Introducing: CEE Graduate Student Seminar (GraSS)

The CEE GSA is excited to launch a new opportunity for students: the CEE Graduate Student Seminar (GraSS). The CEE GSA hopes this will provide an opportunity for CEE graduate students (M. Eng, MS, and PhD) to present their project/research activities and practice public speaking in a relaxed atmosphere, all while building community within CEE. It is our hope that it will be invaluable to both the speakers and the attendees. We will have approximately one GraSS talks per month.

What is the CEE Graduate Student Seminar (GraSS)?

The idea is to provide a platform through which graduate students can practice upcoming presentations (Q, A, B exams, preparing for conferences, M. Eng projects, job interviews, etc) in a relaxed, low-pressure environment. The seminars will take place in our Class of 1961 Graduate Lounge, with comfortable couches and refreshments to encourage a casual atmosphere. Public speaking is often challenging and intimidating (especially for many engineers!), and we hope to provide a welcoming stage for those who wish to improve upon these skills. It is also a valuable time to gather feedback on your research from the bright peers around you, especially from those in different concentrations who may have a different but useful perspective on your research.

Why should I present?

This is really a platform for you (whether you are an M. Eng, MS, or PHD student) to practice whatever you need to practice, such as an upcoming presentation for a course, conference, exam, or a job interview requiring a technical presentation. This seminar is really here to help you be the best student or researcher you can be by helping you prepare for these major events. Furthermore, if you are an expert in a tool or software that you believe could be useful to other CEE graduate students, you are most welcome to present on that topic as well (for example, citation managers are a fairly useful tool across all academic disciplines. You could also do a crash course in how to use a certain software, or present an overview on different programming languages and their pros/cons for different types of analysis/research).

Why should I attend?

We hope this seminar series will become an additional avenue to build community within CEE, which is home to many diverse research interests. We hope that students will act upon their academic curiosity and attend graduate seminars both within and outside of their specific concentration – maybe even uncover opportunities for collaboration across concentrations that they may not have known about before! GraSS talks are paired with happy hours, with refreshments and food served.

When is GraSS?

We plan to have GraSS talks approximately once a month, though the frequency will be determined based on interest from the graduate students. The talks will generally be on a Thursday or Friday and will take place after classes at the end of the day.