Happy New Year 2010!
A new and promising year has started! On January 11th, students start spring classes and first year students are looking for summer/fall internships; second year students are working on finishing their course work and their internship reports to be presented in April.
The line-up for our spring seminar speaker series is complete and we will welcome: Russ Krauss, RES Mitigation; Dick Williams, Shell Wind Energy, Dan Georgi, Baker Hughes; June Ferrill, Rice/PSM Communication; Wiliam Arnold, Jones School of Business; Kyle Kissell, Nanoridge; Jim Lemaux, BP
Fall Internship Student Presentations had an outstanding attendance by corporate representatives from Noble Energy, GIS Environmental, Schlumberger, Emtuk, Inc., DmiGeo, Teledrill, Inc., Rice faculty and students. The presentations were followed by a semester-end social in Keck Hall. For photos, click on left: About the Program/ What's New!
RICE MAGAZINE features the Rice Professional Science Master's program: "The Business of Science" This latest edition has just been published and the electronic version is available here!
New PSM Student Club is official now! Students Alex Wagner and Shibu Mathukutty have volunteered to head the coming semester's activities with the goal to bring PSM students together for social activities on and off campus! Events will be announced on our web site and by list serve to the students.
Program Director attends CGS/PSM Biennial Meeting in Washington, DC
"Advancing the Nation's Competitiveness and Innovation Agenda"
Much of the U.S. economic growth over the last half century has been the result of technological innovation. Looking ahead, America’s prosperity and security in the 21st century depend upon innovation, scientific discovery, and the creation of knowledge. In order to be competitive in the 21st century global economy, the U.S. needs to produce a cadre of well-rounded science professionals with deep knowledge of their subjects but also with the business skills needed to communicate effectively, manage projects, and solve problems. Professional Science Master's (PSM) graduates contribute to a highly skilled, nimble, and entrepreneurial workforce that can enhance our capacity to innovate, discover new products and solutions, and take those products to commercial reality.
Many PSM programs have been or are being developed in response to the forces affecting higher education institutions including U.S. competitiveness, globalization, increased accountability to the state for public institutions, increased competition for students, and demographic changes in the composition of graduate students. This Biennial Meeting addressed the PSM initiative’s response to these forces and the means for sustaining programs for future growth.
New PSM/MBA Joint Degree Program
To address the demand for a science education that includes a full MBA degree, Rice University is adding a new option to their existing Professional Science Master’s degrees. With cooperation of the highly ranked Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management and the Wiess School of Natural Science, a joint program was developed allowing a small group of highly proficient students to earn a joint PSM/MBA degree. The program will be become available for Fall 2010.
BP Scholarship awarded to Subsurface Geoscience student Chris Ochterbeck! Congratulations to Chris for paving the way for graduating PSM students to gain the respect and acceptance from large oil- and gas companies willing to sponsor our students. BP is joining an ever increasing number of corporations realizing our students' potential and versatility. We appreciate BP's involvement at Rice and are looking forward to a mutual beneficial and on-going relationship! Thank you, BP!
2nd Quarterly NPSMA Workshop in Springfield, MA in September 2009
This workshop focused on evaluation of the employment survey outcome, the NSF Stimulus solicitation for science master's programs, an update on statewide implemention of PSM programs, key program practices, peer review process, NPSMA Best Practices Seal of Approval initiative, and concluding with a dialogue with area employers and regional PSM Alumni and students.
Thank you to all our Fall Seminar Speakers for committing their time to speak to our students:
Kirstin Matthews, Baker Institute; June Ferrill, PSM Communications; Liz Hendler, Environmental Activist; Charles NuNu, Element Markets; Rod Larson, Baker Hughes; Mary Purugganan, Rice NSCI; Najib Abusalbi, Schlumberger; Pooja Talreja, CGGS Veritas; Kristine Gentry, CSPD; Martha Barnes, Marathon Oil