Second Graduate Engineering Research Showcase held in newly opened AU campus in Huntsville

The Samuel Ginn College of Engineering held its second annual Graduate Engineering Research Showcase in Huntsville on Wednesday, with more than 150 graduate students and faculty presenting research posters to members of the Huntsville community and Auburn Engineering alumni.

This year, however, the event was held a little “closer to home” in the newly opened, 40,000-square-foot Auburn University Research and Innovation Campus in Cummings Research Park.

“What a special day for our college to be able to welcome this community to our own building to learn about our students’ work and hopefully make research and recruitment connections,” said Maria Auad, Auburn Engineering associate dean for graduate studies and faculty development.

Nearly 200 alumni and Huntsville industry representatives visited the showcase.

“The hope is that they see at least a sampling of the research that are graduate students are doing and see that it is impactful research that has the ability to change the future for all of us,” said Steve Taylor, interim dean of engineering. 

For attendees who may also be prospective graduate students, Auburn Engineering Online gave a presentation in the auditorium about the college’s 15 master’s programs and 16 online graduate certificate programs. Additionally, Career Development and Corporate Relations presented about the services they offer to students and industry.

The event also provided an opportunity to officially initiate the newly formed educational partnership between Auburn Engineering and Jacobs, an engineering services company with 400 offices in more than 40 countries. Following the showcase, a ceremonial signing took place between Taylor and Jeff Haars, vice president and program manager of Jacobs Space Exploration Group.

The day concluded with a reception featuring keynote speaker Scott Shifrin, deputy director of innovation, science and technology at the Missile Defense Agency.

Shifrin said he was impressed with the ingenuity Auburn Engineering graduate students are bringing to the table to help fulfill research needs of the MDA, Department of Defense and other agencies in Huntsville.