My name is Gabriella Kobany and I am currently a junior at the University of Nevada, Reno studying Electrical Engineering.  I found out about SWE’s Evening with Industry through mutual friends I have in the club and was fortunate enough to get my ticket free through the department chair of electrical engineering. I attended Evening with Industry in order to gain networking experience and practice as well as to learn more about companies in my town. I currently intern with a company that relates closely with my field and was able to talk with some of my coworkers at the event during the “mocktail” hour. I was also able to walk around and meet with various companies that related to all fields of engineering. I decided to sit with a company I was unfamiliar with because I felt I would get the most out of the event this way. I ended up sitting with a company that designed and installed vents within several buildings in town. We were able to break the ice with a building challenge that we unfortunately lost. We found out electrical engineers aren’t the best at creating stable fixtures! Once dinner was served, I had a lot of time to talk with the people at my table.  It was very interesting not only learning about the company but hearing the stories of the higher up management of the company.  We discussed how exciting it was that electrical engineering was such a diverse field and that my life could turn in so many directions after graduation.  It was refreshing to be able to hear people’s stories rather than to push my qualifications and experience on them as other professional settings typically go.  As a Junior in engineering, I admire engineers in the field and love hearing the stories of how they got to the position they are in now. With graduation approaching relatively soon, I turn to these stories to help me decide the path I want to follow. Once the event was over, I exchanged information with the CEO of the company which will be really beneficial in the long run. Evening with Industry showed everyone the importance of networking in order to gain a large pool of acquaintances in the engineering field. Overall, Evening with Industry was very well organized and a great opportunity for engineering students to network with the various companies in town.

SWE at the University of Nevada would like to introduce our first outstanding member for our Member Spotlight: Maureen Castruccio!

Maureen, Mo for short, is a current Mechanical Engineering senior at the University of Nevada, Reno. Mo is originally from the west coast and was attending the University of Rhode Island. She decided to transfer to UNR after feeling the urge to relocate closer to her parents and discovering that Reno’s Mechanical Engineering program was both more affordable and more prestigious than that of Rhode Island’s. She also cites “playing with Legos” as a true selling point… This is not a joke. Mechanical Engineering appealed to Mo because of the diversity of the job prospect market. She also hopes to be a lifelong learner, with a background in finance as she would like to run her own business one day. The UNR section of Society of Women Engineer’s has helped Mo by introducing her to other females in Engineering, a true minority in this field. She finds the mentor-ship she has received from older members the most influential, emphasizing their advice on how to cope with the stress and the pressure of getting an engineering degree.

Congratulations Mo!! we are so happy to have you as a member, and we are excited to see what your future will bring!