Well-honed, effective, and nimble communication skills are at the top of the priority list when industrial organizations evaluate talent and emerging leaders. Coupled with the fact that over 60% of graduate students and postdocs in the PME pursue a variety of careers in industry, building skills to communicate well with these audiences is absolutely key. The Communication Skills for Industry Program (CSIP) is a unique opportunity for PME graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to sharpen their communication skills for a range of interactions with industry professionals
The program incorporates effective communication skill development for real-world applications in industrial contexts such as job interviews, conferences, collaborations, investor pitches, and more. Program components include:
- Workshops introducing high-leverage strategies to effectively communicate with on R&D, hiring managers, and business-focused audiences
- Small-group networking meetings with industrial mentors
- Extensive opportunities to practice and receive feedback on communications
- A judged capstone presentation for industry representatives
This program takes place annually in autumn quarter.
If you are interested in participating in this program or have any questions please contact Laura Rico-Beck (lricobeck@uchicago.edu) or Briana Konnick.
Capstone Presentation Recognitions
Autumn 2025
Masters Students
- First Place: Sulagna Hazarika (Energy and Sustainability track)
- Second Place: Neal Bansal (Energy and Sustainability track)
PhD Student And Postdoctoral Scholars
- First Place: Ivan Vuong (Hubbell & Chang Groups)
- Second Place: Vishnu Dharmaraj (Tirrell Group)
Autumn 2024
Masters Students
- First Place: Amirali Monshizadeh
- Second Place: Ashley Ellis
PhD Student And Postdoctoral Scholars
- First Place: Kun Wang (Meng Group)
- Second Place: Joe Reda (Hubbell Group)
- Third Place: Jerry Hertzog (Rowan Group)
took first place among the master’s candidates, with Ashley Ellis taking second. Among the PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers, took first, took second and third.
Autumn 2023
- First place: Alex Taslakjian (Master of Engineering student)
- Second place: Riley Knight (Esser-Kahn Group)
- Third place: Regina Sanchez Leija (Nealey Group)
2022 - 2023
- First place: Adarsh Suresh (Rowan Group)
- Second place: Samir Hossainy (Rowan Group)
- Third place: Jeremiah Kim (Esser-Kahn Group)
2021 - 2022
- First place: Rachel Wallace (Hubbell Group)
- Second place: Andrew Ye (Park Group)
- Third place: Ande Hesser (Nagler Group)
