Soon after being named the university’s new president, Rodney Erickson proclaimed that he wanted to transform Penn State “from a football factory to a world-class research institution.” We all know that this school has been recognized for the prolific, field-defining research that has taken place on this campus, but it’s not often that we get a chance to see a collection of the analysis of our fellow students like that which will be showcased at the ninth annual College of Engineering Research Symposium (CERS 2012), taking place on Thursday in the Nittany Lion Inn.

The student run-event, chaired by Anjum Parkar and Soumalya Sarkar, gives Penn State graduate and undergraduates who are doing engineering-related work the opportunity to present their research to an audience of students, faculty members, and industry representatives. In addition to giving involved students a valuable taste of what professional presentations at conferences will be like in the future, it will allow them to receive criticism and commentary from accomplished engineering researchers in the field that they plan on one day entering.

Participants will either be present oral papers or posters, and the best undergraduate and graduate in each category will receive research and travel grants that amount to a total of $5,000. Topics covered at the symposium will include future technology, advanced design, energy and the environment, and biomedial sciences, among others.

CERS 2012, which is sponsored by major corporations such as Google and Intel, will kick off bright and early at 8:00 a.m., running all day until about 5:00 p.m. The event’s keynote speaker, Dr. Matt Might, will give a speech titled “Failing Upward: How to Succeed in Modern Science” during the noon lunch break. Dr. Might is an assistant professor in the School of Computing at the University of Utah where he does research involving modern software systems.

There will be a networking session for students with the attending industry representatives following the event. You can find more information about CERS 2012 here, or register to attend here. You do not need to be enrolled in the College of Engineering in order to sit in on the symposium.