SHPE - Winter 2008 - (Page 34) CONFERENCE 2007 many participants. By the time Reyeq Badran Saffarini boarded his flight in Puerto Rico, he had five interviews scheduled. At the conference, he interviewed with five additional companies and left Philadelphia with two employment offers. Ten attendees from Oral Roberts University also experienced similar success. As a group, they left the conference with 15 interviews and at least six offers. “That’s what it’s all about for us,” said Rosa Rivas, chapter president. “We all uploaded our résumés onto OneSHPE, which made sure that employers knew who we were and could get in touch with us.” Based on the feedback received from students, professionals, corporate sponsors and SHPE leadership, “Just about everyone agrees that the first SHPE Conference was a mega success,” said Monique Jackson, conference chairwoman. “The event had just the right mix of educational, motivational, recruiting and social elements. The students were happy with the increased number of available positions and the companies were extremely happy with the increased number of qualified student candidates.” SHPE’s National Board of Directors and Regional Student Representatives. (front row) VNUR Jorge Ortiz, NUR Allan Morales, Secretary Dora Abreu, President Diana Gomez, Vice President Manuel Hernandez, Treasurer Annette Jimenez, RVP V Michael Gutierrez, (middle row) RVP II Ricardo Carlos, RVP II Ismael Mendoza , RVP I Kathleen Gonzales, RVP IV Iliana Limon, RVP VII Conchita Jimenez, RVP VI Adriana Ocampo, NGR Victor Cervantes, (back row) RSR IV Francisco Rivera, RSR V Joel Guajardo, RSR III Samantha Kilroy, RSR I Linda Murillo, RSR VII Jordan Gorochotegui, RSR VI Jonathan Gomez and RSR II Melanie Marin. ities were featured in many workshops such as IBM’s project management seminar, wherein teams implemented the concepts as they assembled various products from electronic kits. (Photo SHPE-CSUN’s Miguel Urrea, Ronald Rugamas and Monique Herrera show off their projects.) representing more than 240 companies at the career fair. Interview slots filled up quickly, but those who used OneSHPE to post their résumés ahead of time were ahead of the pack. The well-timed conference led to overwhelming success for Another highlight was a panel discussion and book signing with eight Latinos featured in the inspirational book “Ay Mijo! Why do you want to be an engineer?” and its author, Edna Campos Gravenhorst (Photo ). Lifetime Membership Since its inception in 2003, the ranks of SHPE lifetime members have grown at a steady pace, with the greatest surges taking place during a special ceremony at the SHPE Conference. As the 20 newest members came forward, each explained what inspired his or her lifetime commitment to the Society. Most equated lifetime membership with a vow to continu- John Aldrete, Pablo Luzunaris, Monica ously give back to the Hispanic technical community. For exam- Rodas, Tatiana Mendoza, Frank ple, many credited their current career success to the support and Barragan. preparation they received as student members and desired to serve as professional role models to those coming behind them. Such was the case for George Kousaros, the recipient of this year’s Student Role Model Award and the first student to become a lifetime member. “I’m not the same person I was three years ago,” he explained. “I know I’ll be staying involved after college, so it’s a good investment. Nothing is more important.” Others, like Motorola’s Graciela Tijerina, viewed it as an Alfredo Mendez, Napoleon Pinos, Pete opportunity to band with others in providing mentors and Cardenas, Graciela Tijerina, Melanie resources for the next generation of engineering students and, Weber. ultimately, responding to issues of national concern. “We have a crisis with diversity and inclusion,” she said. “Although we’re competing to recruit the best talent for our companies, there is a need to develop our Hispanic youths and Michael Zamarron, Enrique Gomez, prepare them to enter corpo- Fred Muñoz, George Kousaros. rate America.” In a gesture of solidarity, MAES President Mike Acosta became a SHPE lifetime member and invited SHPE President Diana Gomez to become a lifetime member of MAES. “We have a groundbreaking partnership between strong, longtime organizations,” he said. “This confirms that we’re in this together.” Currently, there are nearly 200 lifetime members. Ninety percent of the one-time Mike Acosta and fee goes toward an endowment to fund scholarships for deserving students. Nora E. Rincon. The conference featured concurrent programs to address the needs of all its stakeholders, including professionals, pre-college students and individuals interested in or currently pursing graduate studies. During the Pre-College Symposia, Master Chief Petty Officer Joe Campa was recognized with the first Community Leadership Award, which will now carry his name (Photo µ). Advisors also participated in roundtable discussions to share best practices and ideas to improve academic excellence and organizational development in their chapters (Photo ¸). Four competitions provided a venue for students to show off their technical savvy and team skills. Then everyone sat back to enjoy a spectacular Academic Olympiad Game Show, which humorously featured “Cash Cab,” “Singing Bee” and “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” By the last day off the conference, students were eager to meet with recruiters 34 SHPE R Winter 2008
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