Summary and reflection
Summary
The EPIC seminar comprised various events that included sharing of the personal experience by the different professions in the field of engineering such as Laura Mersmann. Moreover, Mersmann occurred as the main speaker under her, sharing various concepts and experience in engineering. The central theme of the seminar existed as “having it all” in which Mersmann share its evolution and finally how it made her reach such milestone in the engineering career. Most of the content shared came from Mersmann in which she shared various challenges faced in the course of hers her as a teen immigrant from Colombia. The theme of the seminar explores the experience of Mersmann as a mother and staying focused on engineering career goals.
Mersmann as a graduate in Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering works for the Burns & McDonnell for the past years which offers her experience in the engineering. Through sharing her life experience, she encourages various individuals to stay focused on their career objectives despite facing various changes since engineering courses require humble time and a favorable environment. Based on her message and information shared in the EPIC seminar, she aimed at motivating the different individuals more so the girls who present the minimal number in the STEM pipeline. Through her outreach to such population as shared in the seminar, the acts show her concern hence advocating for the number increase in the field of engineering. Generally, the seminar offered diverse critical information about engineering, which included strategies for success as well as how to deal and approach various challenges. Equally, the EPIC seminar, through Mersmann, provided basic training on the principles of engineering which equips students with knowledge and understanding in this field.
Reflection
Based on knowledge and information gained from the seminar, the content presented would significantly impact a personal career in aspects like professionalism, engineering design teamwork as well as communication. The communications principle offered in the seminar from Mersmann would develop substantially on how to communicate with people around in various cases. As witnessed from the seminar sparkers, consistent communication to the fellow workers would enhance the synthesis of the ideas and comprehend the offered message. Furthermore, accurate, honest and transparent communication in the field of engineering acts as a significant factor in personal career development and growth. Based on the experiences shared by Mersmann and other presenters, proper listening and speaking would enable personal advancement in an engineering career. As explained in the seminar, engineers require careful listening that results in interpretation of the message delivered from fellow partners or related people which makes individuals in this field successful. On the same note, the presenter of the seminar like Mersmann presented and provided vital information for the career development which concentrated on the engineering design. Such aspect would play a significant role in my career development due to enhanced identification of the arising challenges and how to solve them by a different mechanism. The seminar offers essential principles of the engineering design which most engineers depend on for their career success. For instance, having such knowledge would equip me with various approaches to the challenges hence offering the opportunity to work in different situations and environments. As explained by Mersmann, knowing the engineering design would provide the engineers with chances to acquire crucial data on problems and permanent solutions.
The seminar offers fundamental of the engineering professionalism, which forms a crucial part of the personal career development in this field. Most of the presenters in the past workshop possess high skills in this subject. As described by the seminar presenters, professionalism in engineering occurs as the individual’s conduct that indicates profession in a person. Based on the knowledge gained from the seminar, as an engineer, living and thinking show the professionalism in people in this field. Using the example illustrated during the seminar, the individual should concentrate on the personal duties and responsibilities hence constantly checking their mistakes as well as chances of improvements. Such a focus would enable personal career growth and achieving goals in engineering. Furthermore, the seminar offers various concepts of engineering professionalism significant in my future career development such as self-confidence. Self-confidence as one of the strengths in engineering profession enables people to work with diligent and confidence, leading to high accuracy and efficient work. Furthermore, as presented in the seminar, engineers have to practices services to the community and possess high academic standards in this field for their success. Nevertheless, the seminar presenters more so Mersmann encouraged team works in this profession. Collaborative working enhances personal career development as well as those involved like firms and fellow workers. Furthermore, Mersmann explained that teams improve the increase of ideas, skills, knowledge and experiences, which would lead to my future career growth and achievement of the target goals. On the same note, teamwork among the engineer professionals enhances an individual’s encouragements towards particular goals which could range from group to the personal level. Therefore, the seminar offered significant concepts and information to the students in the field of engineering that would help me in shaping and developing a future career in this profession.