Learn about Access Alums!

By -

Purdue offers many great opportunities for its students to interact and network with its alumni. Access Alums, organized by the Women in engineering program, is one of them. You get to hear from women who are leaders and engineers in their industry and exemplify the power of grit and perseverance.


Purdue Alumni at WIEP's 50th Anniversary Celebration

With the pandemic, everything has been a bit stressful, including being able to meet industry representatives and learn about the engineering workplace. Fortunately, this year, the Access Alum events took place virtually allowing for both fully online and on campus students to participate. Generally, alumni engineers from all disciplines take part in the Access Alum events so there is an event for everyone. For the Spring 2021 semester, we had the following alumni visits so far:-


  • Thermal Science Associate - Dr. May Yen (PhD ME 2017 Purdue; BS ME 2011 Purdue)

  • President of Kimberly-Clark North America - Kim Underhill (BS CHE Purdue 1982)

  • Northpoint Development Project Manager - Christina Hubacek (BS CE Iowa State)

  • Je Dunn Construction Project Engineer – Biridiana Guerrero (BS CEM 2019 Purdue)

  • The Kroger Co. Senior Industrial engineer - Katie Hubert (BS IE 2005 Purdue)

  • The Kroger Co. Director of Product Development and Quality - Tameka Carr (BS Food Science 1999 Purdue)

  • Eli Lilly Scientist - Barbara McAnulty (BS ABE 2019 Purdue)


Some of the Purdue organizations these alumni were involved in while at Purdue included ASHE and Sigma Lambda Chi (the construction management honors society), ASCE, Concrete Canoe and DBIA, Purdue Student Government, Society of Women Engineers, the Honors Engineering Peer Mentors and of course Women in Engineering.


I attended the Kimberly Clark President, Kim Underhill’s event. Her story was truly inspiring. There was plenty for me to learn from her even if my field isn’t chemical engineering at the moment. She highlighted how the values of lifelong learning, teamwork, hardwork and grit, that Purdue incorporates in its engineering degree, helped in her journey today. One important piece of advice was to take a business or economics course if possible. She also encouraged those who attended the event to have an open mind and not shy away from new opportunities and risks. For instance, at first, she wasn’t interested in the business marketing position that her mentor asked her to go for. After 6 months in the marketing position, she still wasn’t happy and yearned to come back. However, her mentor said that she hadn’t stayed long enough in her marketing position to reap the fruits of her hard work. She decided to stay for a couple more months and has never looked back since then. She acknowledges that the first couple of months were incredibly challenging and there were times when she felt overwhelmed especially since she had no clue about profit and loss statements in business. Yet, she persevered and here she is now - a president of a global multibillion dollar multinational corporation. In your engineering journey, you will face hardships and at times, others might not take you seriously but you must stand strong and believe in yourself to succeed. 


Although these alumni are from different engineering disciplines and in different industries, one key takeaway from all their meetings was ‘Ask questions’. Ultimately, it all boils down to two things -  your passion and perseverance. Purdue’s strong engineering foundation and pillars will help you evolve into a gritty individual. Being a female engineer is not always easy and there are times where you might feel unmotivated and stressed but it is important to always give your best. Additionally, if you are passionate about the work that you are doing then you would want to learn more and keep expanding your knowledge base. And in order to do that you must ask questions.


Now I know it can sometimes be hard or awkward to ask questions. I have felt that too. But it is important to step out of your comfort zone and interact. You never know what you may learn. And on that note, for those who are lost and concerned about the questions to ask the visiting alumni, I compiled a couple of questions with the help of Purdue WIEP - Access Alum that you could ask :- 

  1. How did you get involved with (a certain program / organization / company / profession / field) ?

  2. What advice would you give to someone who is not certain about which engineering

major to choose? Which career path to take (academia, industry, professional degrees,etc.)? 

  1. How did you end up choosing your field of study and work?

  2. What advice do you have for finding and excelling in leadership roles?

  3. What advice would you give to someone in my shoes?


Remember, some of the corporate representatives are often actively recruiting and accepting resumes so don’t forget to have your resume ready just in case. And as a bonus, the Purdue clubs who organize these events sometimes have snacks or raffles. For instance, this semester WIEP had decided to hold a raffle for a gift basket for the Access Alum events so be sure to enter your Purdue career account username and email ID in the sign up forms for a chance to win! 

Shruti Irap, FYE'24

Recruitment Project Committee


Stay Connected With Purdue WIEP!

Facebook: Purdue Women in Engineering

Twitter: @purduewiep 

Instagram: @purduewiep

Blog: purduewiep.blogspot.com

Email: welink@purdue.edu

Purdue Women in Engineering

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding Purdue Housing

By -
Image
One of the many concerns incoming freshmen have is what to do regarding their housing options. In addition to the roommate selection process, you may be interested in seeing your on-campus options in terms of amenities and the communities available within the building. For example, when I accepted my admission to Purdue as a freshman, I knew I was interested in a standard double that I had experienced at a summer college program. To ensure my University Residences housing, I applied to Vertically Integrated Projects so that I would be able to pursue a research project as a freshman while also guaranteeing my housing within Earhart Hall through the connected learning community. For more information on learning communities, read our previous blog! Many freshmen will live in a residence hall, even if they are not in a specific learning community. Now, as a Resident Assistant or RA in Earhart Hall, I have been trained on the term “residence hall”; our halls go beyond a traditional “dormito
Read more

Top 10 Extracurriculars Purdue Students Want You to Join Outside of Engineering

By -
Image
1. Purdue University Dance Marathon (PUDM):  The biggest student-run organization on campus! You can join as a dancer, where you get to fundraise leading up to the 18-hour long event or be even more involved and join a committee! Some of the committees include Riley Relations, where you fundraise to sponsor events for the Riley families throughout the year & are paired with a Riley family for the night of the event, Special Events Committee, where you organize 5K’s and other events around campus throughout the year, and so much more! 2. Boiler Gold Rush (BGR):  Whether it be as a new student, a team leader (TL), or even a Supervisor, there are so many ways to get involved with BGR! This week-long event is held the week before classes start in August. As a new student, it is your first chance to meet your new colleagues and participate in many games, fountain runs, and other fun activities throughout the week. It is also a great way to familiarize yourself with the campus an
Read more

A very (sub)objective review of dining options at Purdue

By -
Image
Jenn and her friends after the Thankgiving dinner Food is an integral part of our day. For some people, the very first thing they do in the morning is eat breakfast. I personally prefer my cup of coffee to a stack of waffles. Nonetheless, food has the power to pick up a bad mood, enhance a good mood, and even ease the stress you are feeling about exams and homework. The awareness I have of how food impacts my mood is recently found since I started college in August. at home I usually came home to my mom or dad making something delicious in the crockpot. Suddenly I arrive at college and there are so many options that it can get overwhelming at times to figure out what to eat. Navigating the dining options at college did not seem like something I should have been worried about, yet it was something that took a month of experimenting to perfect.  The key is knowing where to go and what is consistent. I decided to help you out and give you some insight into how I view each dining option on
Read more