Opportunities in manufacturing of advanced materials for second career seeking students

Abstract

Many non-traditional students face challenges, which may negatively affect their academic success and degree persistence rates, including lack of institutional support networks and difficulties connecting with other students on campus. Additionally, the lack of financial support has been acknowledged nationwide as a critical barrier for STEM students including second-career seeking (SCS) students. The second career is defined as an occupation or course taken by the current engineering student prior to enrolling to engineering college program. The prior career can relate to a range of aspects of an individual's life including learning, and work and is undertaken for a significant period of a student's life and with opportunities for progress. We target academically talented SCS students at Old Dominion University (ODU) with demonstrated financial need, which can be addressed by an NSF Scholarships in STEM, while developing the academic support networks that provide SCS students with the opportunities in professional development, research, and outreach in the area of manufacturing of advanced materials.