Professional help for early career engineers offered at Congress

If you're newly graduated or an engineer with up to 10 years of experience, be sure to attend the Early Career Forum and Fair next month in Chicago for plenty of firsthand, expert advice on how to make the most of your career.

The forum, to be held during the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Chicago, will be offered as either a one-day or two-day package. The one-day program, on Sunday, Nov. 5, includes attendance at the keynote address and a career fair. The second day, Monday, Nov. 6, features five Early Career training sessions.

Joseph Ahearn will present the event's keynote address, "Leaders and Their Teachable Points of View," from 8:10 a.m. to 9:10 a.m. on Nov. 5. Ahearn is senior vice president of CH2M HILL, a global provider of engineering, construction, operations and related technical services for public and private clients. Ahearn he will discuss the topic of leadership as it pertains to the worldwide engineering profession and to each engineer's own career.

The keynote will be followed by a workshop, "Envisioning the Future of Engineering," given by Todd Allen, manager of international internship programs at Johnson & Johnson. The seminar will provide attendees with a forum to discuss ways to help reinvent the engineering profession in order to attract the best engineering talent possible and inspire future leaders.

A panel discussion, "What Can I Do With My Engineering Degree," will complete the morning program. Panelists Larry Dickinson, Jeff Dinski, and Laura Wojcik — three successful engineers who took different paths with their careers — will present their personal stories and answer questions about career choices and options.

In the afternoon, the Congress will host its first-ever Engineering Career Fair from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. At the Career Fair, participants will have the opportunity to meet industry representatives and discuss opportunities at their companies, other career issues, and new technologies. Recruiters from area graduate schools and other engineering organizations also are scheduled to be in attendance to discuss how to make the most out of an engineering career. Participants will include Career Fair sponsors Grogan Advisory Services, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, and Toyota.

The second day of the Early Career Forum, on Nov. 6, will feature four panel sessions: "Management Skills for Engineers," from 7:45 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.; "Technology, Innovation and Competitiveness — a Global Challenge," from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.; "Tools for Advocacy and the Early Career Engineer," from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.; and "The Future of Energy in the 21st Century," from 3:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. The program will also include a workshop session, "Incident at Morales — An Engineering Ethics Story," from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Registration for the first day of the Early Career Forum and Fair is $25 in advance, $30 on-site. Advance registration for the two-day package is $150 for ASME members, $200 for nonmembers. On-site registration for the two-day program is $175 for members, $225 for nonmembers. Advance registration ends Nov. 1.

To find out more about the Early Career Forum and Fair, visit www.asme.org/Communities/EarlyCareer/
Forum/Upcoming_Events.cfm, or contact Cheryl Hasan, hasanc@asme.org.



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