By Neil Nachbar

The University of Rhode Island Engineering and Technology Career Fair has become a hugely popular event, with more than 500 students and 85 companies attending each year.

Last year, the Leadership Networking Breakfast was introduced to give the student leaders of engineering organizations an opportunity to speak to some of the industry representatives prior to the career fair in a quieter, more private setting.

Approximately 15 companies were invited to attend last year’s networking event. This year, the breakfast was open to all companies that registered for the career fair. As a result, the industry representation doubled this year.

“The industry representatives were thrilled with the caliber of the students who attended,” said Tammy Leso, the URI College of Engineering Career and Internship Coordinator.

Sophomore Lucas Rodriguez represented two student groups, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the Resident Academic Mentors (RAMs).

“I enjoyed the opportunity to speak to the employers one-on-one in a more private setting,” said Rodriguez, who is majoring in chemical engineering and Spanish through URI’s International Engineering Program (IEP). “Practicing my networking and communication skills, as well as my elevator pitches, was a valuable experience.”

Rebecca Meyers, who is also an IEP student, studying ocean engineering and German, represented the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) as the group’s president.

“I was able to have in depth conversations with the company reps about our club, what we do, and what we represent,” said the junior from Long Island, N.Y. “As opposed to the career fair, where you spend the time talking about yourself and trying to receive an internship or job, I focused on promoting the club at the networking breakfast. I expressed an interest in the companies having a guest speaker come to our group’s meetings and for us to go on tours of their facilities.”

The presenting sponsor of the Leadership Networking Breakfast was General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB).

Midway through the event, URI College of Engineering Dean Raymond Wright introduced Craig Haverly, Manager of Manufacturing, Industrial, & Spatial Engineering at GDEB to say a few words to the student leaders.

Haverly, who graduated from URI with bachelor’s degrees in electrical and biomedical engineering and a master’s degree in electrical engineering, spoke about opportunities that exist in the defense industry for engineering graduates and the importance of being able to work with people from different engineering disciplines.

This year, two computer science student organizations were invited to participate in the event, in addition to the engineering groups. Here is the complete list of organizations that were represented.

• American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
• Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS)
• Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW)
• National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
• RAM Hacks
• Resident Academic Mentors (RAMs)
• Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE)
• Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
• Society for Women in Computing (SWIC)
• Society of Women Engineers (SWE)
• Tau Beta Pi (engineering honor society)
• Theta Tau (professional engineering fraternity)

Photos
View photos from the Leadership Networking Breakfast