Accelerate to Industry (A2i) Immersion Week – May 9-13, 2022

by | Feb 28, 2022 | Events

Accelerate to Industry is an innovative approach to workforce training for graduate students. First developed by the North Carolina State University, this program connects graduate students with industry companies to explore employment opportunities. The program helps graduate students develop the business, leadership, and communication skills that companies seek in new employees. 

The mission of A2i is to:  

  • Prepare graduate students, postdocs, and alumni for the wide range of available industry careers
  • Help Penn State graduate students secure industry jobs
  • Build a program that serves as a touch point for long-term collaborative relationships between industry and universities

Participants are exposed to unique training opportunities that will help them develop skills that support essential features of companies, such as leadership and teamwork, communicating with a non-technical audience, personal branding, entrepreneurship, intellectual property, business strategy, and managing global relationships. Sessions are led by industry professionals, career development experts, and Penn State graduate alumni. 

Penn State Immersion Week is an intensive experiential learning opportunity for late-stage graduate student and postdoctoral researchers that prepares participants for the corporate environment.  

The program includes a multi-day experience for graduate students nearing completion of their degrees (within 2 years for doctoral students and 1 year for master’s students) and postdoctoral researchers that allows for more comprehensive coverage of industry-specific topics through presentations and workshops along with professional development activities such as a company fair, team project, feedback sessions on job materials, networking sessions, and career panels. 

This program is for graduate students that have been accepted into the Accelerate to Industry (A2i) program at Penn State.  

For more information about the application process or A2i programming, please contact Dr. Sarah Ades, Associate Dean for Graduate Student Affairs, at sea10@psu.edu.