If this will be your first time participating in Shadow Day, the way it works is simple. Students typically shadow a math, science or engineering professional from your company from approximately 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. During this time, we ask that you provide the best experience possible; this is after all a potential employee. Should you choose to participate, you have the flexibility to structure your Shadow Day agenda to best match your company’s environment.

Shadow Day is a wonderful opportunity to engage, educate
and inspire future Engineers and Scientists.  Specifically:

• Host Engineering & Physical Science Majors
• Showcase Your Firm
• Mentor Potential Employees

Shadow Day 2010 is on Thursday, November 18, from ~9:00 – 2:00 pm.

Please contact Angeline Yang at 619-594-2680 or via e-mail, ayang@projects.sdsu.edu for any inquiries.

Shadow Day 2010 information can also be found at:
http://www.engineering.sdsu.edu/mep/ShadowDay.htm

Industry Participants consist of San Diego County technical firms specializing in Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, and Education. Most of the participating firms are board members and longtime supporters of the San Diego MESA Alliance.

Industry Participants:

• County of San Diego
• DLT&V
• Goodrich Aerostructures
• Hamilton Sundstrand
• Infrastructure Engineering Corporation
• Morse High School
• NAVAIR
• Northrop Grumman
• Raytheon
• Rick Engineering Company
• Scripps Health (SCORE)
• SDG&E
• Solar Turbines

Student Objectives:

• Confirm a career choice
• See current technology
• Increase awareness of potential employers
• Network with future employers

Student Experiences:

• Tour of facilities.
• Discuss the organizational chart, company culture and working environment.
• HR discusses future job and internship opportunities within the company.
• Students exposed to current technology and tools used by professionals.
• Informal lunch with alumni or other professionals where they can share their experiences and provide opportunity to network. This could also provide the students a better sense of the culture of the company and the people who work there.
• Insight and experience to daily challenges and requirements of the job.
• Students to work with entry-level or other professional in their field on current project.

To learn about students’ experiences at Scripps Health (SCORE), please read ‘Orthopedic Researchers at Scripps Health Help College Students Refine Their Career Path.’

To learn about students’ experiences at Goodrich Aerostructures, please read The Skylines Aerostructures Newsletter, Volume 20, No. 1 – January 13 2010.

This was a one-day shadow experience occurring on Thursday, November 19, 2009. Students were matched with technical professionals based on their career interests; as well as by the needs of the hosting company. Unless otherwise requested by hosting company, students arrived at their hosting company by 9:00 am and departed for their various campuses at 2:00 pm. There was no cost to the students as most companies covered lunch.

Transportation was coordinated through the carpool component of the program and was organized by the San Diego MESA Alliance Staff. Those students driving on Shadow Day received a mileage reimbursement for assisting their peers.

A very special thanks goes out to the industry representatives who hosted a Shadow Day at their respective companies.  Thank you for inspiring our future engineers and scientists.

Additional information can be found at the SDSU MEP website and additional photo coverage can be found at the SDMA Facebook page.

If this will be your first time participating in Shadow Day, the way it works is simple. Students typically shadow a math, science or engineering professional from your company from approximately 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. During this time, we ask that you provide the best experience possible; this is after all a potential employee. Should you choose to participate, you have the flexibility to structure your Shadow Day agenda to best match your company’s environment.

Shadow Day is a wonderful opportunity to engage, educate
and inspire future Engineers and Scientists.  Specifically:

• Host Engineering & Physical Science Majors
• Showcase Your Firm
• Mentor Potential Employees

Shadow Day 2009 is on Thursday, November 19, from ~9:00 – 2:00 pm.

Please contact Natasha Forbes Celise at 619-594-770 or via e-mail, ncelise@mail.sdsu.edu for any inquiries.

Shadow Day 2009 information can also be found at:
http://www.engineering.sdsu.edu/mep/ShadowDay.htm

A combined nineteen students from Southwestern Community College and San Diego State University participated (MESA/MEP and SHPE student chapters).

MESA= Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement
MEP= MESA Engineering Program
SHPE = Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers

This event was organized to provide engineering students with an opportunity to experience a typical workday at Solar Turbines and learn about the various technical/engineering disciplines available. This was an all day event held simultaneously at the two Solar facilities in San Diego (Harbor Drive and Kearny Mesa), where each student participated in two different shadow sessions with a different mentor from a different discipline.

The Solar mentors were selectively chosen from various departments. A total of 38 mentors volunteered their time to share their work and educational experience with our guests. Mentors represented various departments such as:

Materials and Processes
Turbine Design and Sustaining Engineering
Development Test
Combustion Engineering
Aero/Thermal /Heat Transfer/Performance Engineering
Manufacturing Engineering
Business and Project Management
Customer Services Marketing
After Market and New Equipment Project Engineering
Systems and Controls Engineering (retrofits and new equipment)
Environmental Strategies
Package Refurbishment Engineering

During the lunch break, a Solar Director from each facility provided a casual but inspirational speech to the group. It was also during this period that students were able to interact with other Solar mentors, CLC members, HR personnel and executive leadership.

CLC believes that prior to graduation from college, very few students have an opportunity to receive exposure where they are able to acquire experience in the fields of science and engineering; particularly in an industrial environment. Shadow Day presented an opportunity where CLC hopes to make a difference.

Solar provided students with:

1. Exposure to products Solar designs and manufactures
2. Guidance on the skills and expertise that Solar engineers need to have
3. Information on the potential career opportunities at Solar

Through the experience of Shadow Day, the students were able to:

1. Evaluate several technical fields of interest
2. Gain exposure on how to apply engineering principles in a working environment
3. Identify technical skill sets they need to develop
4. Increase their motivation to improve their GPA and to enroll in advanced courses
5. Receive encouragement to complete their college education

Additional photo coverage can be found at the San Diego MESA Alliance (SDMA) Facebook page.

CLC was formally created in February 2006 as a medium for Caterpillar employees to connect to the Latin American culture, language, history and business practices. CLC members participate in monthly general meetings, networking socials, career development workshops, community involvement & external recruiting events, among others. For more information, please visit Solar Turbines and CLC.