Luring Top Talent to Pittsburgh the Scholarly Way

Ask Alysha Grenko what brought her to Pittsburgh and she'll tell you it was this: the three-year, $15,000 ARCS (for Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) scholarship.  “It was the tipping point,” says the Carnegie Mellon Ph.D. candidate.

Now studying in CMU’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Grenko’s pursuing potentially world-changing work in nanoscale semiconductor photovoltaic devices – that is, seeking ways to increase solar collectors’ potency, thereby greatly increasing solar’s viability as a global renewable energy source. “My commmitment to the world is the technological advancement of solar cells,” she says. “By incorporating nanodevices into solar cells we can double or even triple the efficiency of standard solar devices. I have a lot of hope for this.”

After earning a Penn State electrical engineering degree, the McDonald native spent five years in Delaware, in private industry research and development, before casting about for a graduate posting. “I was at a tough place at my job,” she recalls. “They were giving me promotions to stay, and I was agonizing over the decision. The ARCS scholarship helped me financially – and helped me decide. It was also a vote of confidence that this was the right thing to do.”

And when she graduates, freshly minted Ph.D. in hand? “The ARCS women don’t ignore us,” Grenko says. “They bring in industry representatives to talk to grad students, and they’ve just begun a new initiative with the Pittsburgh Tech Council. There are jobs in Pittsburgh. This is a real need, and ARCS helps to fill that.”

How does $66 million sound?
Created in the late 1950s, at the height of the Sputnik scare, when Americans felt threatened by a Soviet satellite circling the globe, a group of Los Angeles women decided to help the U.S. respond by providing financial support for students in science and technology. With virtually neither bureaucracy nor operating budget, 100 percent of every dollar donated to the Award Fund goes directly to the scholars. Nationally, over a half-century, ARCS has donated more than $66 million directly to some 8,000 American science scholars at five dozen top universities.

As in all other things, in Pittsburgh ARCS has a unique wrinkle. Created a half-dozen years ago, ARCS-Pittsburgh works to bring the best and the brightest to Pittsburgh – and keep them here. So far, ARCS-Pittsburgh has raised some $575,000 to support 39 scholars at Carnegie Mellon and Pitt (and, shortly, Penn State) through 2012. “They also have the resources to get us involved in the Pittsburgh community. “I like Pittsburgh more than I expected to,” admits CMU scholar Katherine Ricke. “I like that it’s got a lot of things going on, a lot of cultural resources. I like the hills and the parks. Pittsburgh is refreshing.”

After growing up in Minnesota, outside St. Paul, and graduation from MIT, Ricke was working in Boston. Graduate school or not? “I was very happy to get the ARCS award,” she says. “I was also very surprised. My department nominated me for it before I even accepted to come here. They really wanted me, and that influenced me more than the award itself. It was a motivator -- the award made me feel good about coming to Pittsburgh.”

Working in CMU’s Engineering and Public Policy Department, she’s researching the potential impacts of climate-changing geo-engineering ideas, to wit: “if we can’t mitigate the negative impacts of global warming,” she says, “could another option be to try to cool down the planet through engineering means – like tinkering with the earth’s reflectivity, trying to reflect more sunlight into space. This actually happens with large volcanic eruptions. They cool down the planet a little. I’ve been modeling this.

As a nascent Pittsburgher, Ricke’s found “the ARCS ladies very nice,” she adds. “They’re very excited about our relationship. They’re really enthusiastic and really encouraging. It’s been a bonus for me in the Ph.D. process.”

And the Award Goes to
“We’re very proud of what we do,” nods Sue Harter, current ARCS-Pittsburgh President and a former trans-Atlantic Booz Allen management consultant. “We’ve been a silent mover for a long time.” Aside from their three-year stipends, scholars enjoy an annual November event – last year at the History Center – where they receive accolades as the best and the brightest – and special medallions. In addition, the 140 ARCS-Pittsburgh women provide educational events for their members, behind-the-scenes tours, informal lunches and dinners, networking opportunities, backstage tours (e.g., meet the Pittsburgh Opera cast), and so on. “We’re doing a very important job,” Harter says. “We bring these top scholars here, work with them, help convince them to stay in Pittsburgh after they graduate.” She pauses. “It’s something that I love.”

For his part, Bart Roland was not told about his ARCS award until he accepted Pitt’s invitation to attend grad school. Researching the cellular and molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases -- Huntingtons, Alzheimers, and Parkinsons -- he’s looking to find ways to cure or ameliorate the effects of these dreadful, debilitating conditions. “There’s nothing more exciting than getting up at 5 am,” he says, “going in the lab, and finding something that’s never been found before. Right now, we’re trying to understand the diseases, then correct one aspect at a time. If we correct enough pieces of the puzzle, we can improve the lives of patients. It’s a slow process,” Roland adds, “but we don’t give up.”

Meeting regularly with Millie Ryan, his ARCS sponsor, the Saginaw native enjoys their tète-a-tètes at Oakland’s Union Grill. Catching up over Pittsburgh Salad – “you know,” he says, “the one with the fries in it” – he says he looks forward to meeting with Pittsburgh-based technology and engineering companies. “The point,” Roland says, “is to introduce the ARCS scholars to future employers. It’s particularly important for people in engineering. I’m looking for a very exciting career that will be benefit society and keep me entertained,” he adds. “And I love Pittsburgh. It’s a great city. I love the fact that I can walk anywhere.”

So says Alysha Grenko. “I’m a Pittsburgh native who was excited to come back after 10 years away,” she agrees. “I hope to live and work here after my Ph.D. and see Pittsburgh establish itself as a black, gold, and green city.”

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Abby Mendelson’s latest book, End of the Road, a collection of short stories, is available at amazon and bn.com.

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Pictures: Alysha Grenko; Kate Ricke; Sue Harter; Bart Roland; Alysha Grenko

Photographs copyright Brian Cohen