Jennie Smith did not always see graduate school as part of her future.
Born and raised in Arizona, Smith chose to stay close to home to study electrical engineering in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. A doctorate, however, felt out of reach.
“Graduate school did not feel like something that was achievable when I was an undergraduate,” Smith says. “Once I realized that graduate school was less about being the smartest person in the room and more about being persistent, curious and willing to grow, it shifted from feeling unattainable to feeling like a logical next step.”
Across the Fulton Schools, faculty are intentionally creating opportunities for students to engage in research early, helping them build relationships with mentors and establish academic pathways that help learners advance from undergraduate studies into doctoral research.
As Arizona’s semiconductor, aerospace, artificial intelligence, or AI, energy, and other advanced technology sectors continue to grow, efforts like these aim to retain engineering talent and build a pipeline of researchers equipped to strengthen the state’s workforce and economy.
Early research opportunities ignite career paths
For many Fulton Schools students, a path toward an advanced degree begins long before applying to a doctoral program.
Smith’s introduction to research came during her sophomore year through the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative, or FURI. The program gives students hands-on lab experiences and independent or thesis-based research under the guidance of faculty mentors.
David Allee, a professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Fulton Schools, invited Smith to complete a project focused on radio frequency, or RF, and electromagnetics.
“At the time, I had not yet taken all the coursework necessary to fully understand the project from a theoretical perspective,” Smith says. “But the experience piqued my interest and showed me how widely used and valuable it is to understand.”
That early exposure changed the direction of her academic career.
Smith pursued RF-focused coursework, secured an internship and later accepted a full-time position in the field. Today, her doctoral research centers on wireless RF antenna designs that support passive, noninvasive diagnostics for implanted medical systems.
Jennifer Blain, a professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Fulton Schools who advises Smith in her doctoral studies, highlights programs such as FURI and the Summer Research Initiative, or SURI, as catalysts that introduce students to research before they begin considering graduate school.
Rather than waiting for students to discover research independently, faculty mentors often invite students into projects aligned with their interests.
“I connect with the top students from my undergraduate courses and encourage them to consider doing a FURI research project with me or another faculty member early on,” Blain says.
Programs such as FURI are effective because students contribute directly to faculty research rather than simply observing from the sidelines. The structure created by these programs helps students envision an attainable pathway to graduate research and beyond.
“[These programs] are critical in retaining our top undergraduate students and help them start to consider graduate degrees,” Blain says.
Smith’s experience is not unique. For twin sisters Kerri and Kylie Welch, both now pursuing doctoral degrees in electrical engineering, early research experiences helped solidify their decision to remain at ASU after completing their undergraduate degrees.
After graduating from Chandler High School, the sisters chose the Fulton Schools for its engineering reputation and proximity to home. While completing their theses in Barrett, The Honors College, they worked alongside faculty members and fellow students to develop a tool that incorporates circuits and radiation effects modeling, which exposed them to a research area they had not previously encountered.
“We were able to apply knowledge from our circuits classes while also being introduced to concepts of radiation effects,” Kylie says. “The research opportunities were an important factor in deciding to continue pursuing engineering at ASU.”
Those experiences deepened through faculty mentorship. Kylie connected with Allee through the FURI program, while both sisters were mentored by Professor Hugh Barnaby during their capstone project and through the SCALE program, which focuses on research in radiation effects in electronics.
“The technical expertise and support offered by our mentors in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering is why we chose to continue at ASU for our PhD,” Kerri says.
Matthew Marinella, an associate professor of electrical engineering in the Fulton Schools who now advises both Kerri and Kylie in their doctoral studies, says stories like the Welches’ are common. Early research and mentorship opportunities often help students recognize where advanced degrees fit into emerging fields.
“When students explore career opportunities in advanced electronics technologies with faculty, they find that many of the most interesting careers at the forefront of microelectronics and semiconductors require advanced degrees,” Marinella says. “This has led to increasing interest in our graduate degree programs.”
Faculty mentorship helps students envision advanced degrees
Research experiences may spark interest in graduate school, but mentorship often helps students imagine themselves succeeding there.
For Smith, that guidance came from multiple faculty members, including Allee and Michael Kozicki, both professors in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering.
“Each of my interactions and experiences reinforced that faculty are genuinely invested in student growth,” Smith says.
That support extends beyond engineering coursework. During Smith’s senior design course, Kozicki invited a patent agent to speak to the class about patent law and intellectual property work. That experience inspired her to pursue a Master of Legal Studies degree through ASU Online while working in patent prosecution.
Blain says strong mentorship also helps students navigate challenges that often accompany advanced research, including failed experiments and long timelines.
“Her mentorship extends well beyond a single interaction and the technical side of research,” Smith says of Blain. “She genuinely invests in her students’ professional development and well-being consistently over time. Her sustained support has been instrumental in keeping me motivated in my doctoral journey.”
Current electrical engineering doctoral student Saif Elsaady’s experience followed a similar trajectory. Elsaady attended Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix after moving to the U.S. from Cairo, Egypt. He considers his move to Arizona as foundational in shaping his academic and professional path and chose ASU because it allowed him to stay home while building research and industry connections.
Initially interested in applied mathematics and statistics, Elsaady became drawn to how those concepts could be used in real-world systems. Over time, these interests evolved toward semiconductor manufacturing optimization and data-driven decision-making.
A pivotal experience came while working with Jeff Zhang, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering.
“He helped me identify a research direction that I was genuinely interested in and supported me in exploring that space within his lab,” Elsaady says. “That experience gave me clarity and confidence in pursuing research more seriously.”
Today, Elsaady balances his doctoral research, which focuses on applying data-driven and statistical methods to improve decision-making in semiconductor manufacturing systems, with his role as a platform engineer with Arm, Inc.
Structured degree pathways reduce barriers to graduate education
For some students, deciding to pursue graduate school also depends on whether the path feels realistic.
Programs such as the Accelerated Master’s program help make that transition easier by allowing students to begin graduate coursework while completing their undergraduate degrees, reducing both time and cost.
For Elsaady, this program played a major role in making graduate education feel more achievable.
“This structure gave me the flexibility to connect with faculty, gain deeper technical exposure and continue progressing academically while working full time,” he says. “That experience made pursuing a PhD feel like a natural and attainable next step.”
Kerri and Kylie Welch also obtained their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering through the program. By the time they began doctoral studies, they had already established relationships with faculty mentors, gained research experience and built a sense of belonging within the school.
“We enjoyed working closely with faculty and students during our undergraduate studies, which factored into Kerri and me staying at ASU to pursue our doctoral degrees,” Kylie says.
The transition feels continuous instead of intimidating. For Smith, staying at ASU for her doctoral studies felt equally natural.
“Staying at the Fulton Schools for my doctoral studies felt like the most natural and strategic path forward for advancing my career,” she says.
Supporting Arizona’s growing technology industries
Retaining in-state students has become increasingly important as Arizona’s semiconductor, aerospace, energy, AI and other advanced technology sectors continue to expand.
“It’s critical to retain our top students to keep the amazing talent from the Phoenix Metro area here to help ASU continue to contribute heavily to the local semiconductor industry,” Blain says.
She adds that critical partnerships and initiatives tied to Arizona’s growing ecosystem, such as the Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub, or SWAP Hub, and SHIELD USA, help strengthen connections between university research and industry needs, creating opportunities for students to engage with work shaping the future of microelectronics.
Marinella says Arizona’s rapid industry growth in advanced chip production places ASU in a unique position to help prepare the engineers and researchers needed to support a changing technology economy, similar to how universities like Stanford and Berkeley helped shape Silicon Valley’s early workforce.
For students like Smith, the Welch sisters and Elsaady, that opportunity means they do not have to leave Arizona to pursue advanced research or meaningful technical careers. Instead, many are finding pathways to grow as researchers close to home — and, in the process, helping strengthen the state’s future workforce.
