UT to host 1,000 scientists, grad students at NSF conference
BYLINE: DARREN DUNLAP dunlapd@knews.com
The University of Tennessee next month will host about 1,000 scientists and graduate students who will present some of the latest advances in civil, mechanical and industrial engineering, as well as manufacturing, at a National Science Foundation conference in Knoxville.
Gov. Phil Bredesen will address the crowd at the Knoxville Convention Center during the opening session of the conference, scheduled for Jan. 7-10.
It's a "grantees' conference," where researchers are invited to come and talk about the work they're doing with their NSF awards, said Lee Riedinger, a UT physics professor and co-chair of the conference.
The NSF conference, sponsored by its Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation,
focuses on research and education across the division's programs.
The division's research also examines reduction of risks induced by earthquakes and other natural and technological hazards.
Scientists presenting at the conference come from universities, government and industry.
"They're from across the country," said George Hazelrigg, deputy division director of CMMI.
While some will show their work in the form of a display, or poster presentation, a small group will be asked to talk about their work, according to Hazelrigg.
As of Thursday, 570 NSF grantees and 239 students were registered for the conference. NSF officials anticipate that an additional 200 people will register on site.
About half of those registered for the conference have also signed on for technical tours of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, UT, the Y-12 National Security Complex and Siemens Medical Solutions' Molecular Imaging, said Riedinger.
The exposure is good for national laboratories looking to recruit graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Riedinger said.
"It's a very competitive market these days" for those graduates, he said.
Conference activities include 500 poster presentations and plenary and breakout sessions on funding opportunities and proposal writing by NSF directors.
Some sessions aim to help students navigate their graduate engineering education or learn what to expect once they graduate, for instance.
"We have a special emphasis on students," said Hazelrigg. "We try to involve them in research, and they're involved now at many levels."