Congratulations CSTEP Distinguish Mentor
What is a Mentor? A mentor is a coach, guide, facilitator and trusted advisor. A mentor is someone willing to spend his or her time and expertise to guide the development of another person. Research indicates that strong relationships with faculty contributes strongly to students academic achievement, retention and graduate study.
Provides: Importance of a Mentor Leadership, support, and guidance to mentee Career development and graduate school advisement for the mentee Encouragement Advocacy for on going training in research Contribution as A positive role model for the mentee An enthusiastic/engaging with the mentee Approachable, understanding and genuinely interested in the well being (academic and otherwise) of the mentee Promotes responsible/ethical conduct of research
UB CSTEP Outstanding Research Mentor Award Criteria The award is designed to recognize and honor outstanding CSTEP research mentors who have contributed in the following ways: Mentoring Supervising Advising CSTEP undergraduate researchers Impacting CSTEP students academic and professional careers Supports CSTEP s mission to increase the success of underrepresented populations pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and the licensed professions
Dr. Folarin Erogbogbo Research Assistant Professor, University at Buffalo Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics
Research Methods Instructor PHD Chemical Engineering Tutor Research Mentor Research Intern Advisory Board Member Folarin CSEM Scholar Poster Competition Judge Student of the Year Grad School Panelist Grad. Conference Volunteer
Student Nominee Excerpts Dr. Folarin demonstrates true dedication to training and teaching as a mentor. He has an outstanding ability to assess his mentees strength and addressed their weakness when necessary to make his students better. Working with Dr. Erogbogbo, helped me to be self encouraged, understand the importance of family, learn to be humble, positive and also learn from everyone I work with. My self confidence has grown, as he says, if you are not confident in yourself, how do you expect someone else to be confident in you? Dr. Erogbogbo has always pushed me to do my best. His biggest lesson was to always ask, to always do, because if you don't you are already telling yourself, no. He told me to let others have the opportunity to tell me yes. In turn, I have had great academic successes and experiences. I don't think I would be going into an MD/PhD program, and especially one as good as I'm going to, if it were not for him. Much of my success at UB was all due to him. Dr. Erogbogbo helped me in my personal growth as a person. He increased my confidence immensely. He helped me go for my dreams, and with his help I now feel confident and excited to move on to the next stage in my life.
Dr. Mark Swihart Acting Director of Graduate Studies Director, Integrated Nanostructure Systems
Student Nominee Excerpts Whenever I needed a strong recommendation letter he never hesitated to write one. Whenever I needed to talk with him about my research, he always made time to see me. He was always there ready to listen to my concerns and answer my questions pertaining to research and life decisions. He made every effort to make me feel like a part of his lab and I have felt that way since day one. He has affected my time here at UB in a truly positive manner and it would not have been the same without his mentoring. He pays close attention to details but also leave room for students to grow. He worked hard to establish an REU program for undergraduate students to be able to do research. He gave me an opportunity to obtain my PhD degree by guiding me through the NSF IGERT Fellowship application process, which allowed me to go to graduate school and be free of financial worries. He gave me room to generate my own ideas and while at UB, he has mentored over 70 undergraduate mentees. I look forward to continuing a fruitful relationship with him and publishing high impact scientific papers. Dr. Swihart is an amazing mentor. He s extremely friendly, very welcoming, and very easy to approach. I have always found him to be a great pleasure to work with and a wonderful mentor.
Dr. Randall Rasmusson Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics
Student Nominee Excerpts I have decided to pursue graduate studies based on my experiences in Dr. Rasmusson's lab and with the CSTEP program. I was very fortunate to receive a strong and persuasive letter of recommendation from him. I will start the Program in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Miami in August. Dr. Rasmusson showed qualities that allows me to feel comfortable in his lab. He is understandable, patient, and holds high expectations for me, which shows his faith in my abilities, but also makes me believe in myself. Ihaveagained a bound of confidence and direction since entering his lab that I did not think I could achieve before.
Dr. Jennifer Zirnheld, Director and Assistant Professor Energy Systems Institute
Dr. Kevin Burke Senior Research Scientist/Adjunct Instructor, Electrical Engineering
Student Nominee Excerpts Dr. Burke has always encouraged leadership, and in this project he encouraged me to be the point person for the graduate and undergraduate students. He felt that I was ready to lead a project and knew this would be a great experience for me. Dr. Zirnheld holds all of her students at a very high standard and usually higher than the students hold themselves. This translates to the amount of responsibility I take in research projects, because I take on large roles in projects to meet her standards. Dr. Zirnheld allowed me to select my own projects of interest along with contributing to the projects that the graduate students were currently working on. I presented my work at the UB Celebration of Academic Excellence in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 She opened my eyes to what Electrical Engineering is and where it can take you. I'm in the process of tailoring my career towards her area of expertise (energy systems) and electronics. She definitely motivated me to do better throughout undergrad. The fact that she believed that I could be successful meant a lot to me because I had a lot of people doubting and questioning my abilities prior to college. It was good to know I had someone in my corner. From all the presentations and public speaking that we did during my time at the lab, I have became a better public speaker because I know how to adapt my message and tailor it to different crowds/groups.
Dr. Qing Ma Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice
Student Nominee Excerpts Dr. Ma has gave me guidance throughout my application process of applying to pharmacy school. He gave me tips and advice along the way. Dr. Ma is always checking up on me and asking me how classes are. He always gives me tasks that are challenging, but capable of doing. He understands stressful situations in school and motivates me to get through them. He equipped me to be ready for pharmacy school. I have my Pharm.D degree because of his training in the lab. He excepted highly of his students and made his student work hard in the lab to understand the importance of research. Before I started doing hands on work in his lab, he made sure I understood the purpose of the research in the lab, HIPPA laws and how to write my own methods. I will not be where I am if not for his mentorship.