The one-on-one event allowed students and representatives to connect at a personal level.
The one-on-one event allowed students and representatives to connect at a personal level.

10/11/2023
By David Claudio

The UML Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) held its second corporate recruitment event on Oct. 3, 2023. As part of the event, BAE Systems, Boston Scientific, Geosyntec Consultants, Leidos, Liberty Mutual and Zoll visited the campus with the intent to hire engineers for internships, co-ops and full-time positions. The organizations were interested in a broad range of majors, including Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Environmental, Industrial and Mechanical Engineers, along with Computer Science, Informatics and Math majors.

The planning of the event started in April 2023. The idea was to host a one-on-one mixer, which would allow students and company representatives to connect at a personal level. “For this event, we doubled the number of companies from the first Corporate Mixer and diversified on the type of majors they were looking to hire,” said Daniel Bartlett, SHPE Board Member and event co-organizer. “We wanted to add an alternative to the Career Fair in a more private setting,” Bartlett added.

The event aligned with UML’s promise to guarantee each undergraduate a professional experience before graduation. It also aligned with UML’s strategic goal of improving our diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts. “While the event was open to everyone, companies were interested in hiring women and people of color,” said Amanda Mello, SHPE President and event co-organizer. 

“I feel like we were true to UML’s diversity goal, with gender and ethnicity, and we also expanded on the professional identity; the number type of majors looking for opportunities was outstanding,” said David Claudio, SHPE Faculty Advisor and Industrial Engineering Program Director.

With the assistance of Kerry Pucillo, Director of UML Corporate Relations, Mello and Bartlett identified the six organizations invited to be part of this unique opportunity. Each organization brought two representatives who interviewed our students for almost four hours. Approximately 85 students attended the event, and many had a chance to interview with multiple organizations. A total of 169 interviews were conducted, with some students already receiving callbacks for second-round interviews.

“We hope to continue building our relationship with these organizations and help UML find professional opportunities for our diverse student population,” said Mello.

SHPE officers are planning the next Corporate Mixer Event for Spring 2024. Mantenganse atentos (stay tuned)!

SHPE meets every Monday at 6 p.m. in University Crossing, room 490. For more information regarding SHPE, please contact us at shpe@uml.edu.