The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) National Convention is unique forum offering opportunities for STEM students in the Hispanic community to connect and share research. Recently, two BME grad students, Sofia Ruiz Castillo and Diego Perez, attended SHPE’s 50th anniversary convention in Anaheim, CA to both share the Utah BME program with interested undergrads from around the country, and attempt to recruit interested students to Utah.
Sofia was pleased with their experience, stating “We had the opportunity to attend the ‘country’s largest, annual gathering of Hispanic STEM students and professionals’ alongside 15,000 other attendees. This conference, mainly targeting undergraduate students, was an excellent opportunity to meet promising young researchers and encourage them to look into our Utah program when deciding on grad schools. Networking events allowed us to meet students one-on-one, and during the poster sessions, we interacted with students from a wide range of disciplines. My favorite interaction was with an industrial engineering student whose project focused on machine-learning applications for atrial fibrillation. She is very interested in health sciences despite not being in BME and was surprised to hear about the great research labs we have here in Utah. I think this conference gave us a unique opportunity to reach students in all fields of engineering and put our school’s name out there. I hope we can continue this presence in SHPE as it can serve as a great recruiting space, especially in three years when the National Convention will be right here in Salt Lake City!”
SHPE is a well-recognized STEM association with over 20,000 students and professionals that continues to grow and thrive. SHPE provides a valuable resource for Utah Biomedical Engineering as other Utah STEM-based departments. The University’s SHPE chapter seeks to increase both numbers and retention of Hispanic engineering students at Utah. The Society’s Utah chapter is committed to improving the overall culture of engineering at Utah. Members participate in work-readiness seminars and professional dinners, outreach to Hispanic students in the local community and attend regional and national conferences for Hispanic engineers and engineering students. SHPE sponsors socials throughout the year for students of color (https://www.price.utah.edu/student-organizations/society-of-hispanic-professional-engineers). This campus SHPE effort works together with the campus SACNAS chapter that also seeks similarly support “broad representation in STEM fields to match the demographics of our nation and to fostering the success of scientists from under-served and all backgrounds… (and) help these members attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in STEM.” (https://uofuhealth.utah.edu/sacnas)
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