Student Support

A National Science Foundation grant will provide support to selected students and early-career engineers (e.g., postdocs or recent graduates working in industry or national labs) from the United States to participate in the International Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC 2024) and the 52nd North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC 52) to be held at Knoxville Convention Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, on June 17-21, 2024.

Key Dates

March 15, 2024

Application deadline

April 1, 2024

Notification of award

April 9, 2024

Awardee registration deadline

Online Application

All applications for the NSF Student/Early Career Researcher Travel Award should be made via the online portal. Applications submitted in any other way will not be considered for the award.

Fill out the online application form.
BEFORE beginning on your online application form you should have the following two items ready to upload:

Personal Statement: In 150 words or less, please identify and explain the broader impacts of your academic or industrial research/practice, particularly as it addresses the challenges faced by manufacturing industry. Do not simply cut-and-paste an abstract from your paper or poster. [Note: You will be required to paste this statement into the appropriate text box in the online application].
Signature Form: This form must be signed by the applicant and their advisor or supervisor and uploaded along with the online application. The application will be considered incomplete without this form uploaded. The form can be downloaded from the Qualtrics Survey link provided above. Make sure the form is a PDF file size of not more than 2 MB size and has the required filename format: Travel2024_yourlastname_yourfirstname.pdf. You will be instructed how to submit during the online application.

Important: Please Read Carefully

Do not register for the conference yourself if you are applying for this NSF Student/Early Career Researcher Travel Award. Your registration fee and lodging accommodation will be covered by the travel award. In other words, this is not a process where you pay for registration and lodging and get reimbursed afterward. The costs will be managed directly, so that awardees never have to carry these charges. The mandatory author registration deadline is April 9, 2024. Hence, if you do not receive one of these awards you will still have time to register for the conference at the “early bird rate” (April 9, 2024).

Conference key dates available are at: https://utconferences.eventsair.com/2024-msec-namrc/.

Before applying, please note that to qualify for the award you must (no exceptions):

Reside and study / work in the United States,
Attend the conference and participate in the technical sessions and other events, and
Attend the Early Career Forum organized by ASME/MED and NAMRI/SME (at the conference).

Travel Award Contact:
Dr. Yong Chen, Professor
Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA USA
Phone: 213-740-7829; Email: YongChen@usc.edu

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions: The award will cover registration and lodging for the entire conference. The awardee is responsible for paying for travel and other expenses.

An awardee's advisor/supervisor must endorse the application (see instructions above for Signature Form for application).

If you are planning to apply for an award, do not register for the conference until you are informed of an award decision. This notification will be made before the conference. “Early Bird” registration deadline (April 9, 2024).

We anticipate making around 60 travel awards.

You must be studying or working in the United States at the time of the conference to be eligible for an award.

The following individuals are eligible to apply for the award: undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and working engineers in industry or a national lab who have received their most recent degree within the last three calendar years (i.e., since January 2021 for the 2024 conference).

In the selection process, preference will be given to applicants from historically marginalized communities; applicants who have not previously attended or presented their work at this conference; applicants who have not previously received an NSF travel award for this conference; and applicants who do not have access to other travel support (e.g., from their educational institution or place of employment).

This award will cover specific lodging only reserved by the conference host (at the University of Tennessee’s Residence Hall), not any other self-booked hotel rooms.

The application deadline will not be extended.

No late applications will be considered.