Engineering Student Shows Others that There Is Life Beyond the Lab

Rajen Sidhu, a Ph.D. candidate in materials science and engineering, believes that graduate students should expand their focus and look beyond just getting a degree in order to have successful future careers. In the last few years, Sidhu has followed his own advice and his efforts have allowed him to take his own academic career to a whole new level.

Sidhu is the president of the Fulton Graduate Student Association, a student organization that seeks to provide engineering students with a multi-faceted education through community outreach programs, mentorship opportunities and a new-and-improved roster of professional development seminars. Sidhu says that the goal of the organization is to show its members that there is "life beyond the lab."

"It is important for graduate students to get out of the labs and take advantage of graduate enhancement opportunities," says Sidhu. "We want students to broaden their horizons and to see the types of options out there for them so that they can become successful, well-rounded people."

Sidhu began his graduate career at ASU in 2003 after obtaining a bachelor's degree in materials engineering from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Now in the final stages of his post-candidacy doctoral work, Sidhu is focusing on finishing up his dissertation, which examines the thermomechanical behavior of environmentally benign lead-free solders for microelectronic applications to understand their overall mechanical properties.

He recently received a fellowship from the Graduate College that will allow him to concentrate exclusively on his dissertation for an entire year. Sidhu says that the award will make the completion process a bit more manageable because it will let him focus on his research for an extended period of time.

"The GC Dissertation Fellowship is an invaluable asset to any Ph.D. candidate," he says. "I will especially benefit from this award, since the financial resources will provide me the opportunity to devote all my efforts to writing and completing my work here at ASU in a timely manner."

All of the time spent learning inside and outside of the lab has allowed Sidhu to expand his horizons and now, he is grateful for all of these opportunities to spur his personal growth.

"I have had a wonderful experience in pursuing my doctorate degree at ASU," he says. "I've had the opportunity to interact with knowledgeable professors and staff like Dr. Nik Chawla and Dr. Subhash Mahajan, use excellent research facilities, and provide a service to the graduate student community through my participation in several student associations."


Upper photo: Sidhu, a Ph.D. candidate in materials science and engineering, loads a solder joint for mechanical testing on a MTS Tytron system.

Lower photo: Sidhu conducts an orientation image mapping of a solder specimen on an environmental scanning electron microscope as part of his research.