Future Faculty Fellows

In 2007 the A. James Clark School of Engineering launched the Future Faculty Program (FFP), which was created to prepare students from all engineering majors for academic careers in top-50 engineering schools.

The initial noncredit component of the program is open to all graduate students interested in a career in academia. It introduces faculty role models who discuss why they chose a career in academia, how they secured tenure-track positions, and how they have achieved success.

Students who wish to stay with the program are required to apply. After a competitive selection process 20 students, including at least one representative from each of the Clark School's departments, are chosen to be Future Faculty Fellows. Fellows receive a $10,000 stipend, in addition to any teaching or research assistantships they may already have. Half of the funds are reserved for travel to professional conferences.

During the second, third, and fourth semesters of the program, Future Faculty Fellows attend seminars on topics such as technical writing, oral presentations, creating syllabi and curriculum, teaching and learning styles, identifying research areas, writing grants, and interviewing for faculty positions. Each Fellow is also paired with a senior faculty member with whom they will teach a course and supervise an undergraduate research project, and from whom they will receive mentoring and career counseling.

To learn more about the program, how to apply, and its curriculum, visit the Future Faculty Program Page on the Clark School's web site.

Meet the Fischell Department of Bioengineering's Past and Present Future Faculty Fellows

2008

Marina Chumakov
Marina is advised by Department of Materials Science and Engineering Professor Mohamad Al-Sheikhly. She has been researching the use of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) in total joint replacement systems; specifically, a new manufacturing approach that may make the implants last longer. "I decided to apply to the Future Faculty Program because I wanted to keep all the doors open in my career," she explains. "I wanted to not only learn more about a career in academia but to acquire and improve essential skills that will benefit me in any job I pursue. I am beginning to recognize that I really enjoy teaching and interacting with students, and the program will give me the opportunity to improve my teaching style." Learn more about Marina's research »

Christina Kyrtsos
Christina is advised by Fischell Department of Bioengineering Assistant Professor Sameer Shah. She conducts her research in the Neuromuscular Bioengineering Laboratory, where she is searching for the reasons behind Alzheimer's disease by designing a mathematical model that predicts its development in neurons and the blood-brain barrier.

2007

Trent Bradberry
Trent is advised by Professor José L. Contreras-Vidal of the College of Health and Human Performance's Department of Kinesiology. He conducts his research at the Cognitive Motor Neuroscience Lab at the University of Maryland College Park School of Public Health, where he studies non-invasive brain-computer interfaces that could help those suffering from a loss of mobility. "What has pulled me the most to an academic career," he says, "is the freedom to create, to imagine that which has never been done and to engineer it into existence without the boundaries sometimes present in private industry." Learn more about Trent's research »

Ian Gifford
Ian is advised by Department of Materials Science and Engineering Professor Mohamad Al-Sheikhly. He is adapting boron-neutron capture therapy, a bimodal nuclear medicine treatment, for the treatment of prostate cancer. He conducts his research in the Biophysical and Polymer Radiation Laboratory, a facility he helped design. "I hope [the Future Faculty Program will] help with the transition from mentee to mentor," he says. "There are certain skills that young faculty members are expected to have, but the development of them as a graduate student is often overlooked. This program focuses on these skills." Learn more about Ian's research »

Dan Janiak
A student from the Department of Materials Science of Engineering, Dan is advised by Fischell Department of Bioengineering Professor Peter Kofinas and is one of our Fischell Fellows. He works in the Functional Macromolecular Laboratory, where he is designing molecularly imprinted polymers for use in viral diagnostics and in "smart packaging" that can alert consumers to contamination of products by food borne bacteria. Learn more about Dan's research »