Boyce Chang, a second-year doctorate student in the materials science and engineering department, received the award for Excellence in Mentoring with the LSAMP-IINSPIRE program. He received the award at the IINSPIRE LSAMP Annual Conference on February 4, 2017. His mentor, Dr. Martin Thuo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, nominated Chang.
Chang has been an active mentor for the National Science Foundation Louis Strokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NSF LSAMP) since 2015.
He worked closely with two undergraduates from the LSAMP program on their projects in both writing and performing experiments in the laboratory. One undergraduate mentee was from Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) who has recently joined the mechanical engineering department at Iowa State, and the second mentee was an Iowa State undergraduate student in materials engineering. Chang’s motivation to get involved in the mentoring program stems from encouragement and exemplary guidance from his former and current mentors.
“The experience has been great. Students from the program are very productive and eager to learn,” said Chang.
He continued, “The award was a pleasant surprise, but the credit goes to my entire research group, the Soft Materials & Matter Transport group, and especially to my advisor, Martin Thuo, who guided me throughout the program. This has truly been a group effort. Graduate students and post-docs in the group have all contributed in the mentoring process.”
Thuo said, “Boyce has been an excellent mentor for undergraduate research students, and I am delighted to see him get recognized for his efforts.”
About the LSAMP-IINSPIRE Program
The Iowa Illinois Nebraska STEM Partnership for Innovation in Research and Education (IINSPIRE) is an NSF LSAMP alliance among sixteen two-year and four-year colleges and universities working together to broaden the participation of underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the Midwest. The IINSPIRE Alliance colleges and universities collaborate to support students, increase their success, and provide students in the alliance with academic, research, training, and mentoring opportunities. The alliance consists of six two-year colleges, seven private bachelor’s degree-granting institutions, and three public state universities.
Information about LSAMP-IINSPIRE was taken directly from their website.