Revision as of 20:03, 22 February 2012

Do you have questions for Dr. Chris Maziar, our guest speaker?

Write them below.

Note: Please read this page on "how to address speakers" before posting your questions.

• Dear Dr. Maziar, what was the biggest factor that made you decide to work in the world of academia as opposed to industry? - Seth Strege
• Dr. Maziar, can you contrast some of the pros and cons between academic research and industrial research? - Matthew Wickesberg
• Dr Maziar, many people are afraid of getting trapped in the world of academia and becoming unemployable in industry. Is this a valid fear?
• Dr. Maziar, I often hear of achievements from academic research, but very rarely do I hear of those achievements actually being put into practice. Typically, they're either "20 years out", and I never hear of them again, or some company has a competing result and that typically gets used in industry over the academic result. This isn't always true of course, but for the most part, it is. Do you know why this is, or do I just happen to be paying attention to the wrong circles? - Spencer Julian
• Dr. Maziar, what is the advantage of getting MSEE and then PhD or getting the direct PhD? What are the key aspects to look at?
• Dr. Maziar, what background do you see as valuable for a prospective faculty member? - Joseph May
• Dr. Maziar, we often hear of faculty members running businesses or start-ups in parallel with their academic duties. Having traversed the academic circuit so extensively, what are your opinions on this? Do you think it is something worth pursuing, and if so, how does one handle the various intellectual property issues that arise? - Aditya Balasubramanian

• Dr. Maziar, your biography mentions that you developed several courses to improve the performance of new electrical engineering students in Texas. I believed that the new emerging major called engineering education is focused on how to improve the performance of engineers, have you ever heard about this major? If you know it, what do you think about this major's employment prospects? - Xi Chen
• Dear Dr. Maziar, how has the academia experience shaped you as an engineer and how different would you had been as a professional if you had decided to take the industry path instead? -Alberto Peralta
• Dr. Maziar, In your experience, what are the most efficient ways to teach engineering? I hear much about efforts being made at the university level, but I am a firm believer that interest must be piqued long before that. Skills such as problem solving, critical and creative thinking, etc, I believe those things should be taught in early childhood or at the latest, adolescence. I also think it would behoove people well if industrial arts were coupled with math and science, in learning how to design or craft things. As opposed to them being on complete opposite sides of the spectrum in junior high and high school. I've met many an engineer or engineering student who can write down an equation, but can't change a tire nor have they soldered anything in their life. (And in some aspects, I'm guilty of this myself) When designing a product, I'd think that engineers would need to know how something is built in order to design it more effectively. I believe a "hands-on" approach is essential to any field. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but that's why I pose the question. There seems to be an almost 'fear' amongst younger people to have to learn to do something by hand, or with your hands literally. I think it's a detriment to one's confidence. What efforts are being made to make engineering more 'hands-on', at all educational levels? And would this yield more confident, better-prepared, and more competent engineers, in your opinion? --Aaron Beers
• Dr. Maziar, I always heard an opinion that a master student should pay more attention on industrial research and a phD should be focus on acdemic research. How do you view this opinion? --Yangyanze Gao
• Dr. Maziar, I am thinking of pursuing a graduate degree in electrical engineering, would you recommend that I do it as soon as I graduate as an undergrad or get some experience from the industry and then go to graduate school? - Zhi Wang
• Dr. Maziar, could you offer any general advice for students about to start a PhD in ECE? -Will McGrath
• Dr. Maziar, do you recommend going back to school if you've taken time off from it for work/your career? -Stephen Edwards
• Dr. Maziar, if you have to choose, for all the universities that you have worked or studied, which university would you think has the best employment potential for graduate students and why? --Hongfei Zhou
• Dr. Maziar, many people go into industry with the plan of returning to school later for a graduate degree, assuming the person does make the choice to return for graduate school, do you think that the experience from industry is a benefit for the student pursing a graduate degree? -Zachary Smith

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