NPRE is well represented among this year's crop of Mavis Future Faculty Fellows, with four of the department's graduate students--Harun Ardiansyah, Aya Hegazy, Hammad Khalid, and Yifan Mao--taking part in the program.
The Mavis Future Faculty Fellows (MF3) Program in The Grainger College of Engineering was developed to facilitate the training of the next generation of great engineering faculty. The Grainger College of Engineering is internationally recognized for the impact of our research and the strength of our graduate education. The doctoral programs that produce this reputation are primarily research-focused and may not provide students interested in academic careers with the opportunity to gain the knowledge of how to become a highly productive faculty member.
To help address this need, the Office of Graduate, Professional and Online Programs facilitates the MF3 Program where fellows participate in a series of workshops, seminars, and activities that cover various aspects of an academic career. Weekly seminar themes include describing life as a faculty member, writing cover letters and CVs, preparing for campus interviews, and defining and achieving success as a faculty member. These seminars are available to all engineering graduate students.
According to the GCOE, the three main components to the MF3 Program are research, teaching, and mentoring. Fellows will have an opportunity to develop and enhance their skills in these core areas through various professional development activities.
Ardiansyah said that he applied for the fellowship to enhance his career prospects. "I applied for the fellowship to start my journey to be a faculty member in the future," he said. "I think the fellowship will help me navigate the intricacies of a faculty job search."
He has degrees from the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia (BS in nuclear engineering) and the University of Michigan (MS in nuclear engineering and radiological sciences).
Hegazy, a native of Egypt, came to NPRE after getting her Bachelor's in Engineering (nuclear engineering) from the University of Alexandria and has received various honors and accolades during her time at Illinois.
"I am dedicated to advancing the future of nuclear energy," Hegazy said. "I believe that nuclear power offers a sustainable and viable solution to our global energy challenges and needs. Through the Mavis fellowship, I aim to develop the essential skills to educate and mentor the next generation of nuclear engineers as a future faculty member."
Khalid earned his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS) and his M.E. in Nuclear Energy, Science, and Engineering from the North China Electric Power University (NCEPU) in Beijing. During his M.E. studies, he worked as a graduate research assistant at the Beijing Key Laboratory of Passive Safety, focusing on the jamming phenomenon inside a Pebble Bed Reactor (PBR) using advanced discrete element methods. He is currently a research assistant in associate professor Zahra Mohaghegh's Socio-Technical Risk Analysis (SoTeRiA) Research Laboratory.
His research focuses on developing risk-informed strategies for the safe introduction and deployment of automation technologies in nuclear power plants. This includes creating novel methodologies to assess the trustworthiness and enhance the transparency of AI-based technologies, providing crucial evidence for the operational acceptability and feasibility of these technologies, and informing large-scale investments to ensure safe and efficient plant operations.
Mao, who earned a previous degree at Illinois, said the fellowship "offers rigorous curricula covering a wide range of topics essential for aspiring future faculty members. I believe these courses, workshops, and hands-on training will alleviate the stress of applying for faculty positions and improve my chances of success."
For more info on the fellowship, visit https://mavis.grainger.illinois.edu/.