2003-2004 UF DOCTORAL MENTORING AWARD WINNER
Dr. Kenneth K. O
Professor of Electrical and Computer
Engineering
My students and I have established the Silicon
Microwave Integrated Circuits and Systems Research Group in
1995. Since then, the research group has been applying silicon IC
technologies to wireless communication systems (900 MHz to 100 GHz)
and has emerged as one of the leaders in RF (Radio Frequency)
circuits and technology. The group has grown to nine PhD, nine
Master of Science and one undergraduate students, one industry
professor and myself, and annual funded research has reached one
million dollars for the 2003-2004 academic year. Over the eight
years, three students have completed their high honor projects, one
student has finished a highest honor project, 13 students have
graduated with Master of Science degrees, and seven students have
successfully defended their PhD dissertations. The rate of
publications is 10 per year. In 2000, the group had papers at every
major silicon circuits and technology conference where the best in
the research and development of an industry with an annual sales of
several 100 billion dollars is presented. The most satisfying fact
about this is that these papers were authored by five different
students.
The goal of the doctoral program in the SIMICS group is to
nurture and to transform students into researchers and scientists
whom I can call my colleagues. In my colleagues, I look for
technical depth and breadth, independent thinking, good
communication skills, leadership and, most importantly, being a good
person. The way I try to bring out, instill and nurture these traits
is to challenge doctoral students to attempt to solve the difficult
engineering problems of the day with my guidance. It is my belief
that the problem should be sufficiently difficult so that a
candidate feels lost at some point in the program. Finding a way
from this with the help of advisor and others is the essence of
completion of a PhD program. Through this process, besides gaining
knowledge and learning how to gain knowledge, the students learn
humility. Through this process, they find inner strength and
confidence to lead and be independent in their thinking as well as
to face any challenges they encounter. Of course, to be able to
experience this in a protected academic environment with an advisor
whose primary mission is to nurture and educate is the unique
privilege to be in a PhD program.
A simple principle for guiding my conduct as an advisor to PhD
candidates, which my former PhD advisor shared with me is that a
professor is measured by his or her students and their success. It
is in the best interest of a professor to promote his or her
students and their work. To be an advisor means not only guiding a
student through the PhD program but also to have lifelong friendship
and mentorship helping to create and identifying leadership
opportunities for the former students as they mature in the
scientific and engineering community. This is first done by properly
crediting the work done by students. There is normally tendency to
credit the advisor for the work of PhD students. To overcome this,
at every chance available, the student's contribution must be
clearly stated. In addition, it is critical to build relationships
with the managements of corporations where the former students are
employed and professional organizations. Whenever possible, I
recommend my former students as technical reviewers for papers
submitted to journals and conferences. Another way of promoting
students is, whenever appropriate, to provide opportunities for
invited talks. I am relatively junior in the academic community, and
I am anxiously waiting for the day when I will be able to recommend
former students to technical committees of major conferences, as
well as for major awards in the field.
Good communication skills are a must for success in the
engineering world, and for being a professor and a leader. I require
all my foreign research students to take at least two semesters of
conversation/composition courses. This is obviously beneficial to
the students, but in the long run, this is also very good for the
advisor who has to read and suggest revisions of their papers and
theses. Additionally, the students are required to give
presentations on their research as well as topics relating to their
research to the group around two times every year. Critiques of
these presentations in a group setting are used to improve
presentation skills of the entire group. In addition, the students
are required to give five-minute updates on their progress each week
to the group. These are all implemented to increase information flow
in the group, and also to improve verbal communication skills of the
students in a group setting, as well as to help create an
environment where problems are openly discussed and solutions are
sought in a team setting.
A tradition in the group, which I work hard to maintain, is
students helping each other, and senior students helping to guide
junior students. This is done by helping students to experience the
practical benefits of helping each other, and being a good person or
a good team member. This is done by identifying situations where
students must work together, such as sending out a big circuit for
fabrication, preparing for a major research review or resolving
measurement problems affecting a large number of students, and
suggesting that students work together. For this to have the proper
effect, the task must be successfully completed, and this requires
the advisor's attention and interest. In addition, as students near
the completion of their PhD programs, they are asked to help and
work with junior students. This is necessary for transfer of
knowledge, and also provides opportunities for the senior students
to develop mentorship and leadership skills. In most cases, doctoral
students are asked to be a teaching assistant for at least one
semester. The students are asked to hold office hours and lab
sessions where a large number of students are present. This
sensitizes the students to the issues associated with teaching and
interacting with and motivating a large group. This is usually a
great opportunity for students to develop leadership skills.
This appears to have at least not caused any serious damage. It
has been only three years since my first PhD student graduated.
Despite this relatively short period, former students have already
started to make their marks. Dr. Chih-Ming Hung and Dr. Yo-Chuol Ho
made critical contributions in introducing an RF integrated circuit
for 2.4-GHz Bluetooth application by Texas Instruments Inc., which
is poised to dominate the market. Dr. Feng-Jung Huang has designed a
variable gain amplifier at MAXIM Inc., which has been selected as
the product of month by RF Design Magazine. Dr. Brian Floyd of IBM
Research Division at Yorktown Heights has been nominated by IBM for
the Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer Award. The
students are making the SIMICS Group, the UF Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering, the UF College of Engineering
and the University of Florida look great. Their successes, of
course, are the key for improving the reputation and quality. In the
past two years, we have seen noticeable improvements in the quality
of applicants to the department, especially in the electronic
circuits area. It is hard not to partially attribute this to the
successes of the doctoral students when they were at UF and now out
in the world. This, of course, places us on a path of improvement
with positive feedback. Personally, seeing the former students
succeed, and knowing that I have played a small role toward it, are
the most satisfying part of being a professor.
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