The 2008 Engineering Graduate Symposium will be the second year for the combination of three separate events highlighting the College's graduate programs and graduate student research. Graduate Programs Information Day, PREVIEW, and the Engineering Graduate Student Symposium will integrate into one large-scale program for current and prospective graduate engineering students. This format will continue to allow current graduate students an avenue to showcase student research. At the same time, prospective graduate engineering students will have the opportunity to attend poster and oral presentations as well as visit a specific engineering department of interest. Below is a brief history of each program.

Engineering Graduate Student Symposium (2000 - 2006)
The graduate student symposium was started in the Fall of 2000 for the graduates students of the Mechanical Engineering Department as a way of collaborating and sharing their research amongst themselves in a friendly environment. In 2004, the graduate students of the Biomedical Engineering Department were invited to join the event, and in 2005 the Materials Science & Engineering graduate students were likewise invited. The joint event turned out to be successful with the graduate students involved being exposed to different research topics across the departments. In 2006, this idea was expanded on by extending invitations to the entire College of Engineering graduate student body to participate in the event as well as be involved in the planning. The goal was to further the interdisciplinary collaboration and, to that end, the topical sessions included presenters from as many relevant departments. The 2006 symposium had approximately 200 participants with about 150 oral and 100 poster presentations. On the day of the event, the number of attendees was estimated to be 400.

Graduate Programs Information Day (2000 - 2006)
Graduate Programs Information Day began in the Fall of 2000 by the College of Engineering Office of Graduate Education. The program was intended to provide a uniform campus visitation program for prospective masters and doctoral students. The event was open to all engineering undergraduate students at the University of Michigan as well as students attending other institutions. Annually the event brings roughly 200 students to campus to explore the possibilities of an engineering graduate degree. During the day long events students have opportunities to listen to featured speakers, attend admissions/funding workshops, interact with graduate student panels, meet with faculty, and visit a specific engineering department of interest.

PREVIEW (2003 - 2006)
The PREVIEW program began in the Fall of 2003 with exclusive funding from a National Science Foundation Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate Grant. The program targeted under-represented students wishing to pursue a Ph.D. in the field of engineering. GEM, LSAMP, McNair, and Meyerhoff Scholars were also invited to attend. The program ran in conjunction with Graduate Programs Information Day with some extended programming requirements. Students attended more workshops related to pursuing graduate education along with social events and activities to get acquainted to Ann Arbor, MI. The program hosted roughly 50-60 students annually from multiple institutions throughout the U.S.