Pursuing a Personalized Program to Prepare for an Academic Career at an Engineering Department without a Formal Teaching Curriculum

Typically, when applying to graduate school for doctoral programs, students are not 100% certain of the route their careers will take: industry, academia or both.Most times though, they lean more towards one of these options.In such a case the potential graduate student tailors their applications /interests to schools with the kind of curriculum that fits their particular needs.Once in graduate school, their original preference may become stronger.On the other hand the preference may shift.In such cases the student hopes that their current situation affords them enough flexibility to still meet their career goals.For some students, until the end of the doctoral program they do not have a preference and they are open to either career path or a customized career path that is a mix of both industry and academia.This is usually challenging as proper planning and preparation are essential to succeeding in either career path.This paper discusses how a chemical engineering graduate student who started out interested in a career path in industry with the possibility of guest lecturing evolved.Halfway through her doctoral degree program her interest in sharing knowledge (academia) grew.Her various research and teaching experiences as a graduate student informed her decision to pursue a more academic career path with the possibility of industry involvement in the capacity of a consultant.Her department, like majority of the other chemical engineering doctoral programs, did not offer any structured program for PhD students interested in academia.So, she proceeded to design a personalized program to prepare herself for a successful teaching career with the guidance of a mentor.This program included a variety of targeted experiences that would culminate in a competitive teaching portfolio and a more confident prospective professor.