{"46041":{"#nid":"46041","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Graduate Co-op Program Celebrates 25 Years","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s graduate co-op program, the nation\u0027s largest, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The program, coordinated by the Institute\u0027s Division of Professional Practice (DoPP), focuses on providing master\u0027s and doctoral students with specialized work experiences.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDespite challenging economic conditions, the program has remained viable, said Thomas M. Akins, DoPP executive director. \u0022We have registered more than 2,460 students for work over the past four years,\u0022 Akins said. \u0022Although we have felt the impact of the current economy like other programs, we have had more than 600 students work in graduate co-op positions in 2009.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EManish Mehta, a doctoral student in human-centered computing, began a co-op position with Walt Disney Imagineering Research and Development in Glendale, California, this summer and will continue through the spring of next year. In this capacity, he is working in a position directly related to his area of research, which involves developing interactive virtual characters.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Disney research lab is one of the best places to work in my research area,\u0022 noted Mehta. \u0022This experience in the \u0027wild\u0027 is allowing me to bring the ideas and knowledge that I have gained over the past five years into a more practical theme park setting where more than 60,000 guests visit daily.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDisney Imagineering is just one of approximately 50 companies that provide co-op opportunities for Georgia Tech graduate students.  For example, during the past year, the top 10 employers included Qualcomm Inc., Microsoft Corp., Google Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Intel Corp., NASA, IBM Corp., Texas Instruments Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Norfolk Southern Corp.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EParticipation in the program is nearly evenly divided among graduate program participants with approximately 53 percent of students in master\u0027s programs and 47 percent in doctoral programs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMehta highly recommends the program. \u0022I think the co-op program has provided me with practical experiences that have helped me formulate my vision and the direction and field for my career.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Program Focuses on Specialized Work Experiences"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"The Georgia Institute of Technology\u0027s graduate co-op program, the nation\u0027s largest, is celebrating its 25th anniversary.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Ga. Tech boasts nation\u0027s largest graduate co-op program."}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2009-10-20 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:09","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-10-20T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-10-20T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46042":{"id":"46042","type":"image","title":"Tech Tower","body":null,"created":"1449174347","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:47","changed":"1475894409","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:09","alt":"Tech Tower","file":{"fid":"190091","name":"tis83918.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tis83918_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tis83918_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":58313,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tis83918_0.jpg?itok=26ms-r4E"}},"46043":{"id":"46043","type":"image","title":"Manish Mehta","body":null,"created":"1449174347","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:47","changed":"1475894409","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:09","alt":"Manish Mehta","file":{"fid":"190092","name":"tuc84412.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tuc84412_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tuc84412_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":12878,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tuc84412_0.jpg?itok=AXoY6uLR"}}},"media_ids":["46042","46043"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.gradcoop.gatech.edu\/","title":"Graduate Co-Op"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2180","name":"co-op"},{"id":"2794","name":"disney"},{"id":"2182","name":"dopp"},{"id":"366","name":"Graduate"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003ELisa Grovenstein\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications \u0026amp; Marketing\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=lgrovenste3\u0022\u003EContact Lisa Grovenstein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-894-8835\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["lisa.grovenstein@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}