
At the seminar Carpenter spoke about the GCSP, its five main focus areas—research experience, interdisciplinary curriculum, entrepreneurship, global dimension and service learning—and its objective. Her main point at the seminar was to explain how success in the GCSP would equal success in a career.
The Texas A&M GCSP is a selective three-year program that aims to help students achieve in-depth understanding of technical areas, as well as experience in its focus areas.