The Great Turnout

The seminar was a great success last night. It was a better turn out than last year with more students and companies in attendance. Some of the information that was giving out to students definitely helped them gain a better understanding of each of the areas in engineering. The introduction was giving by the dean lead by a few words giving by President James Ammons and President Eric Barron. The presentation which was suppose to be held in the IMAX Theater was moved to the planetarium. It was a minor problem but it actually worked out better that way. After the presentation, students had a chance to do a meet and greet with the companies and see different models and displays.

We were happy that we had so much media coverage for this event. After sending out press releases and media alerts we were pleased to see WCTV, WTXL and a reporter from the Democrat can to interview the recruiters from the companies and some students to get their reaction on the turn out of the seminar. The Linked newspaper got an exclusive interview with one of the first companies to officially sign up to be apart of the Young Engineering program. We wanted the media to feel comfortable so we offered them special seating and food, it gave them an opportunity to stay after they were finished  interviewing. WCTV had a story about the seminar on the eleven o’clock news later that night. In the Sunday paper the seminar was on the front page of the local section with some great pictures of the models and displays that were present. We would like to thank all of the media for coming and helping us reach our students and parents.

 It was great to work with some of the faculty in the engineering school with perpetration of the seminar. Student service director, Alica Morey was well organized and was about to answer any questions for students, parents and the companies who were involved. Alica was the contact person and her number was on all the PR documents and the web and twitter site. To her staff who was sending out the barouches to the high schools and to the students homes, thank you for all your hard work. To the students who signed up for the program last year, we greatly appreciated you giving your testimonials and insight of the program. Lastly we would like to thank the people over at the Challenger Learning Center for letting us use their building, having the presentation in the planetarium turn out to be one of the highlights of the evening. A special thank you to the education director of the Challenger was also involved with the out reach program on getting the program funded.

This event was little better than last year and we expect next year to be even better. We have the resources to get our message out, we just need to find more and creative way. We will start preparing for next years seminar right way so we can find more sponsors  allow the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering to give us more input with the planning of the seminar. It was an honor for Gregory and Harrison to work on this seminar and looking forward to working on the one for next year. Alica Morey was happy with the turn out and couldn’t stop thanking us. We hope to see more colleges and universities create more programs such as this one because there are some any people how benefit from it. Thank you all again and were looking forward to working on next years Young Engineering Seminar.  

How It All Got Started

The foundation of the Young Engineering program comes from the determination of one student who wanted to get a jump start on her professional career. Getting a better understanding of the engineering profession was something Lisa Hung wanted to do her freshmen year. After doing some research and applying to some internships her freshmen year, Lisa got a chance to work closely with one of Orlando’s top engineering firms. Working closely with this firm for four years gave Lisa a chance to build a strong relationship with the company and landed her a job after she graduated. After working for this company for a year Lisa had gain seniority with the VP and was promoted. Lisa wanted to let her old professors know how her road to success changed her life after working with an engineering company though out her four years in college.

After much grooming and research the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering outreach program introduce the Young Engineers program the faculty and the Dean.

After giving the proposal to different companies in the state of Florida, many were delighted to be a part of the program. The recurring departments were involved in on how students would be chosen for the company. The FAMU-FSU College of Engineering admissions department had to get word out about this program to different high schools. Last summer the program was approved and over 7 companies in the state of Florida was involved in the program. Twenty five students signed up and six were nominated from there high school. On August 18^th, a seminar was put together to introduce the students to different companies they maybe working with for the next for years. The turn out was great and students learning a lot of information about the engineering profession.

After the students got a chance to introduce themselves to the different companies they signed up for the company they felt suited their career needs. The first year of the program entitles the students to learn about the company they signed up for and be apart of some of the projects in the beginning stages. Some will get a chance to go and visit the company if it’s close by and other will only do a phone or skype session. The Young Engineers Program was aimed to the smart and gifted students who knew exactly what field they wanted to go into and build their confidence in such a competitive industry. The program is also for transfer students who have an AA degree from a community college or another institution. This program also has a scholarship opportunity for students who may need financial help with tuition, room and board and books.

The Young Engineers program is looking forward to expand this year, and with the help of the Challenger Learning Center we have more sponsors who want to donate money. We would like other schools and degree programs to consider having a program such as this one. It will give students a chance to get a work with professional and learn how to network which can help them land a job. What do you think? Would this be something other degree programs should consider? Let us know what’s you’re major and if you would want to sign up for a program like this. Maybe this could motivate the right people.

What Some People Think

One of my class mates commented on the first blog entry of the Young Engineers program and the response was very positive and insightful. Mr. Green knows how some students may not know what they would want to do professionally after college and having a program such as this one can be a great guide. He also mentions how this program could full a great void many students are missing, which in my opinion is very true. Getting in a major and not knowing what you would want to do after graduation could leave some graduates lost and without a job for months. But with this program many can have a better chance of getting a job with a company who has been watching the student grow in professional. Like my class mate, Mr. Green, I would love to see something like this succeed in every degree program.

Some other class mates of mine have said it would be nice to have something like this in all degree programs. Many would sign up their freshman year because they are sure of what they want to do and have a head start as soon as the enter college. But of course it would be for students with good GPAs and test scores. We wouldn’t want to waste anyone’s time with someone who doesn’t want to take it seriously, it is the real professional word.

The New and Improved

http://www.eng.fsu.edu/youngengineers

After four weeks of PR communications, I have had trouble on giving my Twitter and Blog suite. But after a few days of thinking about this blog entry I have heavy considered to change the image of it. I wanted it to be fun and show the nature of the program. The color blue is the theme color of the blog because it is bright and it will bring you closer to the page. I didn’t want it to be to fancy because we didn’t want the content to be over shadowed.

Some the pictures are there to give viewers an idea and visual of what this program is all about. We would like for some of the models and displays to be at the seminar so people can see what kind of projects they would be working with. The pictures of the models would give people a good visual of what to expect at the seminar. Some events should show excitement and drama, but with an excusive seminar such as this one it should be straight forward and direct

Sparking up your Creativity ( What's your Muze)

In a profession such as public relations, one must know how to use their creative side to catch their audience’s attention. It’s hard to try to send a message everyone is else sending, but when you put a creative twist on it, it can be unique. PR will teach you how to do just that and more when it comes to sending out your message to your varies publics.

What sparks my creativity can come from a few things, but the one most effective ways is to look up at the ceiling fan and play some soft jazz to clear my head. As I listen to the music I start to organize my thoughts and see if they would make sense to my publics. The scientific side would want to collect facts and construed clear and simple sentence. After doing that I would want to structure my idea to flow, and when it starts to come together I’m ready for my finale draft.

            One of the ways I plan to be more creative is to be more observant and read more on talented people and see what inspire them. One person I admire the most when it come to creativity is Maya Angelo. Her poems always motivated me and take a second and think about what she just said and also visualize it. One of Angelo’s poems “phenomenal women” has always been a favorite poem of mine. The descriptive poem gave the readers a visual of the message and that’s what kind of creative niche I hope to gain the before the end of the semester.

How we can Make a Positive Impact

Every good cause should have a positive impact on the community in some way and form. The Young Engineers Program gives students a chance to hold on their dreams and find a job which will allow them to grow in a field they love. With a program such as this one it reaches to all kinds of students who may feel they would never get their dream job.

            There are opportunities for high school teacher, guidance counselors and principals to nominate some of their brightest students in this program and attend the intro seminar. This event will be an eye opener for people in the community to see the importance of being a mentor to students who wants to go in their career field. As we get the media to cover this event, more residents would want to see what this event is all about.

            The FAMU/FSU College of Engineering would like to lead students to a career path to success and would like to do this as early as their freshmen year. The strategy of this tactic is to get students to reach out to the bigger companies. 

            For Gregory and Harrison to take on this event was an opportunity to help one organization to reach out to the smart and brilliant students from all over and help them but their foot in the door of college life. Grooming students could always keep them in school and keep them on the right track.

            Once students attend the seminar, they will get a first look at the different areas in engineering. Students will see what they can expect in the next four years and what they would need to have to apply for a job for that employer who will take them under their wings.

What other Events are Happening in Tallahassee

Just came from visiting two of my other class mate’s blog. The two events are very believable and well structured .I love the pictures for the Fella event, nice colors and font brought personality to the page. Having the pictures of Falle gives people a chance to see who this man really is. The Get up and Move event has a fun and bright approach to it with an attention getting heading. The background with the kids running has a youthful and playful serene.

The FELLA remember his message, I think it will be a good way for African American to learn more about African culture. Having it on a Historical Black College helps more people to see it value substance. I think it will need to be carefully advertised to the right group of people and have it be effective. The Get Up and Move event I think is an event that should be done more than once a year. The Boys and Girls Club has the right idea to help kids and their families see the importance of physical fitness. There should be a few things to take under consideration before planning this event. Location, transportation and the guest list will make or break an event like this. The idea of having a nutritionist available to teach people how to eat healthy is a pretty good investment.

I could see myself working with the get up and move event because of the nature of its goal, to help young people. We could both help certain families who are in poverty and can’t take on certain luxury. The College of Engineering could invest in helping kids into becoming engineers and showing them what they would have to do to start a college career.