Inauguration

Graduate School Expo

The 2012 GradExpo
Wells Conference Center
April 12 & 13, 9:00 a.m – 4:00 p.m.
www2.umaine.edu/gsg

Formerly the Graduate Research Exposition, the GradExpo (Graduate Academic Exposition) is an annual showcase for all graduate students across the wide spectrum of graduate programs at the University of Maine. It provides a platform for them to showcase the fruit of their explorations and research as well as their innovations and creations.

This year, 2012 the GradExpo takes place for two full days on April 12th and13th at the Wells Conference Center. Entrants are selected from graduate students at the University of Maine who want to present their work in an academically competitive atmosphere. Entries may consist of an academic poster presentation, art installation or performance, or oral presentation, and this year we are doing again PechaKucha for those who wish to try this exciting new way of presenting information.

In addition, new this year is dividing entrants into their separate academic categories: Physical Sciences and Technology; Natural Sciences; Social Sciences and Humanities. This evens the playing field among the participants while facilitating the judging of the events as well.

Our U.S. Senators and Representatives, as well as their State of Maine counterparts and Governor LePage, have all been invited to attend and see just what it is our graduate population accomplishes here. In addition, University of Maine undergraduates and students from all State of Maine institutes of higher education have been extended an invitation as well.

Also new this year is the presence of invited commercial exhibitors on the first day of the Expo. Maine companies, or companies with a Maine presence, have been invited to have a presence on Thursday. All companies that will be present at the GradExpo are companies that either have a partnership in research here on campus, actively hire University of Maine graduate students – or both. Some of the companies that have accepted are Boeing, PenBay, VWR, CES, Lonza, Thermo, Lonza, Pierce and KPL.

The last new feature is the invitation of the various graduate school departments, such as Information Systems, to have a presence at the GradExpo on Friday, so that they may attract the attention of the various undergraduates who are planning on attending.

The GradExpo has been revitalized this year. GradExpo and Graduate Student Government have been working very hard to make the new GradExpo a major drawing power to the University of Maine campus. As such the GradExpo has two major purposes:

1. The GradExpo provides a safe forum for graduate students, especially those that are new to academia, to practice the fine art of displaying and defending the efforts of their research and inquiries. From growing through the entry process, the preparation of abstracts, to actually preparing and presenting an academic poster, paper, art installation and of course the new form of PechaKucha. They go through a formalized judging procedure and hopefully win one of over $4,000 in awards for innovation and academic excellence. But of course the GSG is happy if those that participate gain the useful skills outlined above.
2. The GSG also sees the GradExpo as an excellent way to promote graduate studies and their utility to the University of Maine. We are actively encouraging undergraduates – future graduate students – to see just what it is we do here at the university and in the process hopefully pique their interest in graduate studies. We also encourage the state’s politicians to come and see what a vital interest graduate education plays in the university system and to the economy of the State of Maine. The commercial exhibitors are invited not only to benefit the students who are graduating from our graduate programs, but in addition to become aware of the entire scope of our graduate programs.

Image Description: Graduate School Expo

Image Description: Grad Expo