Work-in-Progress: Development of an HBCU/Research 1 Collaborative to Increase African American Semiconductor Manufacturing Researchers

Laura Sams Haynes; Kinnis Gosha; Talia Capozzoli Kessler; R. Christian Ford; Whitney L Nelson

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Conference: 2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD)
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: February 9, 2025
Start Date: February 9, 2025
End Date: February 11, 2025
Conference Session: Track 3: Technical Session 3: Work-in-Progress: Development of an HBCU/Research 1 Collaborative to Increase African American Semiconductor Manufacturing Researchers
Tagged Topics: Diversity and 2025 CoNECD Paper Submissions
Page Count: 11
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/54132
Download Count: 5

Paper Authors

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Laura Sams Haynes Georgia Institute of Technology

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Dr. Laura Sams Haynes is faculty and Director of the Office of Outreach in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Laura is passionate about developing and launching various outreach initiatives for K12 Atlanta Public Schools (APS) partners, including students and school counselors, as well as fostering HBCU partnerships, collaborations, and pathways, often with a focus on NSF grant funding or industry partnerships.

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Kinnis Gosha Morehouse College orcid.org/0000-0001-8605-4672

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Dr. Kinnis Gosha (Go-Shay) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Director of the Culturally Relevant Computer Lab at Morehouse College. Dr. Goshaâ€™s research interests include conversational agents, social media data analyt

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Talia Capozzoli Kessler Georgia Institute of Technology orcid.org/0000-0002-8257-8150

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Talia Kessler, MSPP is a research associate at The Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC) at Georgia Tech. As a research associate, she works on research and evaluation projects centering on K-12 STEM education. She has a Master's degree in Public Policy from the Georgia Tech and is currently studying towards a PhD in Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University.

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R. Christian Ford Georgia Institute of Technology

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Whitney L Nelson

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Abstract

[Program Name}: [Top-5 RI Engineering Institution]/[Top-5 HBCU] Collaborative to Increase CHIP Computer Engineering Research Pathways and Workforce Development

[Author's Name]

[University/Institute]

ABSTRACT (Work-in-Progress Submission)

Keywords: Computer Science; Engineering; Undergraduate; Race/Ethnicity

Collaboratively responding to the national security crisis resulting in the 52.7-billion-dollar 2024 bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, [top-5 RI] Computer Engineering program and [top-5 HBCU] Computer Science program (in local proximity) are partnering via a collaborative, funded by an NSF CISE-MSI level-1 three-year planning grant beginning October 2023 and currently completing its first year of implementation, to increase African American students possessing knowledge of Computer Science AND Computer Engineering to address the national mandate for US chips research and workforce development.

A work-in-progress abstract submission, this presentation focuses on the grant’s first year implementation of the collaborative’s symbiotic strategic approach related to the PreFreshman component of the partnership, designed to create a stronger cohort of incoming [top-5 HBCU] Computer Science freshmen and their awareness of opportunities to collaborate with the [top-5 RI] Computer Engineering program. Future outcomes target increased retention of the [top-5 HBCU’s] Computer Science majors and more students with increased interest in and ability to participate in undergraduate research. In turn, the [top-5 HBCU] will provide the [top-5 RI] engineering program well-trained dual-degree engineering transfers and incoming master’s and doctoral students, with the [top-5 RI] engineering program providing access to chips research expertise, access to existing programs, student mentoring, collaboration on proposals, and access to research labs.

The critical context for this planning grant-funded collaborative was born out of the nationwide shortage in semiconductors, complicated by the global pandemic, which made it difficult for the chip industry to meet increasing need for chip-based products. While demand is high in the US, only about 12% of global chips supply is produced nationally. According to a quote from NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, posted on NSF’s LinkedIn profile page January 31, 2023, “Future semiconductors and microelectronics will require transdisciplinary research spanning materials, devices, and systems, as well as the engagement of the full spectrum of talent in the academic and industrial sectors.”

The [top-5 RI] engineering program is well-versed in all areas of the semiconductor stack and building chips, from hardware to AI, as core components of its research enterprise. The NSF CISE-MSI funding supports sustainable collaboration to expand research opportunities and infrastructure at HBCUs via partnerships with well-established R1 institutions, like the [top-5 RI] engineering program, via mutually beneficial partnerships like those featured in this collaborative, deigned to forge reciprocal, sustainable alliances between a [top-5 RI] engineering program and a [top-5 HBCU].

In closing, this work-in-progress presentation will forecast future goals of the partnership, as the [top-5 HBCU] ultimately intends to hire doctoral graduates from the [top-5 RI] engineering program seeking positions as HBCU faculty, resulting in publications and research proposals from the postdocs while employed at the [top-5 HBCU]. In the long term, these postdocs will fill full-time positions in industry, national labs, and HBCUs. As such, outcomes of this collaboration will fuel best practices addressing the national need for diverse graduates in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, specifically related to chips research and development.

References

[1] K. E. Howard and D. D. Havard, “Advanced placement (ap) computer science principles: Searching for equity in a two-tiered solution to underrepresentation,” Journal of Computer Science Integration, vol. 2, pp. 1, 2019.

[2] M. T. Nietzel, "Hbcus lead nation in black baccalaureates who later earn doctoral degrees," Forbes, August 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/ 2022/08/19/hbcus-are-nations-leading-institutions-for-black-baccalaureate-graduates-who- Later-earn-a-phd/?sh=165151218903. [Accessed Feb. 2, 2023].

[3] L. J. Sax, K. N. Newhouse, J. Goode, M. Skorodinsky, T. M. Nakajima, and M. Sendowski, "Does ap cs principles broaden participation in computing? An analysis of apcsa and apcsp participants," in Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, Portland, OR, USA virtual, March 11-14, 2020, pp. 542-548.

[4] J. Wang, H. Hong, J. Ravitz, and S. Hejazi Moghadam, "Landscape of k-12 computer science education in the us: Perceptions, access, and barriers," in Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education, March 2-5, 2016, Memphis, TN, USA, pp. 645-650.

[5] J. Wang and S. Hejazi Moghadam, "Diversity barriers in k-12 computer science education: Structural and social," in Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, March 8-11, 2017, Seattle, WA, USA, pp. 615-620.

Citation
Format

Haynes, L. S., & Gosha, K., & Kessler, T. C., & Ford, R. C., & Nelson, W. L. (2025, February), Work-in-Progress: Development of an HBCU/Research 1 Collaborative to Increase African American Semiconductor Manufacturing Researchers Paper presented at 2025 Collaborative Network for Engineering & Computing Diversity (CoNECD), San Antonio, Texas. https://peer.asee.org/54132

TY - CPAPER
AB - [Program Name}: [Top-5 RI Engineering Institution]/[Top-5 HBCU] Collaborative to Increase CHIP Computer Engineering Research Pathways and Workforce Development

[Author&#39;s Name]

[University/Institute]

ABSTRACT (Work-in-Progress Submission)

Keywords: Computer Science; Engineering; Undergraduate; Race/Ethnicity

Collaboratively responding to the national security crisis resulting in the 52.7-billion-dollar 2024 bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, [top-5 RI] Computer Engineering program and [top-5 HBCU] Computer Science program (in local proximity) are partnering via a collaborative, funded by an NSF CISE-MSI level-1 three-year planning grant beginning October 2023 and currently completing its first year of implementation, to increase African American students possessing knowledge of Computer Science AND Computer Engineering to address the national mandate for US chips research and workforce development.

A work-in-progress abstract submission, this presentation focuses on the grant’s first year implementation of the collaborative’s symbiotic strategic approach related to the PreFreshman component of the partnership, designed to create a stronger cohort of incoming [top-5 HBCU] Computer Science freshmen and their awareness of opportunities to collaborate with the [top-5 RI] Computer Engineering program. Future outcomes target increased retention of the [top-5 HBCU’s] Computer Science majors and more students with increased interest in and ability to participate in undergraduate research. In turn, the [top-5 HBCU] will provide the [top-5 RI] engineering program well-trained dual-degree engineering transfers and incoming master’s and doctoral students, with the [top-5 RI] engineering program providing access to chips research expertise, access to existing programs, student mentoring, collaboration on proposals, and access to research labs.

The critical context for this planning grant-funded collaborative was born out of the nationwide shortage in semiconductors, complicated by the global pandemic, which made it difficult for the chip industry to meet increasing need for chip-based products. While demand is high in the US, only about 12% of global chips supply is produced nationally. According to a quote from NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, posted on NSF’s LinkedIn profile page January 31, 2023, “Future semiconductors and microelectronics will require transdisciplinary research spanning materials, devices, and systems, as well as the engagement of the full spectrum of talent in the academic and industrial sectors.”

The [top-5 RI] engineering program is well-versed in all areas of the semiconductor stack and building chips, from hardware to AI, as core components of its research enterprise. The NSF CISE-MSI funding supports sustainable collaboration to expand research opportunities and infrastructure at HBCUs via partnerships with well-established R1 institutions, like the [top-5 RI] engineering program, via mutually beneficial partnerships like those featured in this collaborative, deigned to forge reciprocal, sustainable alliances between a [top-5 RI] engineering program and a [top-5 HBCU].

In closing, this work-in-progress presentation will forecast future goals of the partnership, as the [top-5 HBCU] ultimately intends to hire doctoral graduates from the [top-5 RI] engineering program seeking positions as HBCU faculty, resulting in publications and research proposals from the postdocs while employed at the [top-5 HBCU]. In the long term, these postdocs will fill full-time positions in industry, national labs, and HBCUs. As such, outcomes of this collaboration will fuel best practices addressing the national need for diverse graduates in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, specifically related to chips research and development.

References

[1] K. E. Howard and D. D. Havard, “Advanced placement (ap) computer science principles: Searching for equity in a two-tiered solution to underrepresentation,” Journal of Computer Science Integration, vol. 2, pp. 1, 2019.

[2] M. T. Nietzel, &quot;Hbcus lead nation in black baccalaureates who later earn doctoral degrees,&quot; Forbes, August 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/ 2022/08/19/hbcus-are-nations-leading-institutions-for-black-baccalaureate-graduates-who-
Later-earn-a-phd/?sh=165151218903. [Accessed Feb. 2, 2023].

[3] L. J. Sax, K. N. Newhouse, J. Goode, M. Skorodinsky, T. M. Nakajima, and M. Sendowski, &quot;Does ap cs principles broaden participation in computing? An analysis of apcsa and apcsp participants,&quot; in Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, Portland, OR, USA virtual, March 11-14, 2020, pp. 542-548.

[4] J. Wang, H. Hong, J. Ravitz, and S. Hejazi Moghadam, &quot;Landscape of k-12 computer science education in the us: Perceptions, access, and barriers,&quot; in Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education, March 2-5, 2016, Memphis, TN, USA, pp. 645-650.

[5] J. Wang and S. Hejazi Moghadam, &quot;Diversity barriers in k-12 computer science education: Structural and social,&quot; in Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, March 8-11, 2017, Seattle, WA, USA, pp. 615-620.
AU - Laura Sams Haynes
AU - Kinnis Gosha
AU - Talia Capozzoli Kessler
AU - R. Christian Ford
AU - Whitney L Nelson
CY - San Antonio, Texas
DA - 2025/02/09
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Work-in-Progress: Development of an HBCU/Research 1 Collaborative to Increase African American Semiconductor Manufacturing Researchers
UR - https://peer.asee.org/54132
ER -