Shayla Sawyer of Rensselaer

Researcher Shayla Sawyer, standing, works with a student.

Shayla Sawyer is a researcher who maintains the perspective of a student in her role as teacher. She’s in her second year as assistant professor in the electrical, computer and systems engineering department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY).

“To be a research professor at a research institution, you have to be an excellent researcher and an excellent teacher simultaneously,” she says. “Every day I set goals: to get one step closer to publishing research results, to get a project funded, to be a better teacher.”

Rensselaer is one of the oldest engineering schools in the nation. Its 7,500 or so students come from forty-eight states and sixty-seven countries. More than 450 faculty members are on staff at campuses in Troy and Hartford, CT. The curriculum emphasizes hands-on learning for undergraduates. Graduate students and faculty attract funding to support their research from major corporations and government agencies.

Sawyer arrived on campus as a grad student after earning her 2003 BSEE at Hampton University (Hampton, VA). She was just in time to apply for a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fellowship.

Sawyer’s fellowship was administered by Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE, Oak Ridge, TN). Contacts there helped her network with researchers in both the national and smaller research labs. In fact, she spent summers on site at the lab of a collaborating partner, National Securities Technologies, in Santa Barbara, CA.

The fellowship paid her tuition for three years and gave her a stipend as well. That’s money her professor didn’t have to dedicate to her support. The financial security allowed Sawyer to focus on research for her dissertation, and writing the fellowship application “helped me focus my thesis from day one.”

Sawyer collaborated with Sensor Electronic Technology Inc (Columbia, SC) on her thesis research, which involved low frequency noise characterization of gallium nitride (GaN)-based light-emitting diodes. Her research may have applications to highly efficient and self-contained water purification systems that could be used in remote locations.

After completing her PhD in 2006, Sawyer stayed on at Rensselaer to continue her research and teach her eager students. Her job is to examine the concepts in the core engineering course she teaches and make the material understandable. She sees it as having 170 bright engineering minds posing questions and offering ideas and opinions.

“Teaching allows me to think of my area of study in a different way,” she says. “It has to be easy to explain what you are doing and why.”

As a professional, Sawyer values the support of organizations like IEEE (www.ieee.org) and the Materials Research Society (www.mrs.org). The conferences and annual meetings are good venues for presenting papers and building networking contacts. Being a woman of color makes her instantly visible; failing to perform is not an option!

“Success at anything is impossible without mentors,” Sawyer says. The adviser who directed Sawyer to the DHS fellowship has acted as her sponsor ever since, proposing her name to colleagues. She maintains a relationship with him, and gets input from others as well.

“If I sit with these people for just ten minutes,” she explains, “they will keep me from going the long way around. In ten minutes they can help solve a three-month problem.”

Sawyer’s also willing to listen to her harshest critics. “If you react in a way that lets them know you want to hear what they have to say, they can be a great help,” she says.

Sawyer grew up in Erie, PA. Her father was an electrical engineer and her mother a physical therapist. They set high standards for her and emphasized the importance of education.

Sawyer and her fiancé are coordinating schedules to set a wedding date. Her fiancé is a lab manager in a biological research lab and is looking to expand his experience in the health field. She looks forward to raising a family.

Rensselaer supports women and minorities in the sciences in many ways, Sawyer notes. One example: RAMP-Up (Reforming Advancement Processes Through University Professions) helps women develop their careers as professors. RAMP-Up is an NSF-funded project to improve faculty opportunities for women. It provides mentors for junior faculty women as encouragement to develop and pursue academic careers. At a recent meeting, Rensselaer president Shirley Ann Jackson presented 2009 career campaign awards to women faculty who have worked with senior faculty mentors to develop strong career plans.

Academia is a place of continuous development and learning for the professor as well as the student, Sawyer says. “I have to develop and learn. People will remember you whether you want them to or not.”

Sawyer’s students and colleagues are certain to remember the positive mark she is making on their lives and careers.