ACerS Mentor Programs

Register today for The American Ceramic Society’s (ACerS) Mentor Programs. ACerS offers the following programs:

The ACerS Mentor Programs have been designed to equip participants with the insight, tools, and connections necessary to make a lasting impact in their future career.

The goal of ACerS Mentor Programs is to connect members in an impactful way to help them grow personally and professionally. Many mentor program participants choose to return each program year to take on a new mentee, and/or continue with an existing mentee.

We encourage all who are interested to sign up for one or more of the mentor programs being offered.

Please note that every effort will be made to match mentees with an appropriate mentor. However, due to the availability of volunteers in specific areas, we are unable to guarantee this.

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Connect | Motivate | Achieve

ACerS wants to help connect our members with each other in a mutually beneficial way. Past mentor program participants, whether mentee or mentor, have listed the numerous ways that mentorship has impacted their personal and professional lives.

Many mentor participants choose to return each program year to take on a new mentee, and/or continue with an existing mentee.

ACerS Student Mentor Program

If you are a student seeking to gain technical expertise in your field of study, professional development skills, practical advice, encouragement or support, then please consider applying for the program as a mentee.

If you have been successful in your materials science career and are seeking to give back in any of these areas, then please consider applying to be a mentor. You will be leaving a lasting impact on an amazing materials science student! We are seeking mentors for the Student program from all professional areas (university, corporate, national lab, manufacturing, etc.).

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The 2025 Student Mentor Program applications are now open. Sign up to be a mentee or mentor today!

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ACerS Faculty Mentor Program

If you are a faculty member seeking to gain pedagogical expertise in your field of study, professional development skills, practical advice, encouragement or support, then please consider applying for the program as a mentee.

If you have been successful in your university career and are seeking to give back in any of these areas, then please consider applying to be a mentor. You will be leaving a lasting impact on amazing faculty members (and their students)!

The 2025 Faculty Mentor Program applications are now open. Sign up to be a mentee or mentor today!

ACerS Industry Mentor Program

If you are an industry professional seeking to gain expertise in your field, professional development skills, practical advice, encouragement or support, then please consider applying for the program as a mentee.

If you have been successful in your industry career and are seeking to give back in any of these areas, then please consider applying to be a mentor. You will be contributing and giving back to benefit growth in your field!

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The 2025 Industry Mentor Program applications are now open. Sign up to be a mentee or mentor today!

Questions?

ACerS offers a Student mentor program, Faculty mentor program, and Industry mentor program.

Are you a faculty member seeking guidance? Also, willing to be a mentor to a student? Perfect! Sign up to be a mentor for the Student program, and sign up to be a mentee for the Faculty program.

Questions? Please contact Yolanda Natividad.

Perspectives from Mentor
Program Participants


Jorgen and Victoria are pictured above at MS&T19 in Portland, Oregon
Jorgen and Victoria are pictured above at MS&T19 in Portland, Oregon

Jorgen Rufner

Mentor

I loved the phone calls with my mentee. We connected with each other on the first phone call. The framework of each monthly email was great to initially direct and structure our discussions however we rarely needed them. It was mostly the two of us riffing and having conversations around items that were on my mentee's mind. Sometimes the topics were pressing and sometimes exploratory but regardless I was able to share my experiences and methods that worked for me in the past as well as what I do presently. I hope it is a relationship that continues well into the future throughout both of our professional lives.

Victoria Christensen

Mentee

My mentor, Jorgen, helped me with so many things during my first year of graduate school! He gave me great advice on figure-making when I was preparing to give my first seminar on my research and technical communication when I travelled internationally to Japan with my research group. He also opened my eyes to what it is like transitioning from working at a large company to a smaller one and the pros and cons of each type of job. We have very similar personalities and were able to relate to each other in so many ways! Getting to meet in person at MS&T 2019 in Portland was the icing on the cake of a wonderful mentorship program! I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with him throughout my time in graduate school and my future career!

Personalized advice on professional development

The student mentorship program, facilitated by the ACerS President’s Council of Student Advisors (PCSA), gives students the chance to obtain personalized advice on professional development.

The conversations with my past mentor gave me great insight into day-to-day academic life for young faculty. I was also able to get answers to questions I had about things such as time management, developing good writing habits, networking, and conflict resolution. The mentorship program has added a lot of value to my graduate training.

Levi Gardner

Mentee

Some of our GOMD24 conference mentorship program participants pose with Elvis.

New! ACerS Conference Mentor Program

This NEW program has been created so that first-time conference attendees may get the most out of their conference experience by connecting with individuals that are excited to support new attendees.

The ACerS Conference Mentorship Programs will focus on conference attendance. ACerS also offers year-long ACerS Mentor Programs, which are separate from the conference mentor programs.