Helen L. Reed,
Professor of Engineering

Providing a Stimulating and Meaningful Graduate Experience

In mentoring Ph.D. students in engineering, we as professors are preparing them to be our colleagues in academia, industry, or government. Because they represent tomorrow's leaders and decision-makers in the scientific and engineering community, we must instill in them a desire to seek excellence in their pursuits, to take risks and tackle new and challenging problems, to think independently and critically, to convey information to others, to work successfully with others, and most importantly to never stop learning. As a mentor and role model, it is my responsibility to demonstrate these qualities in my own life and profession.

In counseling undergraduate students on how to choose a graduate program, my advice is first and foremost to identify an advisor whom they respect and who respects them. I stress the importance of doing research on a nationally important, highly visible, and challenging problem, and encouraging students to take as much mathematics as possible. Involving undergraduate students in my research projects is a way to get them excited about and interested in research and for me to evaluate their potential for success in our Ph.D. program. I also actively help recruit students for other faculty at ASU, presenting a very positive and enthusiastic picture of the excellent programs at this university.

Because my research program is highly visible and internationally known, I have been able to recruit excellent students to the Ph.D. program. The computational and experimental research areas I pursue include laminar/turbulent transition for application to energy-efficient transonic and supersonic aircraft (e.g., the High-Speed Civil Transport, HSCT), hypersonics for application to the National AeroSpace Plane (NASP), low-cost space experimentation (described below), and rotorcraft applications. I bring to the classroom the relevant information from my research programs. It is my responsibility to stay current in my field in order to guide my students most effectively, especially now with the dynamic shift of our country's research and technology efforts from defense to civilian applications. To stay current, I serve on many national committees and society boards and make frequent trips to give presentations and receive updates at various facilities. Moreover, as Director of the Aerospace Research Center, I invite to ASU key national decision makers to keep both the faculty and the students abreast of changes in the field.

Each Ph.D. student under my direction manages his/her own research problem, which usually requires a considerable amount of knowledge and imagination to solve. My team usually consists of six M.S. and Ph.D. students, all working on different problems with common threads, thus providing a natural mechanism for brain-storming and consultation. Weekly research meetings provide an opportunity to stand at the blackboard and present the recent progress as well as to introduce for discussion any "insurmountable" problems encountered along the way. Many of the research problems are also the subject of Professor William Saric's experimental programs and I insist that the experimentalists and computationalists/theoreticians communicate regularly to get a sensitivity for what is important to the other. It is only through the marriage of experiments, theory, and computations that we will begin to solve some of the difficult problems we encounter in science and engineering.

A good mentor must be committed continuously to socializing students in their chosen profession; students do not magically walk through a door upon graduation and change from "lowly graduate student" to "omniscient colleague."

The following are six crucial aspects of graduate education that I keep in mind as a mentor.

Writing Proposals. As part of their research duties, my students participate in the preparation of proposals to acquire external research funding and in discussions with sponsors. These activities provide them with good first-hand training and initial networking for when they start their own careers. All too often, students leave a Ph.D. program without seeing this aspect of a professor's job and are somewhat overwhelmed by the expectations of starting a major research program for a tenure-track position. As faculty, we expect junior-level candidates to hit the ground running when they join a department to compile an impressive record in six years for tenure.

Getting Published. I fully appreciate the importance of publishing and try to instill this appreciation in my students. My students publish their research under my direction in archival journals as first author, and I send the students to major national conferences to present their work. These opportunities allow the students to develop valuable skills in oral presentation and personal expression and to increase the visibility of the students and their work.

Gaining Experience. In the past few years, I have sent students to NASA facilities to meet and work with scientists for several weeks in the summers, to participate in workshops. I also actively pursue national fellowships for my students. Again, this activity allows them to begin to develop their own set of connections for professional development following graduation.

Learning to Teach. Another aspect of Ph.D. education is developing teaching skills. I believe in providing start-to-finish classroom opportunities for students at some time during their graduate work. Once again, students often leave a Ph.D. program without seeing this aspect of a professor's job and are overwhelmed the first time they are expected to stand up in front of a class with organized thought, coherent syllabi, and course notes.

Promoting Collegiality. From the beginning, I treat all my students as colleagues, involving them in all aspects at work, as well as inviting them into my home. In observing other students, I have noticed that before graduation they approach and address their advisors in a very formal way. After graduation they become colleagues and are suddenly on an equal footing with their advisors and the protocol magically changes. This never made much sense to me.

Continuing Contact. After graduation I remain in contact with all my Ph.D. students to provide career advice and support if and when needed. Having a trustworthy and experienced friend to help sort things out can be beneficial at times.

Because I encourage visibility for my students while in graduate school, all my Ph.D. students have been placed in important scientific and technical positions immediately after graduation. My academic, government, and industrial colleagues are aware of my programs because the programs are relevant to their own interests and activities, and I am often asked "Do you have anyone finishing up soon? We are looking."

In the classroom setting, I take graduate education very seriously and am demanding, yet encouraging and fair, as a teacher. I reward hard work and creative thought and go out of my way to help those who show interest and want to be challenged.

On the end-of-semester evaluations, students typically comment on my enthusiasm, availability, and approachability. I have an open-door office policy and try to be an advisor or just a friend for anyone who asks. I get to know as many students as I can to steer them in reasonable career and educational directions.

I am a strong advocate of using computers in class work and require my students to take advantage of such resources at ASU. Computers are an integral part of our society, and I believe we should expose our students to them as much as possible in the educational process. As tools, they quickly show trends and solutions for theories presented in class.

Finally, one of my goals as the new Director of the Aerospace Research Center is to provide projects featuring hands-on experience in the design of aerospace systems and methods of space science. Hands-on, start-to-finish student projects performing actual space experiments enhance the learning experience at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and guarantee quality graduates. For instance, ASUSat I, a 10-pound-class student-designed, -fabricated, and -launched satellite, is the first of its size (nanosatellite) to be launched to perform meaningful science in space and is being showcased campuswide, statewide, and nationally as a successful model of student/industry/faculty cooperation. Moreover, these projects are highly multidisciplinary in nature. Local companies provide technical advising and use of experimental facilities. Students benefit from these experiences in visibility; scientific and technical recognition; and valuable practice in teaming skills, independent thought, critical inquiry, and oral presentation.

I enjoy interacting with students, and I try to provide meaningful training and education to ensure they succeed in their careers. If I can instill a love and commitment to the field along the way, it brings me a great sense of happiness.