UA electrical engineering program gets $150,000 gift

FAYETTEVILLE -- A recently formalized effort to have University of Arkansas electrical engineering students work with industry will be aided by a $150,000 gift from a Fayetteville couple.

The Jim and Marsha Davis Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Electrical Engineering will support graduate students who help undergraduate students learn design, the university announced Monday.

Such graduate-student positions make up the "infrastructure" that will allow for industry partnerships to grow, said Robert Saunders, assistant department head for UA's electrical engineering department.

"If we can train the teaching assistants to become project managers, then they mentor the undergraduates in the process and everybody wins," Saunders said.

While UA has always sought to connect students to industry learning opportunities, the current effort in the electrical engineering department began in August, Saunders said.

"Most of our students are working hand-in-hand with companies doing projects," Saunders said, mentioning Kansas City, Mo.-area Black and Veatch and Missouri-based Leggett and Platt as two company partners providing group projects for UA undergraduate students.

Jim Davis and Marsha Davis earned degrees from UA, with Jim Davis getting his degree in electrical engineering and going on to work in the cellular telephone industry before retiring.

"These projects will help the undergraduate students get hands-on experience of what the real world is like," Jim Davis said.

Saunders said that when students participate in phone calls with the companies and go through design reviews, it broadens their experience beyond school assignments.

"A lot of times, a student, they get used to the academic atmosphere, and they don't understand what's going to happen when they walk out the door into a job," Saunders said.

The student projects do not involve critical areas for the companies involved, but "they just want to give back and help students," Saunders said.

In some cases, companies offer students a chance to provide fresh insights to older projects. Other times, students get a chance to work on "back-burner" projects, Saunders said.

But the projects reinforce the importance of deadlines and involve working with engineers from different disciplines, Saunders said.

John English, dean of UA's engineering college, noted the financial support also serves as a recruiting tool.

"Endowed fellowships are critical to our college's ability to attract and retain the best graduate students for our programs," English said in a statement, adding that the university is "very grateful to Jim and Marsha for giving back in a way that is meaningful to them."

NW News on 02/04/2016

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