MU alumna Alexa Mitchell, a CADD services engineer with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), shared her personal and professional experiences with engineering students on Feb. 25. She also gave students tips for increasing their professional value while still at MU.
“It’s good for our students to hear the message of resilience and leadership,” said Miguel Ayllon, international outreach coordinator MU College of Engineering’s international outreach coordinator and staff advisor for the Mizzou chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE).
Her talk was the first event of the Distinguished Diversity in Engineering Speaker Series, which is a result of a collaboration of SHPE, the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Women in Engineering Center.
“We are working in partnership to bring back successful engineers so they can share their wisdom with our students,” said Ayllon. “We want to collaborate because together we can accomplish more.”
Anthony Cano, the current president of SHPE, highlighted the value of the College of Engineering’s diversity programs.
“Growing up, no one ever told me I could be an engineer. Being Hispanic, almost everyone I knew worked in a factory,” said Cano. “So surrounding myself with people like me who are in this profession is so important.”
Many SHPE members were in attendance to hear Mitchell — a former SHPE member herself — speak. She began by telling her life’s journey, starting with her family’s immigration to Missouri from Nicaragua when Mitchell was 16.
Reviewed 2016-03-17