Reflecting its mission “to provide education, leadership, and support for the profession of Engineering across all disciplines of practice,” the New Hampshire Joint Engineering Societies (NHJES) is inviting students to its annual fall conference in October.
NHJES is made up of organizations such as; Structural Engineers of New Hampshire (SENH), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and many more.
According to NHJES Board Member Frank Xydias, engineering instructor at Milford High School & Applied Technology Center in Milford, participation in the conference will provide students with a unique opportunity.
“It is not often that high school students have the opportunity to attend a professional workshop and present their concepts in a real-world application,” he said.
This year’s invitation follows a similar one for last year’s conference in which Milford students attended workshops and breakout sessions. In addition, students Matthew Chase and Nikolas Liamos brought their prosthetic bike project to showcase at the 2017 NHJES conference.
One change this year, however, is that the invitation is statewide and open to 12 different STEAM/STEAM groups. Xydias noted the grand vision for this year is to host 12 different groups that include 3 students and 1 teacher from the following groups: PLTW, VEX Robotics, US First Robotics, DOT TRAC, Young Inventors, or others. At this event, they will set up a table display with their projects.
“It is important for students to see the natural progression from interest to career and ways to support those careers through professional networks,” he said.
At the conference, high school students will also be able to learn about current technology and trends happening in industry.
“We ultimately hope these high school students will become members of NHJES or other professional organizations so they can give back in ways they received,” said Xydias. “We want them to see the value in collaboration and on-going training and education.”
He said there is also an immediate experiential learning component for students who attend the conference.
“Matthew and Nik arrived on-time at last year’s conference and ready to work,” he said. “In professional collars, shirt and tie, they greeted passers-by and talked about their project. It was the type of environment that challenged them to think about “why” and answer common questions about it, which is exactly what they will encounter in the engineering design process…It was a ‘text book’ idea board of sharing, but we were not in a classroom.”
These real world tests, noted Xydias provide students with valuable, potentially life-changing insight(s).
“Professional networking is a big part of this and other industries,” he said. “This conference can provide budding engineers with an inside glimpse into this world, a chance to talk to veteran engineers and learn from people in the industry today.”
To learn more about the conference, which takes place on October 9 in Concord and is supported by numerous sponsors who are donating space to students, visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZljhkSLKJYNw-sPMYnqC2H5gzLYS2PzCvK_1KiecNQE/edit.
To sign up, click https://goo.gl/forms/aUIWi1S3HFldPzjk2.