Contact: Phil Hearn
About 40 minority science and engineering students from two Atlanta colleges are visiting Mississippi State University this week as part of a special program of scientific collaboration among the three institutions.
Some of the brightest and more talented students at Morehouse and Spelman colleges participate Thursday and Friday [April 22 and 23] in an MSU-hosted program called POWER--Promoting Opportunities Within Engineering and Physics in Research.
"We are trying to develop a feeder program to enhance graduate research opportunities," said MSU physics professor John Foley, who joined last year with Morehouse physics professor Willie Rockward to help launch the program.
"Morehouse and Spelman are historically black colleges that have established a rich tradition in producing excellent students in science and engineering," Foley added.
Participants are scheduled to attend research presentations in the College of Arts and Sciences' department of physics and astronomy, as well as various departments of the Bagley College of Engineering. They also will tour the Diagnostic Instrumentation and Analysis Laboratory, ERC (formerly called the Engineering Research Center) and Nissan's MSU-based Center for Auto Vehicular Studies.
"Students will be encouraged to seek information that will aid them in deciding their specific research interest," said MSU associate engineering dean Robert Taylor.
"Our goal is to develop relationships with some of the nation's best African-American science and engineering students and to recruit them for summer research programs and graduate school at MSU," Taylor said.
The annual visit also supports the efforts of MSU's Alliance for Graduate Education in Mississippi and IMAGE--Increasing Minority Access to Graduate Education. Both programs focus on increasing the number and quality of underrepresented minority graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
Morehouse College is the nation's largest private, liberal arts college for African-American men. Also private and liberal arts, Spelman College is a historically black institution for women.
For more information, contact John Foley at (662) 325-2918 or jtf1@ra.msstate.edu; or Robert Taylor at (662) 325-7184 or taylor@engr.msstate.edu.