MAGE Travel Grant Program

Maryland Applied Graduate Engineering (MAGE) offers a travel grant program for students in the Professional Graduate Engineering program. The travel grants are intended to help defray the expenses incurred by MAGE graduate students who are traveling to professional conferences that MAGE has an existing presence at to present papers or posters, and network with industry experts and thought leaders.

Some past conferences that students have attended as travel grant recipients include Society of Women Engineers (SWE), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and others. 

Read below for eligibility requirements, how to apply, and which conferences are open for applications. 

To be eligible, students must meet the eligibility requirements: 

• Be a Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) or Graduate Certificate in Engineering (GCEN) student.
• Have completed at least one academic semester as an M.Eng. or GCEN student.
• Be in good academic standing (i.e. have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher), be making satisfactory progress towards their degree, and be registered for the semester that the conference travel takes place (or, in the case of Winter or Summer, the semester immediately following).
• Must NOT have any failing grades (i.e. D+, D, D-, F, XF) or ungraded work due to judicial review (NG, J) on your graduate study transcript.
• Commit to two hours per day at the MAGE career/recruitment fair booth during the conference which will be scheduled ahead of time with the recruiter.

How to Apply:

• Submit one application for each conference of interest prior to the deadlines indicated in the chart below.
• Upload an essay that addresses the following to the application: 
  • Please describe in 500 words or less why you would like to be considered for a travel grant to attend the conference selected above and how your interests and goals align with the conference identity. 
  • If you are presenting at the conference, please specify your topic.

Additional Considerations:

• Students may receive one MAGE Travel Grant during their graduate education in the M.Eng. program and there are a limited number of scholarships available per conference.
• Priority will be given to applicants in their final semester with MAGE whose interest and goals strongly align with the conference.
• Only conferences that MAGE has an existing presence at will be considered for the travel grant program. Conferences that are not included in the application process will not be considered for a MAGE travel grant.
• Only students within the US can be considered for the travel grant program as international travel will not be covered.
• Recipient finalists may undergo an interview with MAGE staff during the selection process.

Award Letter and Travel Preparations:                       

• MAGE will notify travel grant recipients via email when a decision is made on their application and conference preparations have begun.
• It is the responsibility of the travel recipient to receive approval from their professor(s) for any class absences as MAGE sponsored travel does not guarantee any deadline extensions or approved absences.
• Recipients will be required to sign and return their award letter prior to any preparations being made.
• After the signed award letter has been received, recipients will meet with a MAGE staff member to plan conference registration and travel arrangements. 
• The travel dates will be set by MAGE staff based on the conference schedule, and no extended trips or personal travel time will be approved. No exceptions will be considered.
• Based on room and hotel availability, awardees may be asked to share a room with other awardees.
• Recipients should plan for any flights to depart from BWI airport unless travel costs necessitate another local airport being considered.

Conference Expectations:

• A mandatory pre-conference meeting will be required between all recipients and MAGE staff members attending 1-2 weeks prior to a conference.
• Each recipient will arrange booth times that do not overlap with other recipients with the appropriate MAGE staff member prior to conference attendance.
• Recipients must represent their program for 2 hours per conference day at the MAGE booth. Booth location and expectations will be shared at the pre-conference meeting.
• If any stipulations are not met, the student will be required to reimburse the award to MAGE.