New Program Aims to Foster Nebraska’s Future Engineers

ACEC NE’s MEET Mentoring Program supports engineering students through undergrad

If you ask an engineering student and a current professional in the field what makes a great engineer, you’ll likely hear two different answers.

A student might respond with, “Someone who’s great at math and science.”

An engineering professional might say, “A great problem solver, collaborator and communicator.”

The American Council of Engineering Companies Nebraska (ACEC NE) has set out to resolve that disconnect with its new Let’s MEET – Mentoring Emerging Engineers Together Program in collaboration with the University of Nebraska College of Engineering’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. MEET’s mission is to support engineering students through their undergraduate years with mentoring and educational opportunities.

Students are often steered toward the engineering profession by school counselors and educators who notice a propensity toward math and science. While those subjects are important and integral to the profession, the full picture is much more dynamic.

Today’s engineers are team problem solvers, savvy communicators and pioneers for safety and sustainability. They liaise with the public, listen to key stakeholders and implement solutions that improve lives for generations. They’re also strategic thinkers with an eye for detail.

“I believe we need to change the engineering mentality and perception,” explains Mike McIntosh, Design Group Leader with Lamp Rynearson and ACEC NE Board Member. “Engineers provide improvements to communities and safe areas to live; they can positively impact the environment and make lasting, sustainable changes to the world. We need to encourage our next generation of students to consider these as the top reasons for going into engineering, and that can only happen through exposure, education and support from all of us.”

The MEET program will match freshmen and sophomore students with a professional mentor, create a sense of community by connecting students with one another, and offer students opportunities to learn from and ask questions of engineering professionals.

Through this multi-pronged approach, Jeanne McClure, ACEC NE’s Executive Director, hopes students will graduate at higher rates and feel more prepared for their engineering careers.

“I think we need to flip the idea from a gate-keeping effect to a nurturing effect,” McClure says. “What we’re trying to do is give students tools they can use to get past the struggles of their coursework. And, we’re trying to convey to them that we need them, we want them and we’re excited for them to join our workforce.”

HDR Engineering Vice President and ACEC NE Board Member Lisa Richardson helped launch the MEET program. She, too, hopes the program can help students understand that struggling during their undergraduate years can still lead to a successful engineering career.

“We want students to understand they can get through the difficulties and become engineers. This generation wants to make a difference and be a part of their community, and civil engineering is a way to do that. Our goal is to encourage students to stick with it and join our workforce,” Richardson says. With the establishment of the new program, ACEC NE also awarded three UNL professors with the Nebraska Engineering Champion Award. Professors Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, George Hunt and Matthew Williamson were recognized for their collaboration with ACEC NE and efforts to help young engineers move their careers forward in Nebraska.

Award winner and Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineer- ing at UNL Shannon Bartelt-Hunt liaised with ACEC NE and faculty members to help establish the program.

“This program shows how much support there is for Nebraska’s future engineers from the professional community – it’s just unparalleled,” Bartelt-Hunt says. “The mentorship for our students is invaluable, and I hope this program helps us to retain more diverse engineers to help us solve the state’s future engineering challenges.”