Ken Vickers, Director, microEP Graduate Program vickers@uark 501 575-2875

1. Graduate Physics Education -Industrial StyleUniversity of ArkansasASEE Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New MexicoJune 24 – 28, 2001 Ken Vickers, Director, microEP Graduate Program vickers@uark.edu 501 575-2875 Greg Salamo, University Professor, Physics salamo@uark.edu 501 575-5931 Ronna Turner, Associate Director, ORME, Education rcturner@uark.edu 501 575-5387

2. Acknowledgments Department of Education Fund for Improvement of Secondary Education (FIPSE) National Science Foundation Partnership for Innovation (PFI) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Arkansas Science and Technology Authority University of Arkansas Graduate School

3. Graduate Physics Education -Industrial Style University of Arkansas • Introduction to Microelectronics-Photonics (microEP) • Overview • Why an experimental microEP graduate program • microEP program elements • Preliminary indications of success • Industry response to microEP • Current student distributions and Cohort 3 student background • Barriers to dissemination • Dissemination of microEP methods into Physics • Why an experimental FIPSE Physics graduate program • Key items in FIPSE proposal • FIPSE program elements • Resources provided by FIPSE grant • Time line for implementation • Needed Physics Faculty actions

4. University of Arkansas Graduate Program in Microelectronics-Photonics An Interdisciplinary Program between Engineering and Science Contact: Ken Vickers, Director Co-PI’s Greg Salamo, Len Schaper Phone: 501 575-2875/3175 Email: microEP@cavern.uark.edu Sponsors: NSF IGERT & EPSCoR Ark Science &Tech Auth. Degrees: MS/PhD microEP http://www.uark.edu/depts/microep Mission The educational objective of the microEP program is a graduate fully prepared to drive the advancement of the combination of microelectronics and photonics. A rigorous interdisciplinary graduate technical education, including soft skills training, will be used to accomplish this mission. New Tactics • Summer creativity • workshops • Interdisciplinary • curriculum • Entrepreneurial • methods seminars • Pseudo industrial work • group environment • Early research • internships • International • internships • Soft skills training and • practice

5. Why an experimental microEP Program • Case for action • Required knowledge content in degree always increasing • State-of-the-art advances often appear at degree boundary layers • Academic training emphasizes individual achievement • Business aspects of technology minimized in technical degrees • Industrial success requires individual and team excellence • Program response • Define flexible interdisciplinary degree for the boundary layer • Maintain vigorous technical content of curriculum • Add extra course for entrepreneurship of high tech research • Hire experienced industrial technical manager • Organize graduate program as industrial technical group • Hold each student accountable for all students’ academic success

6. Comparison of Industrial and Academic Research and Work Practices

7. Enhancement of Traditional Graduate Degrees through microEP Program Methods Traditional Departmental Education Supplemental microEP Elements • Technical Knowledge • Core classes in undergrad dept • Most electives in department • Few other technical electives • Technical Knowledge • Core of interdisciplinary classes • Applied technical electives • Business classes • Research Methods • Slow student initiated linkage to research prof • Professor’s group meetings • Research Methods • Design of Experiments class during summer • Quick assignment to research prof • Formal research project plan • Team Skills • Project teams in classes • Team Skills • Pseudo-industry engineering group • Weekly operations management seminars • Invention and innovation • Individual mentoring within research group • Invention and Innovation • Summer inventiveness workshops • Personality and learning methods mapping • Intro summer camp for all microEP students Results in • Broadened technical knowledge • Rapid acclimation to first job • Early leadership roles • Earlier significant personal success Sound technical graduate degree

8. Distribution of Students (prior degree versus professor’s department)

9. Preliminary indications of microEP methods’ impact on student creativity Number of students participating in non-academic evaluations Changes in performance (year 1 to year 2) versus program element

10. Careers of microEP Cohort 1 Graduates Candita Meek BS EE/MS microEP Texas Instruments Product Eng Jorge Vega BS EE/MS microEP Motorola, Device Eng Muhammad Anser BS Physics/MS microEP Amer. Microsystems, Wafer Fab Eng Alfred Estevez BS Physics/MS microEP Texas Instruments, DLP Product Eng Brian Hart BS Physics/MS microEP Corning, Optical Design Eng Barry James BS Math/MS microEP Texas Instruments, Yield Engineer Shi Yan BS EE/MS microEP Intel, IC Design Systems Eng Roger Owings BS EE/MS microEP Entergy Corp, Systems Eng Wee Lee Ng BS ChE/MS microEP Texas Instruments, IC Packaging Eng Yue Fan BS Mat Sci/MS microEP Intel, IC Design Systems Eng Clayton Workman BS EE/MS microEP PhD microEP student • Rick Wise, Texas Instruments Fellow • “This is the type of training that we need in Ph.D. graduates for them to be immediately successful in our advanced development facilities.”

11. Industry Response to microEP Program • Dennis Andrucyk, Chief Technologist, NASA Goddard • “If all graduate programs were like microEP, I could eliminate my first year new hire mentoring program.” • Mike Fox, Center for Studies in Creativity, Buffalo State College • “I think that the cohort-based workgroup concept has been a significant contributing factor to the creative behaviors I have observed in the Microelectronics-Photonics students.” • Barry Dill, Motorola, Device Engineering Manager • “I had no idea that an educational program like this existed that was so well matched to our technical and teamwork needs for device and process integration engineers.”

12. microEP Program Implementation • Barriers to success of program educational emphases • Student academic metrics based on individual performance • Graduate research required to be individual effort • Faculty reward and recognition based on individual performance • Resources required for “extra” industrial experience are high • Requirements to overcome barriers • University-level administrators support general concepts • Program manager’s passionate belief in the program need • Program manager assigned only to program during startup phase • Program manager practiced in industrial teamwork atmosphere • Financial seed money support is critical • Customer feedback (industry) must be continuous

13. Why an experimental FIPSE Physics Program FIPSE Next Generation Physics Graduate Student FIPSE Next Generation Physics Graduate Student • Case for action • Required knowledge content in degree always increasing • State-of-the-art advances often appear at degree boundary layers • Academic training emphasizes individual achievement • Business aspects of technology minimized in technical degrees • Industrial success requires individual and team excellence • Program response • Define flexible interdisciplinary degree for the boundary layer • Maintain vigorous technical content of curriculum • Add extra course for entrepreneurship of high tech research • Add new courses for high tech device definition and demonstration • Hire experienced industrial technical manager • Organize graduate program as industrial technical group • Hold each student accountable for all students’ academic success

14. Experimental Physics Graduate Degree Elements in FIPSE FIPSE Next Generation Physics Graduate Student • Student cohort methodology • All entering students in sum/fall/spring sequence form a cohort • Cohort activities designed to form group identity • Advanced device design class (PHYS 5823) • Class to be created and taught by Ron Foster • Teams examine current research for device applications • Teams perform competitive analysis on existing devices • Class output is consensus on best demonstration device • Advanced device commercialization class (PHYS 5833) • Class to be created and taught by Greg Salamo • Teams build, characterize, and market prototype devices • Utilization of commercial training seminars • Two day summer camp for FIPSE physics students

15. Enhancement of Traditional Graduate Degrees through microEP Program Methods Traditional Departmental Education Supplemental microEP Elements • Technical Knowledge • Core classes deepen physics knowledge • Most electives in department • Few other technical electives • Technical Knowledge • Two new classes to define and build devices • Applied technical electives • Business classes • Research Methods • Slow student initiated linkage to research prof • Professor’s group meetings • Research Methods • Design of Experiments class during summer • Quick assignment to research prof • Formal research project plan • Team Skills • Project teams in classes • Team Skills • Pseudo-industry engineering group • Weekly operations management seminars • Invention and innovation • Individual mentoring within research group • Invention and Innovation • Summer inventiveness workshops • Personality and learning methods mapping • Intro summer camp for all microEP students Results in • Broadened technical knowledge • Rapid acclimation to first job • Early leadership roles • Earlier significant personal success Sound technical graduate degree

16. FIPSE Next Generation Physics Graduate Student Resources Supplied by FIPSE Grant • Replacement salary for Greg Salamo and Ken Vickers • Combined with NSF Partnership for Innovation salary budget • Hires technology development industrialist to support microEP • Hires post-doc in Salamo research group for Physics for Architects • Hires accountant/clerical person for microEP admin offload • Results in Salamo/Vickers availability for class development • Results in Vickers availability for Physics cohort startup • Consultant and contract budget • Provides summer camp industrial seminar budget • Materials and supplies budget • Provides device prototyping budget • Travel and conference • Two conferences per year travel budget

17. Needed Physics Faculty Actions During Three Year FIPSE Grant FIPSE Next Generation Physics Graduate Student • Commitment from faculty • General commitment to support FIPSE program elements • All Physics grad students after 6/1/01 placed in FIPSE Cohorts • Detailed student activities under FIPSE program elements • All Physics grad students participate in evaluation instruments • Cohort students attend weekly operations methods seminar • Cohort students attend two-day summer camp • Matrix supervision of cohort students (cohort leader and major prof) • Cohort students meet FIPSE documentation requirements • Semester update degree plan (merge with Physics SOP) • Semester update research document (merge with Physics SOP) • Monthly update research plan (Microsoft Project)

18. FIPSE Next Generation Physics Graduate Student Conclusions • Physics Department Status • New Physics grad students are now entering Physics Cohort 1 • Legacy Physics grad students voluntarily participate in seminars • Faculty acceptance is cautious and guarded at this time • Physics Grad Student Responses • Not known at this time • Central Administration Comments • Benevolent ignorance from College Administration • Enthusiastic support from Graduate School • Enthusiastic support from Chancellor’s office • The educational concepts will successfully migrate to Physics