The George R. Brown School of Engineering has named 10 Future Faculty Fellows from eight departments to support Ph.D. and postdoctoral researchers who are applying for tenure-track faculty positions this year.
Among the fellows is Mehdi Hemmati, who has been a postdoctoral research associate in computational applied mathematics and operations research (CMOR) since 2019. He earned a B.S. and M.S. in industrial engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, Iran, in 2003 and 2005, respectively, and a Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Florida in 2013. Mehdi’s research interests are optimization theory and its applications in healthcare, with a focus on cancer screening and treatment.
The fellows will attend faculty panels, workshops, one-on-one coaching sessions and a mock interview designed to support them as they prepare for faculty interviews. A monetary award of $1,000 will support each fellow for attending conferences and university seminars.
Renata Ramos, associate dean for academic affairs, and Tracy Volz, director of the school’s ACTIVATE Engineering Communication Program, scheduled 17 Future Faculty Fellow events for the 2022-23 academic year.
Volz and the Engineering Communications Program will run most of the workshops to assist the fellows in preparing their job talks, written statements, and cover letters. One workshop will be led by the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), focusing on teaching statements, and another will be led by the assistant director of diversity, equity, inclusion and outreach in the Engineering Dean’s Office, Dr. Cecilia Fernandez, focusing on diversity statements.
The panels, hosted by Ramos, will feature some of the School of Engineering’s professors and alumni. There will also be a panel to discuss the different types of institutions and faculty positions, where professors from other institutions will be sharing their experiences.