Program

Over one-third of the U.S. economy ($11 Trillion annually) directly depends on precision timing. Precision timing (PT) is an integral part of our national security. Incredibly, there is no degree program in the US dedicated to training young talent in the timekeeping technologies that underpin our society. In response, the University of Alabama (UA) has created the first MS and PhD concentrations in precision timing, incorporating courses in physics, engineering, and mathematics, developed through direct conversation with corporate and government partners. These conversations made clear that the field of precision time and frequency requires talent that can apply large-scale communication and negotiation skills across multiple STEM disciplines while considering business and national security interests as well.

The Alabama Collaborative for Contemporary Education in Precision Timing (ACCEPT) will develop an innovative graduate education model responsive to the unique needs for precision timing workforce development. ACCEPT will provide a comprehensive training and educational opportunity for trainees from physics, mathematics, and electrical and computer engineering. Trainees will combine coursework across these three departments with professional development in critical areas identified by precision timing experts (teamwork, leadership, ethics, communication), and put their training into practice via research experiences with ACCEPT partners, student-led initiatives, and networking at conferences and workshops.

ACCEPT fellows and trainees will take an interdisciplinary blend of courses to build a broad-based foundational knowledge necessary for success in the field. Courses suggested by our industry and government partners and external advisory board members are shown below. A subset of these courses may be selected depending on the needs of each student.  Note that the program is designed to be flexible and individualized based on student work and needs: Students will choose from a custom subset of the coursework options shown, and courses not on the list will be allowed with departmental approval.

The common core of elective courses (shown in green) focus heavily on building technical skills through laboratory immersion in both conventional laboratory and the UA time service environment. ACCEPT fellows/trainees will blend sufficient classroom knowledge in Physics, Engineering, and Mathematics with hands-on experience born of immersion is precision timing technologies. “Tech Immersion” courses in physics, engineering, and metrology build upon classroom skills in years 1 and 2 to get students ready for interdisciplinary industry immersion in and after year 2.Courses in black giving examples of classes that might be chosen in consultation with your advising team, composed of three UA faculty members: the student’s research advisor, their ACCEPT academic advisor, and the ACCEPT director. The wide range of courses allows students to build their interdisciplinary knowledge while also completing sufficient coursework to complete their departmental degrees.

Sustained professional immersion at leading precision timing partners will hone student’s technical and workforce skills in a real world environment. The first industry experience will occur in the summer after year one. Each summer, students will attend the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Time and Frequency Division’s annual time and frequency seminar. Starting in year two, students will attend the annual Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) meeting, and will progress from attendee to poster presenter and speaker as their research and professional skills mature. Pre-internship and dissertation plan retreat meetings are scheduled at the start of the first and second summers, respectively, to ensure student, faculty, and partners have established common goals, work plans, and timetables, and to ensure mentorship, meetings, and training are planned.

Holistic workforce development (professional, communication, scientific) integrates classroom training and lab/real world application to effectively work across academic, policy, governmental and industry sectors, and effectively advocate as a professional to a larger audience. Programs developed in concert with the UA Speaking Studio, Capstone Center for Student Success (CCSS) and Compliance, Ethics, and Regulatory Affairs offices focus on skills required for success in the precision timing field: teamwork, ethics, communication and leadership.

• Communication Skills.  While engineering degree programs currently require some element of communication training in their curriculum, they typically focus on communication in a technical writing context. Few programs have the time or expertise to give sufficient guidance in oral communication skills and ensure adequate feedback and personal skill development. As a result, many engineers are not prepared to act as advocates for their subject matter expertise or generate compelling arguments for support or resources from internal and external stakeholders. The approaches in this curriculum stem from proven results-based undergraduate and graduate-level communication courses, designed over a decade and implemented in the first year of the UA STEM MBA program, Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Engineering programs, and corporate and professional workshops.
• Teamwork.  The precision timing community is inherently interdisciplinary, requiring teams of physicists, engineers, and mathematicians for function in both industry and government. Thus it is critical for each trainee to gain both formal and experiential team skills training for workforce integration. ACCEPT will form a base using experiential learning and growth, with modules leveraging recent knowledge in evidence-based team science through four pillars: (1) Innovation, (2) Diversity and values, (3) Communication and Networking in the Workplace, and (4) Negotiation and Conflict Management Skills.
• Ethics.  Ethics and ethics compliance training with an engaging and broadly applicable approach will be developed by the UA Compliance, Ethics, and Regulatory Affairs office.  Once per semester, e-learning modules will be delivered for training, rotating every two years through (1) Ethical deliberation, (2) ethical decision-making, (3) research ethics, and (4) social responsibility. Scenario-based training will provide active learning as well as an engaging means for assessment and evaluation at the point of training. In parallel, all ACCEPT trainees will be provided access to the UA Ethics in Eight series, a set of 8-minute training sessions produced bimonthly to mirror current events or new developments in university and research ethics and compliance.

Research projects for ACCEPT fellows and trainees are designed in conjunction with our government and industrial partners, and focus on cutting edge innovations that solve today’s problems in currently-used technologies. The projects are organized into several research thrusts with interdisciplinary teams providing diversity in problem-solving approaches to find the best possible solution to real-world problems. Students will be collaboratively trained in an array of techniques not found in any one group, creating flexible problem solvers attractive to employers.

Have questions about the ACCEPT Fellowship Program? Reach out to our team for assistance here.Want to apply to the ACCEPT Fellowship Program?  Click here for information.