The Chapter held its annual Student Night for San Jose State University engineering students on March 15th in Milpitas.  Dave & Buster's welcomed forty-one people (25 industry members and 16 students) for an evening filled with networking, a panel discussion targeted to assist students in managing their career paths, and some on-point queries from engaged undergraduates.

The Social Hour kicked off the evening to encourage students and employers to introduce themselves.  Representatives from AECOM and EPC were actively doling out business cards to students wishing to submit resumes.  Dinner included barbequed brisket, barbequed chicken, Southern Cobb salad, Cowboy baked beans, baked mac and cheese, and cornbread.

Animated and enjoyable conversations during dinner. 

Chapter President Jaymi Fridley presented a Special Gavel Award to Past President Josh Sturman. 

Vice President and Programs Chair Ash Wear welcomed the SJSU students, and introduced Dr. Akthem Al-Manaseer, Professor of Engineering and the students' mentor.

The Panel Discussion was the highlight of this evening's program.  The panel members, some SJSU alumni, included Patrick Frawley with Central Concrete Supply Co., Alana Guzzetta with US Concrete, Andrew Liu with AECOM, Renee Noriega with EPC, John Rinard with AECOM, and Greg Thiebaut with HNTB.

Vice President and Program Chair Ash Wear and the panel. 

There was a significant focus on the benefits of setting short, medium, and long term career achievement goals, with special interest in lifetime career satisfaction.  Best practices included being open-minded, willing to learn new things that may not be directly in your career path, and demonstrating professional ambition (but not to the point of being obnoxious!).

The Chapter would like to give special thanks to AECOM for its substantial donation to help underwrite the evening's event, and to the panel members who volunteered to share their experiences with the students in attendance.  (Lesson learned by the industry representatives - you can never bring too many business cards!)  Overall, the evening was a huge success, and we hope the players enjoyed wrapping up their evening on the Midway!

SJSU attendees and faculty, panel participants, and Chapter Officers gather for the traditional group photo.