The week of September 29 marks the kick-off of the third annual Engineering Discovery Week, an event that encourages engineering students to explore career paths and make informed decisions about a major that matches their personal ambitions and interests.

The School of Engineering Dean’s Student Advisory Council conceived of the idea for EDW based on feedback from graduating seniors. The students had identified the need for more proactive mentoring in choosing a major and in identifying potential avenues for applying their degrees after graduation. Students also wanted advice about courses that would best prepare them for a career in industry or in research; activities that would help them develop top-notch leadership skills, and the kinds of industrial experiences that would give them the practical knowledge and skills to best position themselves for employment after graduation.

While students traditionally seek advice from their academic advisors and the professional staff at the campus Career Development Center, the Student Advisory Council felt that with the rapid development of new technologies, alumni could provide current information about emerging technologies in their fields and could also provide valuable suggestions for how students could prepare themselves for future employment.

The week-long EDW program begins on Monday, September 29, with a discussion by three distinguished engineers and scientists from industry and academia who are working in the hottest new fields of information technology, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. The panel, moderated by Associate Dean Dr. Lester Gerhardt, will answer questions posed by students to unveil the secrets of technological innovation and leadership. The guest speakers will discuss their educational development, personal interests, and their strategies for reaching their present positions as an entrepreneur, a corporate leader, and a researcher. An informal question and answer session between panelists and the audience will follow the panel discussion.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evening, engineering departments will host interactive information sessions. Each session is designed to provide an overview of the discipline and the kinds of skills students must develop to perform well in that discipline, to showcase the cutting-edge research conducted by faculty and students in that discipline, to provide an opportunity for alumni to talk about the steps they’ve taken to shape their professional careers and to share lessons learned along the way. Undergraduate students in each discipline will also talk about how their cooperative educational experiences lead to identifying possible jobs and career tracks and helped them to learn something first-hand about a company that might later offer them full-time employment. Students are encouraged to ask questions that may help them to develop an plan for reaching their professional goals.

EDW will end on October 3, with a keynote speech by Rensselaer Key Executive TJ Wojnar from Exxon/Mobil who will talk about the importance of ethics in technological innovation and leadership.

Engineering students have an opportunity to invest in their futures by attending Engineering Discovery Week 2003.

Barbara Ruel