Four New Projects Added to the IGE Hub!

Transforming Masters-Level Engineering Education through Industry Partnerships, Principled Engineering, and Experiential Learning

Engineering shapes nearly every aspect of modern life, from artificial intelligence to smartphones and online retail. Yet many graduate engineering programs prioritize technical training, offering limited preparation in ethics, leadership, or effective collaboration across disciplines. As a result, engineers may be underprepared to address real-world societal challenges. This National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award to Arizona State University supports a bold redesign of graduate engineering education that reflects the complexity of modern engineering practice and prepares students to lead ethically and effectively in service of industry and society. The project addresses both workforce development and institutional capacity-building needs in graduate education.

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AI-Driven Virtual Teaching Assistant (ViTA) in Medical Biophysics Graduate Education

This National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) award to Clemson University will develop and evaluate an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven Virtual Teaching Assistant (ViTA) designed to support interdisciplinary graduate education in medical biophysics. Graduate students in this field face unique challenges due to the complexity of integrating concepts from physics, biology, chemistry, and engineering. These challenges are compounded by the lack of structured human teaching assistant support in many advanced courses. ViTA is an innovative solution that uses expert-validated generative AI to deliver personalized, context aware academic support within existing graduate curricula

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Flexible Graduate Student Funding Models: Industry Engagement and Internships for Career Development

This National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) Track 2 award to the Georgia Tech Research Corporation will examine how combining industry support and internships with traditional support mechanisms, such as assistantships and fellowships, can improve the educational experience for STEM Ph.D. students. This project also explores how models of industry engagement in Ph.D. students’ educational pathways influence faculty members, including how faculty members shape their research priorities, mentorship practices, and grant-seeking behavior. By studying how industry-engaged models influence mentorship, collaboration, and long-term success, the project aims to uncover ways to improve graduate education for students knowing that the students’ experiences should align with potential careers in both academia and industry. The findings will provide a blueprint for implementing scalable practices that reshape how universities support graduate students and foster stronger connections between academia and the workforce.

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Improving STEM Graduate Student Success and Workforce Readiness at a Regional R2 Public University

STEM graduate education is critical to preparing a workforce capable of advancing national priorities in research, innovation, and economic development. Yet, many STEM graduate programs offer limited preparation, and students may be underprepared to meet workforce demands. At Sam Houston State University (SHSU), STEM graduate program completion rates are approximately 30%, with attrition rates near 70%, representative of regional comprehensive universities. This National Science Foundation Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) Award supports a redesign of STEM graduate training to improve retention, degree completion, and workforce readiness.

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