Grad News | FAMU-FSU

The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering news for graduate students

Happening

Lunchtime Food Trucks will be at the Shaw Building's picnic area on the corner of East Paul Dirac Drive and Pottsdamer Street starting at 11:00 am. Lunch truck tentative schedule here.

COE Cafe: Closed Aug. 2 through Aug. 24. | Fall 2025 Hours - Mon - Fri, 7:30am - 3:00pm | Menu

2025 New Faculty Start, August 11, 2025

RSVP NOW: Health Tech Webinar with Industry Leaders Maha Sallam and Lawrence, August 14, 2025, 10:00am, VIRTUAL (IGNITE)

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Annual Meeting, August 18, 2025, 8:00am-5:30pm, Parkview at Cascades ballroom, 414 East Bloxham Street.

RSO Orientation, August 12, 2025, 4:00pm-5:00pm, Virtual (Amwake)

Grad Student Orientation, August 21, 2025, 8:00am-5:00pm, B135, (Evans)

New Faculty Orientation, August 22, 2025, 12:00pm - 3:30pm, A-115 at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Confirm your attendance by emailing Duo Liu.

Fall Semester Begins, August 25, 2025

Q&A Welcome Week, August 25-29, 2025, 8:00am – 4:00pm, B Atrium, (Amwake)

Assistant Dean for Administration Search Committee Meeting, August 27, 2025, 10:00am - 11:00am, B202 for Zoom viewing (Brown)

IGNITE Event: Access to Capital for Startups, featuring Chris Edwards, Regional President of MidSouth Bank, August 28, 2025, 10:30am-11:30am, at IGNITE Tallahassee 1729 W Paul Dirac Dr. Innovation Park.

Labor Day Holiday, September 1, 2025, College closed

RSO E-Board Meeting, September 8, 2025, 5:00-7:00pm; TBD, (Amwake)

EDGE Involvement Fair, September 17, 2025, 4:00-6:00pm; A & B atriums, (Amwake)

STEM Resume Cafe, September 25, 2025, 10:00am - 2:00pm, A Atrium (Lazar)

Engineering Ambassador Network (EAN) SE Workshop, September 26-28

STEM Career & Internship Fair, September 30, 2025, 9:00am-3:00pm, All common areas. (Lazar)

FSU Seminole Futures, October 1, 2025, all majors career fair

RSO E-Board Meeting, October 6, 2025, 5:00-7:00pm; TBD, (Amwake)

ORNL Student Workshops, October 15, 2025, 8:00am-5:00pm, IRCB (Keller)

FAMU Homecoming, October 18, 2025

FSU Discovery Days, October 20-23, 2025, TBD (Shearer)

Engineering Ambassador Network (EAN) SE Workshop, October 24-26, 2025, TBD (Keller)

FSU Homecoming, November 1, 2025

Veteran's Day Holiday, November 11, 2025, College closed

Joint Management Council Meeting, November 18, 2025, 2:00pm - 3:00pm, Location B202 (Brown)

Thanksgiving Day Holiday—No Classes, November 26-28, 2025 (Wednesday-Friday)

Last Day of Classes, December 5, 2025

Final Exams, December 8-12, 2025

Fall Semester Ends, December 12, 2025

Bookmark college events webpage.

New Series: Quantum Bites Brown Bag Lunch

Quantum bites

We’re excited to announce the launch of Quantum Bites, a new monthly brown bag seminar to spark connections, share exciting breakthroughs and grow a vibrant community in Quantum Information Science and Engineering (QISE).

What is Quantum Bites?

This is more than a seminar series; it’s a space to exchange ideas, explore cutting-edge research and inspire collaborations across disciplines. Whether deep into quantum research or just curious, you’ll leave each session with fresh perspectives and new connections.

Format:

One-hour brown bag lunch sessions- 40-minute presentations on recent impactful research—your own work or QISE topic overviews
20-minute open discussion and Q&A
Presenters: Faculty, students and postdocs from across the college

Schedule:

Second Friday of each month. First session kicks off at 12:00 noon in B-202 on September 12.

How to Participate:

Please email Wei Guo:

Your name and interest in participating
Names of all students and postdocs in your group whom you’d like to include

This is an excellent opportunity to stay current with quantum developments, foster interdisciplinary collaboration and support our growing quantum research community.

Questions? Feel free to reach out to Wei Guo.

Grad Studies: Updates and Reminders

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and are excited to start the fall semester! I wanted to send a couple of reminders in light of the upcoming fall semester.

Mindy Abate is out of the office on extended leave. Please do not email her. If you have any questions, always check with your department Graduate Coordinators first. If the question needs to be escalated, please email me instead of Mindy.
Enroll for fall classes if you haven’t already!
- Funded graduate students (RAs, TAs, GAs title III students) – you must be registered in 9 credit hours to receive funding and your tuition waiver.
- PhD Candidacy Exam – if you are completing your candidacy exam this fall, you must be enrolled in a 0-credit candidacy course.
- Dissertation Hours – if you have already passed candidacy, you must be enrolled in at least 2 credits of dissertation.
- Thesis hours – if you are a master's thesis student, you need to register for at least 2 credits of thesis in your final semester. You need 6 total thesis hours before you can graduate.
- if you are planning to defend your dissertation or thesis in the fall, you also need to register for the 0- credit thesis or dissertation defense course.
If you do not register for classes before the drop/add period, you will receive a $100 late registration fee that we cannot waive.
Talk with your department graduate coordinator and faculty advisor to make sure you are in the correct courses, before drop/add ends.

All the best,

Kari Evans, Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies

Don't Miss Out - RSVP Now for Upcoming Health Tech Webinar with Industry Leaders Maha Sallam and Lawrence Binder

Date: Thursday, August 14th, 2025

Time: 10:00 AM (EST)

Location: Virtual

Are you interested in launching or scaling a health tech startup?

Join serial entrepreneurs Maha Sallam (VuEssence) and Lawrence Binder (VSURGIC) for valuable insights on what it takes to build and exit a successful health tech startup. With firsthand experience leading companies through acquisition and IPO, they’ll share how the industry has evolved, strategies to develop a successful health tech company, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Whether you're launching your first venture or scaling your next, this session offers actionable insights from founders who’ve done it before—and are doing it again.

Have a notepad and pen ready to write down their success tips, ask your burning questions, and prepare to take on the world of health tech startups!

Check out VuEssence and VSURGIC to learn more about both companies and their leaders.

Dissertation and Thesis Defenses

Dissertation Defenses - TBA

THESIS DEFENSES - TBA

For full defense announcement info click here.

Opportunities for Graduates

REMINDER: FSU New Mental Health Training Replacing Kognito

The Florida Board of Governors (BOG) requires all state university employees to complete mental health awareness training. This applies to all university Faculty, Staff, and OPS classifications (Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Assistants, Resident Assistants, and Temporary OPS). Since 2020, FSU has met this requirement through the Kognito training platform. Effective immediately, Kognito is being fully retired and replaced with FSU’s newly developed Mental Health Awareness for Faculty & Staff online training.

This new training was built in-house by FSU experts and campus partners to better reflect the realities of our community. It promotes mental health awareness, teaches suicide prevention strategies, and introduces participants to the C.A.R.E. steps—FSU’s structured approach to recognizing and responding to individuals in distress. The course equips employees with tools to engage in meaningful conversations that encourage help-seeking behaviors and contribute to a safer campus.

Please review the instructions for completing this important training requirement.

HOW TO REGISTER

For employees who previously completed Kognito: All current employees are highly encouraged to complete the new Mental Health Awareness training by the end of the Fall 2025 semester and may revisit the course content annually.

Register via OMNI HR
- Course Name: Mental Health Awareness Online
- Course Number: COKOG2
For assistance, refer to the Training Registration Guide or contact training@fsu.edu .

For new hires: Mental Health Awareness training remains part of New Employee Orientation (NEO).

Note: Completion of NEO automatically grants credit for both NEO and Mental Health Awareness.

To monitor completion reports by department: Department Representatives can run the query FSU_HR_TRN_BOG_MH to return employees by Department ID who have and have not completed the required training.

Refer to the Monitoring Mental Health Awareness Training Completion guide for additional information.

Questions? Contact Training & Organizational Development at training@fsu.edu or (850) 644-8724.

ACE Learning Studio

FSU's ACE Learning Studio Workshop calendar.

Need to Know

Find FSU Resources at response.fsu.edu

We hope you are having a fantastic summer and are finding ways to beat the heat. Whether new to FSU or returning to campus, we want you to know that your FSU community is always here for you. The resources listed below are available to help support your well-being, and we encourage you to reach out as you see fit. Thank you for showing kindness and support of one another.

To access important resources and updates, visit: RESPONSE.FSU.EDU

FSU Counseling & Psychological Services

FSU Employee Assistance Program

MiResource

TalkCampus

FSU Victim Advocate Program

FSU Case Management Services

FSU Food for Thought Pantry

FSU University Health Services

Engineering Our Future

We identified five strategic priorities to focus on for the next five years. For each of these priorities, we set goals with identified metrics for our college:

Keep up with the plan here.

Good to Know

MATLAB License Renewal Update

This is a follow-up to the recent message from College Computing Services regarding the MATLAB renewal.

Thank you to everyone who shared information about the importance of MATLAB to the college. Your responses were compiled and sent to FSU Information Technology Services (ITS) for discussion with FSU Procurement.

Please know that ITS is fully supportive and is actively collaborating with Procurement. FSU Chief Information Officer Jonathan Fozard met with Rosey Murton, Chief Procurement Officer, earlier this week to discuss the importance of the MATLAB renewal and explore solutions for FSU. Rosey is also fully supportive and understands the value MATLAB provides for academic instruction. The Provost, Faculty Senate, and IT Governance Council have also been informed of the progress, so be assured this is receiving significant attention across FSU.

The MATLAB renewal date is later this calendar year, and there is no expected risk to any Fall 2025 courses. We anticipate the renewal will be completed during the Fall 2025 term without any disruption.

We will continue to keep you updated on the status of the MATLAB renewal. If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Gary Eggebraaten, IT Director for the College of Engineering, or Jonathan Fozard, Chief Information Officer for FSU.

Innovation Park Trail and Pond Restoration

Cleanup and restoration work is now underway to address tornado damage to the trail and pond in the wooded area between West and East Paul Dirac Drive, behind the National High Magnetic Laboratory. To ensure the safety of all users, the trail will remain closed during the restoration period. The work is expected to be completed by mid-September, weather permitting.

For more project-related questions, please contact:

Lori Campbell, Director of Property Management

FAMU-FSU Engineering Career Services Liaisons

FAMU - Sean Collins - sean.collins@famu.edu

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Sr. Career Specialist, Career Services Liaison at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.

Spring 2025 Student Advising Hours:

Pre-Scheduled Main Office Career Coaching Appointments (Scheduled via Handshake)

Wednesdays: 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. In-Person, Virtually – COE #A143
Walk-In Wednesday Career Coaching (No Appointment Necessary):
Wednesdays: 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. In-Person – COE #A143

Pre-Scheduled Main Office Career Coaching Appointments (Scheduled via Handshake):

Mondays: 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Thursdays: 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

CPDC Website. Handshake

––––––

FSU - TBD Career Liaison for the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

Drop-in Career Advising at the Career Center (No Appointment Necessary):

DROP-IN ADVISING WILL BE CLOSED DURING SUMMER BREAK, AUGUST 4 - 15.

Pre-Scheduled Career Advising Appointments with a Career Advisor (located at The Career Center):

Login to NoleNetwork
- Click appointments on the menu bar options
- Click request a new appointment
- Select Virtual Career Advising
- Click search at the bottom
- Select your preferred appointment time to complete the booking process by following any additional prompts
- You will get a confirmation email and can always log back into your NoleNetwork account to update, change, or cancel your virtual career advising booking

Career Docs (Virtual Document Review):

Students can submit their resumes, cover letters, and other career-related documents for online review and feedback via Career Docs - https://canvas.fsu.edu/enroll/3LWPX7

Job Fairs and Events | Jobs, Internships & Experience | Plan Your Career

Things to Do

Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee

Hollywood Movies at the IMAX | Call (850) 645-7796 to Buy Tickets

Student tickets are $11. Check out all the new movies now playing, here.

Spirit Shop Ad — **Engineering Spirit Shop - Order here.** All orders can be picked up locally or shipped. If you have questions, please **email Dana**.

Resources

Engineering Career Services
Virtual and F2F advising hours here.

FAMU Academics
Links to academic info, student services, student life and more.

FSU Student Academic Resources
Links to academic info, official university announcements and public health information.

Online Scholarship Search

FAMU Scholarships
FSU Scholarships

In Case of Emergencies

Call 9-1-1. If you have concerns about your safety while on the engineering campus, call FSU Police 850-644-1234.

The Engineering Library Circulation Desk

Hours are: Monday - Friday – 8am to 5pm | (850) 410-6328 | A225 & A248

College Lost and Found

Student Services in B111 is the college lost and found location. If you've found something, drop it off here and if you've lost something, check here first!

Need a Mental Health Break?

Welcome to the Breakroom, B226-H, which is available for one person at a time, from 9:00 am - 4:50 pm on normal business days. Reserve a 50-minute slot using this link.

FAMU Office of Counseling Services located at 1735 Wahnish Way Suite 304 (CASS Building), provides a professional, safe atmosphere where students can discuss academic and personal issues. Schedule an appointment to talk to someone: (850) 599-3145 or counseling@famu.edu. For after-hours assistance, call BetterMynd for FREE at (844) 287-6963. In case of emergency, call FAMU Police Department at (850) 599-3256 or dial 911

FSU Counseling & Psychological Services is fully committed to the health and wellness of our students. We are offering Telemental Health Services (through zoom), in-person services, and Telephonic Crisis Support to students. Call us at 850-644-TALK (8255) to talk to a clinician today. Check online for more information.

Want to add something to the next issue?

Email us! Deadline is Wednesday for Monday publication.