Page 12 - CEMS Summer 2022 Newsletter

SPOTLIGHT ON EDUCATION
Alumni mentors crucial for success
CEMS alumni mentors share invaluable insights and experiences in capstone course to set students up for success in their careers.
Capstone courses are among the most important in the curriculum, reflecting the cumulation of undergraduate education. Senior-level students apply their classroom knowledge and lab skills to real-world scenarios. For MATS 4400, Materials Science Senior Design, the added benefit of having CEMS alumni serve as course mentors ensures student success that extends beyond the classroom.
and now also the work experience to be able to put together a meaningful project for the students.”
Mutually Beneficial
Associate Professor Vivian
Ferry, who serves as lead
instructor for the course,
lauded the benefits. “This
class is a great experience
for our students. It gives
them an opportunity to
think creatively about current
problems, familiarizes them with
engineering economics calculations, and gives them additional experience they can discuss in their future interviews.”
John Hancock (MSE ’15), a course mentor for several years and Staff Equipment Engineer at Seagate, agreed. “I sit on engineering interview panels quite a bit for new hires, and I always look for discussion around projects. The Senior Design course is really great way to build an engineering resume in way that carries the same weight an internship or research opportunity does. It allows students to have an earnest discussion about their skills and contributions and prove their skill as engineers.”
As a recent alumna, Jones also recalled the invaluable skills she learned as a student, which she’s now
applying to her professional position. “One thing that
I really benefited from through taking this course as a student was having to consider “real-life” constraints.
In the course, we were not only tasked with designing
a theoretical solution for the project, but were also responsible for coming up with a financial plan as well
as determine a supplier and plan for implementing the solution. Having to think through all aspects of a project from conception to final implementation is something that I now use quite often as a manufacturing engineer.”
continued on page 13
Service Motivations
Victor Jaker
Victor Jaker (MSE ’11), Manager of FDM Materials Development at Stratasys, would like to “pay it
forward” to students and
the department through his mentor service. “I’ve been with Stratasys for over 10 years now. I like engaging in the course for the opportunity to give back to the department that gave me the education I needed to launch my own career and work close to home in a field I find
Sydney Jones
rewarding. It’s also important for me to remain engaged with the students, and to do my part to showcase the varied career options they might have based on their education, using some of our real-world problems and engineering challenges,” he said.
Sydney Jones (MSE ’20), a Manufacturing Project Engineer at Emerson Process Management, was motivated to serve as a mentor for MATS 4400 because she is a recent alumna. She said, “It (MATS 4400) was
one of my favorite classes when I was a student, so I was excited for the opportunity to participate in the class again in a different capacity. I feel that it’s important for recent CEMS alumni to participate as mentors because we have only been removed from the program for a few years. We have both the recent perspective of being in the program
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