Professional Development Resources

Suggest a resource: shaynef[AT]mit[DOT]edu

Whether you go into industry, academia or start your own company, managerial and financial skills will serve you well. Take a look at Sloan School of Management Open Courseware Offerings available at no charge.

Check out the University of Wisconsin Graduate Student Resources Page. If any of these topics interests you, we'd love to hear your ideas; please contact Professor Yang Shao-Horn: shaohorn[AT]mit[DOT]edu with suggestions for topics you would like to see covered in workshops (for example) tailored for Mech E students.

MIT's Office of the Dean for Graduate Education offers workshops and other resources that may be of interest, take a look.

MIT Global Education and Career Development Office

AAAS Career Center career development resources for scientists and engineers. (loads slowly)

Chronicle of Higher Education jobs database.

engineerjobs.com

engineer.net

• MIT Mechanical Engineering Graduate Travel Grants (Fall Deadline 09/07/12)
• Blue Planet Public Speaking Workshop 8/7 (apply by 8/3/12)
• Blue Planet Public Speaking Workshop 5/8 (apply by 5/1/12)
• MIT Founders' Skills Accelerator Information Session 4/25/12 (apply for FSA by 5/2)

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MIT Mechanical Engineering Graduate Travel Grants

MIT Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department is pleased to announce the creation of five Graduate Travel Grants of $1500 to support the travel of ME graduate students to present his/her graduate research at a conference or participate in an academic workshop. The Travel Grants, which will be awarded competitively as an academic honor twice yearly, aim to facilitate student professional development by promoting participation in the student’s broader research community or exposure to specialty topics. ME graduate students are encouraged to apply for a Graduate Travel Grant in one of the following areas:

• Sontheimer Travel Award in Mechanical Engineering
• Keck Travel Award in Thermal Sciences
• Den Hartog Travel Award in Mechanics
• SNAME Travel Award in Ocean Engineering
• DeFlorez Travel Award in Design and Manufacturing

 

One Graduate Travel Grant will be awarded in each category in the Fall 2012 semester.

Fall Deadline – September 7, 2012 FOR TRAVEL DURING FALL TERM

To apply, please submit one letter of recommendation from ME faculty, resume and a copy of the accepted meeting abstract (first authored by the Graduate Travel Grant applicant) to Marj Joss: maj[AT]mit[DOT]edu

Tuesday August 7^th, 2012

Monday 7/30/12 ENROLLMENT IS FULL, e-mail Marj Joss: maj[AT]mit[DOT]edu to request to be waitlisted. Thanks.

All MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering Faculty, Students, and Staff:

The MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering will sponsor a day of public speaking training by Bill Hoogterp and colleagues from Blue Planet.

One of the top presentation coaches in the world is going to be at MIT on August 7^th and you are invited to join. Normally this would cost $450/person, so we encourage you to take advantage if your schedule allows.

How much of your day do you spend communicating with others? What would it be worth to be 5-10% better at speaking to individuals and groups of any size — for the rest of your life? You can see more on Bill Hoogterp with his colleagues at www.blueplanet.org.

What Media Lab Colleagues Say About Blue Planet:

• "Just wanted to say that the course was spectacular. I have actively thought about the lessons daily and it has already affected the way I approach demos and presentations."
• "I was very impressed by Bill and the rest of the Blue Planet team. I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in the morning session and know that the presenting tips I received are well worth the time."
• "I loved it! I think the sessions were very effective and the benefits were two-fold: 1) improving public speaking skills; and 2) strengthening team work."
• "Thanks for this great opportunity. I've learned a lot during those sessions and the speaking skills are really invaluable, especially for ML students who demo all the time. Bill was amazing and the sessions were fun and engaging, even at 10pm in the night!"

How to Sign Up For the August 7th^th Training in room 3-333:

Blue Planet will offer training of Levels 1-6 in 3-333. You may choose to participate as follows:

• Levels 1-3 8:00 am to 12:00 pm (limited to ~55 participants, open to graduate students, postdocs, staff and faculty in Mechanical Engineering). If you can only come for part of that time, that is OK.
• Levels 4-6 1:00 pm to 5:30 pm (limited to ~55 participants of ~26 graduate students and ~14 postdocs)
• Individual Coaching 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm (limited to ~30 participants)

SPEAKING SEMINAR® SUMMARY

The Speaking Seminar® is one of the top courses in the world (with 10 levels plus 15 additional advanced levels) that helps you improve your ability to communicate, whether one on one, in a meeting or to an audience of thousands. It is immediately engaging and highly interactive.

• LEVEL 1 HOW THE AUDIENCE BLOCKS SPEAKERS AND FILTERS: In Level 1, you will begin to get comfortable being on camera with a series of fun tips and exercises learning how the brain processes (and blocks) information. You learn how to eliminate weak language, overcome nervousness and actually enjoy speaking to groups. Level 1 gives you the tone and tools and foundation for all the levels to come.
• LEVEL 2 BEING MEMORABLE: If someone can remember what you said three days later, you educated. If they can’t remember what you said 3 days later, you just presented. So what makes the difference between which speakers are memorable? Level 2 gives you techniques for using strong language to paint pictures and evoke emotions in the mind of the audience bypassing filters and going straight to the memory centers of the brain. You get on camera again, doing exercises in teams that teach you how to analyze any speaker you hear to see what worked and why. You learn how to start with a scene and read an audience to find breakthroughs in how you are perceived by them.
• LEVEL 3 MODULATING YOUR VOICE AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION: Using inspirational quotes as practice on camera, you learn how to modulate the volume and speed of your voice to make it much more compelling to the ear of the audience. Body language is covered with techniques on what we do with our hands, face and body that strengthens our ability to be memorable, using much more of our range, sometimes shown with advanced dial testing technology.
• LEVEL 4 INVOLVING THE AUDIENCE AND TEAM PRESENTATIONS: There are two growing trends we begin to practice in Level 4. You learn seven techniques for involving an audience and practice them in team which makes the learning even more fun, which are simple and easy, yet powerfully effective. The key to persuasion is giving the audience a job where they share their results visibly back. You want to balance creativity and innovation with having a senior presence and focus.
• LEVEL 5 DEVELOPING THE POWER OF STORIES: Here you practice business and other stories with an audience to learn to describe memorable characters, statistics and scenarios. You begin to learn how to command and use the full room and start with a scene. Change creates energy so you practice different approaches to identify which stories work best for you in different situations. Videos help you see how you personally affect an audience while you learn to give effective feedback to your peers, focused on the positive.
• LEVEL 6-10 OPENINGS, CLOSINGS, EFFECTIVE MEETINGS, BETTER POWERPOINTS, EXECUTIVE PRESENCE, KEYNOTE SPEECHES AND PANELS, TIME MANAGEMENT RELATED TO COMMUNICATION: Levels 6-10 take the core skills learned in Levels 1-5 and apply them to professional situations with real life scenarios, additional techniques and practice to integrate all the habits into the participants real approach. This gives them the confidence to be even more successful with the tools to keep improving on their own.

The deadline to sign up is Friday August 3^rd on this sign-up form.

Space is limited and will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Please feel free to contact Professor Yang Shao-Horn: shaohorn[AT]mit[DOT]edu if you have questions.

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Tuesday May 8^th, 2012

All MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering Faculty, Students, and Staff:

The MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering will sponsor a day of public speaking training by Bill Hoogterp from Blue Planet.

One of the top presentation coaches in the world is going to be at MIT on May 8^th and you are invited to join. Normally this would cost $450/person, so we encourage you to take advantage if your schedule allows.

How much of your day do you spend communicating with others? What would it be worth to be 5-10% better at speaking to individuals and groups of any size — for the rest of your life? You can see more on Bill Hoogterp with his colleagues Michael Balaoing and Roberto Pradilla at www.blueplanet.org.

What Media Lab Colleagues Say About Blue Planet:

• "Just wanted to say that the course was spectacular. I have actively thought about the lessons daily and it has already affected the way I approach demos and presentations."
• "I was very impressed by Bill and the rest of the Blue Planet team. I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in the morning session and know that the presenting tips I received are well worth the time."
• "I loved it! I think the sessions were very effective and the benefits were two-fold: 1) improving public speaking skills; and 2) strengthening team work."
• "Thanks for this great opportunity. I've learned a lot during those sessions and the speaking skills are really invaluable, especially for ML students who demo all the time. Bill was amazing and the sessions were fun and engaging, even at 10pm in the night!"

How to Sign Up For the May 8^th Training:

Blue Planet will offer training of Levels 1-6 at MIT Faculty Club. You may choose to participate as follows:

• Levels 1-3 8:00 am to 12:00 pm (limited to ~60 participants, open to graduate students, postdocs, staff and faculty in Mechanical Engineering). If you can only come for part of that time, that is OK. For those that cannot come at that time, another (briefer version) will be offered at 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
• Levels 4-6 1:00 pm to 5:30 pm (limited to ~40 participants of ~26 graduate students and ~14 postdocs)
• Levels 1-3 6 pm to 7:30 pm (limited to ~60 participants)

SPEAKING SEMINAR® SUMMARY

The Speaking Seminar® is one of the top courses in the world (with 10 levels plus 15 additional advanced levels) that helps you improve your ability to communicate, whether one on one, in a meeting or to an audience of thousands. It is immediately engaging and highly interactive.

• LEVEL 1 HOW THE AUDIENCE BLOCKS SPEAKERS AND FILTERS: In Level 1, you will begin to get comfortable being on camera with a series of fun tips and exercises learning how the brain processes (and blocks) information. You learn how to eliminate weak language, overcome nervousness and actually enjoy speaking to groups. Level 1 gives you the tone and tools and foundation for all the levels to come.
• LEVEL 2 BEING MEMORABLE: If someone can remember what you said three days later, you educated. If they can’t remember what you said 3 days later, you just presented. So what makes the difference between which speakers are memorable? Level 2 gives you techniques for using strong language to paint pictures and evoke emotions in the mind of the audience bypassing filters and going straight to the memory centers of the brain. You get on camera again, doing exercises in teams that teach you how to analyze any speaker you hear to see what worked and why. You learn how to start with a scene and read an audience to find breakthroughs in how you are perceived by them.
• LEVEL 3 MODULATING YOUR VOICE AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION: Using inspirational quotes as practice on camera, you learn how to modulate the volume and speed of your voice to make it much more compelling to the ear of the audience. Body language is covered with techniques on what we do with our hands, face and body that strengthens our ability to be memorable, using much more of our range, sometimes shown with advanced dial testing technology.
• LEVEL 4 INVOLVING THE AUDIENCE AND TEAM PRESENTATIONS: There are two growing trends we begin to practice in Level 4. You learn seven techniques for involving an audience and practice them in team which makes the learning even more fun, which are simple and easy, yet powerfully effective. The key to persuasion is giving the audience a job where they share their results visibly back. You want to balance creativity and innovation with having a senior presence and focus.
• LEVEL 5 DEVELOPING THE POWER OF STORIES: Here you practice business and other stories with an audience to learn to describe memorable characters, statistics and scenarios. You begin to learn how to command and use the full room and start with a scene. Change creates energy so you practice different approaches to identify which stories work best for you in different situations. Videos help you see how you personally affect an audience while you learn to give effective feedback to your peers, focused on the positive.
• LEVEL 6-10 OPENINGS, CLOSINGS, EFFECTIVE MEETINGS, BETTER POWERPOINTS, EXECUTIVE PRESENCE, KEYNOTE SPEECHES AND PANELS, TIME MANAGEMENT RELATED TO COMMUNICATION: Levels 6-10 take the core skills learned in Levels 1-5 and apply them to professional situations with real life scenarios, additional techniques and practice to integrate all the habits into the participants real approach. This gives them the confidence to be even more successful with the tools to keep improving on their own.

The deadline to sign up is Tuesday, May 1^st on this sign-up form.

Space is limited and will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Please feel free to contact Professor Yang Shao-Horn: shaohorn[AT]mit[DOT]edu if you have questions.

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Info session Wednesday, April 25^th

Apply by Wednesday May 2^nd!

MIT Founders' Skills Accelerator 2012

We are extremely excited to announce a new summer pilot program for MIT students

• Jumpstart Your Startup Idea
• Get Up To $20K This Summer
• Dedicated Desk Space, Stipends, Lab Space and a Customized Mentor Team

The MIT Founders' Skills Accelerator gives MIT student teams the opportunity to make significant progress on a startup idea during the summer, without leaving MIT, and get money in the process!

Teams can get up to $20,000 in grants for completing customized milestones designed to maximize their potential to succeed over the summer. Team members receive $1,000/month stipends, as well as dedicated desk space, lab space, specialized educational program and access to a network of mentors (including an advisory committee specially tailored to the team's industry and needs).

For more and to apply: http://bit.ly/applyFSA

There will also be an info session on Wednesday, April 25^th from 6:30 to 8:00pm at the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship in E40-160.

Apply by Wednesday May 2^nd

The Founders' Skills Accelerator is an initiative throughout all of MIT's schools, with resources provided by the SkTech MIT Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative, Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, MIT Venture Mentoring Service, MIT Technology Licensing Office, Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program, MIT Media Lab Entrepreneurship Program, SUTD-MIT International Design Centre, and more!

An overview presentation (on video) is also available at: http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/trustcentertv