Summer scholars sizzled in CECS
ANU has long recognised the benefits of offering Summer Research Scholarships to outstanding 3rd and 4th Year undergraduate students aspiring to postgraduate study. In the mid 1990s the Research School of Information Sciences & Engineering (RSISE) made it a key objective to fund at least 10 summer scholars a year, and to provide them with a substantial research opportunity with world-class supervision.
by Heather McEwen, Marketing Manager
The ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science continues this tradition and in the summer of 2006/2007 welcomed thirty-seven scholars from Australia and New Zealand. Thirty-one academic staff and PhD students from four Departments supervised the summer scholars who were offered a staggering array of 86 research projects to choose from.In addition to scholarship funding from the College and NICTA, there is a substantial in-kind commitment from administrators and technical staff who look after other student support.
What do researchers get out of this? Why fit this in amongst all the other demands made of academics?
Professor Brian Anderson, as founding Director of RSISE, led the way for increased support for the summer scholar program. Now Distinguished Professor in RSISE following his appointment as interim CEO and then Chief Scientist of NICTA, Professor Anderson sees great advantages for his own PhD students.
"Besides advancing projects more quickly by having a larger team, I think these projects offer great scope for my graduate students to start to acquire research supervision skills. I am used to giving my students a lot of responsibility, in that they act as the first point of contact with the summer scholar, and assist in defining the project in the first place."
For others like Dr Raj Gore, a logician in the Computer Sciences Laboratory, the summer research scholar program acts as a catalyst for building bridges with students in other closely related disciplines like mathematics.
"I want to convince maths students that the interactive theorem proving tools that we build could be useful to them in their daily activities as mathematicians. Logic originally started by promising mathematicians that all maths could be formalised using logic, but we could not deliver in the early part of the 20th Century. We can now, and the more mathematicians that know that, the better for research and education."
Tailoring individual student and academic interests is another satisfying way for academics to become involved in research that won't necessarily add to their own research, but which challenges both student and supervisor.
"For me it's fun," says Professor Tom Gedeon in the Department of Computer Science. "The chance to do research with a student which is driven by their interests alone is great. They get to choose the balance between pure research and development, and this gives them a taste of what its like as a researcher."
Dr Zbignieuw Stachurski, Director of the Centre for the Science & Engineering of Materials says that in addition to building networks with fellow scholars and supervisors, the summer scholar program gives students an insight into the collaboration needed to make progress in research.
"Tan Li Kim worked with me on Electroactive Polymers. To carry out the project we made contacts with Professor Richard Welberry of the Research School of Chemistry to use his x-ray equipment, and Dr Colleen McMillan of CSIRO who provided special cellulose specimens to study."
And what about the summer scholars? Why spend the summer break grappling with research problems instead of holidaying with family or lying on the beach with friends?
For Jeff Thompson, a 3rd Year Bachelor of Software Engineering student it was to find out whether a career in research was a viable option. He worked with Dr Alistair Rendell and Warren Armstrong on a project called 'Intelligent Run-Time Environments for Scientific Computing'.
"I've found the program to be a wonderful experience. Not only has it given me something to do during the summer it has also helped flesh out my view of what academia is all about. Working on a fascinating project with such high caliber academics, which was a bit intimidating at first, has given me my answer. A clear yes!" he says.
Kit Rajendran, a 4th Year Telecommunications Engineering student at RMIT University, feels she benefited most from the experience of real time research. Her project was, "Use of Beam-forming in a multi-user OFDMA system".
"Doing this 10 week program helped me to improve my knowledge in an unfamiliar field of engineering, and the experience also increased my confidence to work independently, and to improve my inter-personal, communication, and time management skills. Of course the topic was challenging as I had no previous background knowledge at first, but in the end it was all worth it. I really enjoyed this program and it gets a definite 'thumbs up' from me."
There must be downsides, surely?
"We try to get the socialising, networking, study balance right," says Dr Jochen Trumpf who is the Graduate Program Coordinator in the College.
"It is hard work for everyone concerned, but above all it is enjoyable, and we find that it is an effective way of encouraging undergraduate students to consider postgraduate study. For ANU and NICTA it is another pipeline to feed the need for highly skilled researchers in industry and academia," he said.
"As long as we have the funds, willing and supportive staff, keen summer scholars, and commitment from the College and NICTA, our summer research scholar program can only grow."
"Thank you to all College staff and students who helped to make the Summer Scholar Program a success again this year."
