Under no circumstances should you EVER EVER EVER meet with a faculty member and say, “I’m looking for a research position”…They ask, “What are you interested in?” and you say, “Doesn’t really matter, I’m up for anything…..”
All research faculty here at RPI need undergraduate students with passion to learn, curiosity to ask questions, time to produce a result or good failure with documented effort, communication skills to convey progress, and the ability to think independently while working on teams to contribute to our research. Many research faculty require a specific subset of technical skills (learned from classes or experience) before accepting a URP student. Some require ONLY motivation and strong independent learning skills without the pre-requisite of classes or experience.
Start AT LEAST one semester in advance of being available for the position!
Step 1: Find within YOURSELF a Personal Interest in a Research Area
Step 2: Find whether your personal interest aligns with research in ECSE (or RPI in general)
<aside> 💡
Research Areas | Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering
Please check out the ECSE Research page </aside>
Step 3: Reach Out to Researchers
Step 4: Ensure that you take the class or build the skillset that will get you noticed
STEP 5: Reach out about a research position about a month to 3 weeks before the next semester begins.
Think Goodwill Hunting….I’m gathering faculty tools, skills, and problems that you can work on, that AUTOMATICALLY gets you in the queue for a position as a skilled, ready to go student for their research…..
Find the Researcher who specializes in Power Devices and Designs PCBs for REAL WORLD testing or OUT OF THIS WORLD testing in space! Who is this person in ECSE?
Send an email to that researcher and cc me using the steps above. Meet with the professor and ask about a problem you can solve or courses to take that would get an undergraduate student in this researcher’s research!