For the second time in its 7 year history, the 2021 Alum|NUM event was held virtually. A graduate panel of 9 students planned several events including an Industry Career Panel, featuring Dr. Kwan Leung (Intel), Dr. Xianouyn Chen (Dow), and Dr. Nick Miller (First Solar). Immediately following, the Academic Career Panel was held and featured Prof. Amanda Cook (University of Oregon), Prof. Jeremy Feldblyum (SUNY Albany), and Prof. Allison Roessler (Oglethorpe University). Over 100 students attended one or both panels. The afternoon session utilized Zoom breakout rooms to host the traditional in-person workshops for CV/Resume improvement and Speed Interviewing. 22 trainees had the opportunity to meet with at least 17 different alumni volunteers. We also had the opportunity to do a virtual networking session where students and alumni were paired up to chat about life, school, and industry jobs. Approximately 30 people participated.

Several events geared towards undergraduate students organized by the URAN|UM planning committee were held virtually the same day. Two graduate student panels discussing the “Application process” (Michael Lengel, Dominique Blackmun, Chae Kyung Jeon, and Mario Gaviria) and “Life in graduate school” (Madison Knapp, Danielle Maxwell, Carolina Rojas Ramirez, and Maiko Lunn) were well attended and provided undergraduate student questions with answers. Furthermore, graduate students and postdocs met with undergraduate students to review CVs and offer feedback. The URAN|UM event was capped off by a virtual poster session where 46 undergraduate students from 15 different schools presented their research.

Overall, there was positive feedback from both alumni and students. Many alumni expressed that they were excited to participate and happy they could remain connected with students despite a pandemic.

Thank you to Alum|NUM and URAN|UM committee volunteers Brady Anderson, John Andre, Gloria de la Garza, Derek Du Bois, Yilin Han, Kristine Parson, Stefani Schmocker, Taylor Soucy, Emily Wearing for organizing the 2021 event!