Engineering gift creates research opps

Engineering students interested in research now have an opportunity to look beyond the classroom.

The Rachleff Scholars Program, established this fall by a gift from Penn trustee Andrew Rachleff, aims to create a "scholarly community" in the School of Engineering, said Electrical and Systems Engineering professor Jan Van der Spiegel, who is also the director of the program.

The Rachleff Scholars "will help Penn Engineering attract even better students and train them and inspire them in technological innovation," wrote Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt in an e-mail.

As part of the program, students will be required to complete a 10-to-12 week summer research project, as well as two honors courses, which can be taken in any Engineering department.

Students will also be required to take a half-credit class that focuses on research techniques in advance of the research project and then a half-credit class after the summer in which they will receive the opportunity to interact and discuss their research with their peers.

Each of these classes will fulfil the requirements of the School of Engineering, and these scholars will not have an additional course load in order to graduate.

"The Rachleff scholars program gives students even more opportunity to do independent research with faculty members, and I think it's great that Andy and Debbie Rachleff have made this possible," said President Amy Gutmann.

Engineering freshman Evan Mossop gave up a scholars program at Cornell University once he was admitted to the Rachleff scholars program and the Ben Franklin scholars program at Penn.

"I'm very excited to be in both the programs, because there are a lot of opportunities to do research and to get in touch with the faculty," he said.

Engineering freshman Mohammad Oweis said he was always interested in research and being a part of the program has made pursuing that interest "ten times easier."

"This is a great time to be an engineer," wrote Glandt.

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