Talks#

In addition to standard research talks, I also speak on leadership topics though my service activities.

REU Application Workshop

Context I completed a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in summer 2007 and have hosted three packed application workshops as a graduate student.  This workshop is catered to students who have an interest in doing research and a general idea of what research is.  This workshop focuses on the components of an application and how to find an appropriate REU site and faculty mentor.  It has typically been hosted with assistance of a number of students who have completed REUs to provide individual feedback on draft application materials, but could be done in a peer review format, or without the working session.

Sample Abstract A research experience for undergraduates can be a great way to spend a summer.  These paid programs typically provide housing and a stipend while exposing you to what life as a graduate researcher is like and building technical skills. Getting into a program can be competitive though.  In this workshop we’ll break down what each component of a typical application really means, and provide best practices for preparing your own application.  We will give dos & don’ts through examples and help give you the right questions to answer to make a strong application.  We will also cover how to find a good REU site- just finding the right research project can be challenging before your have had research experience.

Presented Northeastern University, Student Research Engagement Committee (targeted to 1st year students) Jan 2013, November 2013, November 2014

Intro to LaTeX

This is a hands-on workshop I have delivered on multiple occasions.  In this workshop, I provide an introduction and motivation for why \(latex LaTeX\) is an important tool to know for engineering students and especially those interested in research.  Then we work through the components of a \(latex LaTeX\) project using a sample physics lab report as an example to expose a number of features.  This is a hands-on workshop, so participants must have computers with internet access in order to reach the tutorial materials and practice along the way.  All tutorial activities take place within the browser, leveraging a cloud-based {% raw %}\(\LaTeX\) {% endraw %}compiler and editing environment, so an ongoing internet connection is required for the duration of the workshop.   This workshop is best for 90 minute blocks, but can be shortened or lengthened.  It is easiest for people with some programming experience, any language so as to be familiar with core programming concepts (editor, compiler, debugging, etc) but does not require any \(latex LaTeX\) experience or specific language experience.

Sample Abstract

Have you ever struggled to put together a lab report, fighting the equation editor in your word processor every step of the way?  Are you on the way to your first technical publication, but having trouble getting the template for Word to cooperate?  Are you planning to go to graduate school and looking for a pain-free way to manage all of your writing?  If yes to any of these, \(latex LaTeX\) is the tool for you. \(latex LaTeX\) is a programming language it can do everything a standard language can, but it’s designed for producing beautiful documents.  When you compile, the result is a well formatted, consistent pdf, with all the features you could want.  In this tutorial, we’ll start from zero, and get you up to speed with \(latex LaTeX\) basics and you’ll leave with a number of resources to keep working on your own and become a master of well formatted documents.  If you’re not a programmer, don’t worry, \(latex LaTeX\) is simple to learn and can be used for just basics or to create documents as complex as you want.

Empowering AA Women in STEM with Twitter Chats

This session will highlight how to use Twitter as a platform to explore prime opportunities with a unique reflective format based on experiences of the NSBE Empowering African American Women in STEM Task Force. According to the Pew Internet Research Project, 40% of the African-American female population who use social networking sites, use on Twitter. As a result, to build awareness for the initiative and generate momentum, the task force hosted several Twitter chats. While a Twitter chat is largely an unstructured conversation, the open social nature produces a better response than a survey. Participants will leave with a guide to facilitate their own Twitter chats and a better perspective on how to use digital communities in order to facilitate a discussion in real-time. By encouraging engagement, we hope to demonstrate the livelihood of the community of Minority women in STEM.