Project Grant 2433100

This federal Project Grant award of $174,615 from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) will fund a collaborative research project led by Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) to leverage natural language processing techniques to understand employer demands and student goals for mechanical engineering master's-level professionals.

The key objectives of this research project are to: 1) analyze over a decade of engineering job postings to extract in-demand skills, 2) conduct interviews with current master's students to understand their motivations and perceptions of the workforce, and 3) identify any misalignments between employer needs and student goals. The findings will help inform graduate curricula, student recruitment, and provide critical insights into the skills and benefits of terminal engineering master's degrees, with a focus on the mechanical engineering discipline. The research approaches developed through this award could also apply to other employment sectors, disciplines, and education research questions beyond engineering.