The new A&T (NoCATE) chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Halloween day to participate in the annual conference that took place October 31 through November 3, 2007. Nine students and Dr. Palmer made the trip in a university van, leaving campus at 2pm on Wednesday and returning at 8pm on Sunday.

It was the first group of Hispanic students to ever represent A&T at a national event.

The Aggie delegation (minus Carmen Lopez):
Back row: Marina Rincon-Bermudez, Joaquin Hernandez, Victor Esparza (president), Marjorie Manzanares (V.President), Johanna Ramirez Diaz, Guillermo Castrillo.
Front row: Kerwin Vargas, Maria Perez-Suarez.

             One accomplishment is worth mentioning first: the A&T Academic Olympiad team (students Joaquin Hernandez, Guillermo Castrillo, Marjorie Manzanares and chapter president Victor Esparza) won the region VII competition. This feat would be enough to celebrate, as our students were competing against established programs from all over the South East (such as NC State). However, after three elimination rounds with all seven regional winners, the A&T team was one of three left to compete in the finals.  Our team took second place behind Stanford University. Aside from the pride of winning over teams from institutions such as MIT, UC Davis, Texas A&M and University of Virginia and others, each student won a gift and a $750 scholarship.

             During Thursday and Friday, our students attended workshops in a wide range of areas. Among those attended by our students were: Nanotechnology, Vehicle Validation, Internship Opportunities, NAVSEA Warfare Centers, More than Engineering, Engineering and Business Ethics, Commercial Nuclear Power, Tu Camino: Multiply your Career Options, Latinas in Technology, and others. In daily meetings the students reported on what they had learned and shared ideas and suggestions with other students as we looked at the next day’s schedules.

             The NoCATE chapter as a whole was recognized publicly at the regional meeting on Thursday evening, and on Friday our president and VP (Victor Esparza and Marjorie Manzanares) had the opportunity to attend the presidents’ meeting, where they were also recognized and had the opportunity to learn from the leaders of more established chapters.

             During the first two days of the conference, our students visited many Hospitality Centers and spoke with company representatives who had internships and co-ops as well as jobs to offer. On Saturday, the students participated in the career fair hosted by SHPE at the Philadelphia Convention Center. This huge event had in attendance over 300 corporations and universities interested in recruiting students. Between individual interviews secured from visits to Hospitality booths or attendance to workshops and the job fair, by the end of the SHPE conference all our students had completed at least one interview. Our president was invited to interview for five different positions.

             Three events were important in creating a sense of excitement among our student: the Awards Banquet, at which leading Latino Engineers were recognized for their accomplishments, the Academic Olympiad, at which students won prizes for their research papers and for the team competition (A&T’s second place mentioned above) and the Gala Banquet that closed the week. Throughout these events and throughout the week, our students were able to interact with hundreds of accomplished Hispanic engineers who encouraged and challenged them to follow in their footsteps. Our A&T students definitely got this message. The three freshmen in attendance were especially motivated, talking about what they would do to prepare for next year’s competitions and future interviews.

Kerwin Vargas, Johanna Rmirez Diaz, Maria Perez-Suarez and Marina Rincon-Bermudez.
Johanna is an exchange student from Mexico; Kerwin, Maria and Marina are all Aggie freshmen in the College of Engineering.