Monday Motivation #181 (4/15/24)

Happy Monday!

Last night I attended a ceremony to welcome new members to Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society. I’ve been to dozens of these events in the 25+ years since I became a member, and for the last couple of decades I’ve volunteered nationally with TBP to help provide professional development training to engineering students and professionals. This morning, I spent some time helping to finalize the paper decisions for the 2024 Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). A dozen years ago I volunteered to help update the website for the Graduate Studies Division of ASEE, and then worked my way through a variety of volunteer positions until I ended up in my current role on the Board of Directors.

Participating in these professional organizations has been an important part of my education and career, and helped me build a broad network of colleagues at universities, research facilities, and companies around the world. It’s so helpful to be able to email a colleague when I have a technical question, need some advice about how best to support one of my students, or want feedback on a research proposal — and many of these professional colleagues have become friends over the years. When I traveled to conferences and disciplinary meetings as a graduate student I often wondered just how my advisor knew so many people; now I spend much of my time at conferences introducing my students and colleagues to others with shared interests.

Building your own professional network is an important part of preparing for a successful career in engineering or academia, and this week I’m sharing some ideas and resources to help.

Katy

Three Things to Try This Week

Get Info — whether you’re chatting with someone at a conference or reaching out to an MSU alum on LinkedIn, knowing how to conduct an effective informational interview can help you learn more about career options in your field. MSU offers a variety of career development resources for students at all stages, including this advice for conducting informational interviews to explore what types of jobs might interest you after graduation: https://careernetwork.msu.edu/resources/informational-interviewing/

Be Engaging — presenting a research poster is often the first experience graduate students have at conferences, and can be a great chance to engage with a lot of different people in a short timeframe. Whether you’re presenting your work at the Engineering Graduate Research Symposium next month or getting ready for a summer conference, this advice can help you engage with the audience more effectively: https://www.scientifica.uk.com/neurowire/tips-for-presenting-your-scientific-poster-at-a-conference

Find your Fit — there are many different professional and disciplinary societies for engineering students and professionals, and figuring out which ones are the best fit for your interests and goals can feel overwhelming. This article offers an overview of the major benefits of belonging and highlights some of the larger societies focused on different areas of engineering: https://pdh-pro.com/pe-resources/comprehensive-guide-to-engineering-societies/

More Resources

• Last call for those who would like to attend the Engineering Graduate Research Symposium on May 2! This is a free event but registration is required, and closes on Friday (April 19). Learn more and get your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-engineering-graduate-research-symposium-tickets-687947307917
• Graduating this semester? Find all of the information about commencement, including information on ceremony livestreaming, here: https://commencement.msu.edu/
• Not quite as far along as you’d expected? It’s very common for students to think in January that they’ll graduate in April, and then discover they need a little more time to wrap things up. That’s fine! Just be sure to chat with your graduate program coordinator to figure out how to change an application for graduation or which requirements you still need to complete, and review the Graduate School’s list of thesis/dissertation due dates for future terms: https://grad.msu.edu/etd/etd-deadline-dates