Characterizing Engineers who Return from Industry to Earn a PhD, and Their Impact on Innovation

这个工程教育研究项目旨在了解从工业岗位返回攻读博士学位的工程师的动机和贡献。该项目假设这些学生可以在学术界和工业界之间建立桥梁方面发挥关键作用，并可能在创新生态系统中发挥重要作用。通过帮助增加对这一学生群体的了解，拟议的研究可以帮助大学招募、留住并最大限度地发挥这类学生的潜力。该项目的广泛意义和重要性将影响学术政策和招聘策略，并促进基于研究的最佳实践。如果项目成功，研究将对研究界、创新政策以及旨在支持学生研究的政府项目产生广泛影响。该项目与NSF的战略目标重叠，即通过培养具有新能力和专业知识的工程人才来改变前沿。此外，NSF为社会创新的目标是通过创造对社会有用的结果和研究，为教育政策和实践提供信息。

This engineering education research project seeks to understand the motivations and contributions of engineers who return from industry positions to pursue Ph.D. degrees. This project hypothesizes that such students can play key roles in building bridges between academia and industry, and may play important roles in the innovation ecosystem. By helping to increase understanding of this student population, the proposed research can help universities recruit, retain, and maximize the potential of such students.The broader significance and importance of this project will be to impact academic policy and recruitment strategies, as well as contribute to research-based best practices. If the project is successful, the research can have broad impact on the research community, innovation policy, as well as government programs designed to support student research. This project overlaps with NSF's strategic goals of transforming the frontiers through preparation of an engineering workforce with new capabilities and expertise. Additionally NSF's goal of innovating for society is enabled by creating results and research that are useful for society by informing educational policy and practices.