To help Rensselaer students get a head start on planning for future career opportunities, members of the Rensselaer National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) hosted the 36th NSBE/SHPE Career Fair Sept. 26–27.
This year, Alsidneio Bell ’14, a member of NSBE who is majoring in electrical engineering, and Ambar Mena ’16, a member of SHPE who is majoring in aeronautical engineering, served as the event co-directors.
The fair had its humble beginnings in 1978 with only 10 companies attending. This year, more than 170 companies were on the Rensselaer campus to recruit and meet with students to discuss potential career opportunities. The event was held in the Alumni Sports and Recreation Center.
Participating companies included: Amazon.com, American Airlines, Atlas Copco Comptec, BAE Systems, Blackstone, Bloomberg, Boeing, Cisco Systems, Deloitte, Dow Jones, Exxonmobil, GE, GlobalFoundries, Google, Hasbro, IBM, Lincoln Library, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft Corporation, NBC Universal, PepsiCo Frito Lay, United States Marine Corps, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, among others.
More than 2,000 students in all areas of study—including management, humanities, social sciences, information technology, architecture, science, and engineering—had an opportunity to meet with various companies during the two-day event. According to the event organizers, the approach broadens the opportunity for recruiters to network with Rensselaer students, and gives students the chance to speak with a vast number of recruiters as well.
The NSBE/SHPE Career Fair is held each fall, giving students the opportunity to interview for internships, co-ops, and full-time employment. NSBE is an organization whose goal is to increase the number of black engineers who can excel academically, and SHPE promotes the development of Hispanic engineers to achieve academically and economically.