Project Connect
What is Project Connect?
Project Connect, will bring an exceptional group of undergraduate and first-year graduate students to the IEEE conference on a travel grant provided by NSF and IEEE. Students from underrepresented groups will be carefully selected based on their academic credentials and career goals, through a competitive application process.
The long-term goal of this program is to attract a diverse pool of highly motivated students to the field of microwave engineering. The technical planning committee for IMS recognizes that the future of this field depends on attracting the best and brightest from the next generation of increasingly diverse students possessing great aptitude for highly technical and innovative development.
The program is designed to create an opportunity for students to interact with practicing engineers, to learn about the exciting new technologies being developed today, and to introduce students to the variety of careers in the area of microwave engineering.
Project Connect Conference Agenda:
The program will host students at the IMS conference for three days. Specific agenda plans include: (1) Panel sessions where speakers from industry, government and academia will share their experiences in microwave engineering with an emphasis on leveraging collaboration and current state of the art to pursue novel and innovative solutions to challenging problems; (2) A session for IMS Project Connect participants to learn about applying to graduate school and writing effective resumes; (3) Exploring the conference using the Connect Monopoly™ workbook to obtain exciting networking, educational, and industrial experiences of IMS2019; (4) IMS Connect participants will share their experience with a “Through My Eyes” multimedia presentation at the program wrap-up meeting.
Participant Selection Criteria:
Undergraduate students and first-year graduate students in engineering or a closely related discipline (e.g. math, physics, etc.). Candidates should be members of under-represented groups in engineering. For example, in the United States these groups include women, American Indian/Native, Native Alaskan, Native Hawaiian, African American/Black and Hispanic American/Latino.
- Participants should be over the age of 18 by the start of IMS2019, 2 June 2019
- Candidates will be selected based on their academic credentials, a recommendation letter, and their career ambitions as expressed in an application video. The selection committee is comprised of both academic and industry professionals.
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How to Apply:
Application Process:
In addition, you will need to submit the following information to the Project Connect Selection Committee at imsprojectconnect@gmail.com:
1. An unofficial copy of your transcript.
2. Graduate students are required to provide a letter of reference from a faculty member, preferably the student’s advisor. Undergraduate students are required to provide a le er of reference from a person that is familiar with the student’s academic or technical background; this could be a faculty member, college advisor, manager from an industry internship, college program coordinator, etc.
3. A link to an application video that is short (roughly 2-3 minutes).
4. The link can be included in the email application. The video should not be sent – only the link; the video can be posted on an appropriate site of the applicants choosing, such as Facebook, Youtube, etc.
The video should be a self-documentary that describes your career goals and background. Your video should also explain why you are a good candidate for Project Connect and how attending the International Microwave Symposium will benefit your educational and career plans.
Please send only the link to your video (e.g. on YouTube) - do not send the video itself.
There are a limited number of students that will be accepted into the program, and students are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. The first submission deadline is 15 April 2019. This deadline may be extended depending on the number of applications that are received. Please send application materials to:
A video has been prepared by a former Project Connect participant to help you develop a strong video for your application. See Video Now!
