TAMIU Engineering Students Participate, Excel in SHPE National Convention in N.C.

This past Fall, some 43 Texas A&M International students belonging to the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) traveled to the 2022 SHPE National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, to take part in one of the largest technical and career conferences for Hispanic engineers. 

The Convention, which attracts over 7,000 engineering professionals, students, and corporate representatives, offered TAMIU students the opportunity to meet and be recruited by top engineering companies. During the Conference, many students returned with several job and internship offers to significant companies, including Bank of America, Boeing, Caterpillar, Chevron, John Deere, JP Morgan, Lockheed-Martin, Raytheon Technology, USAA, Wells Fargo and more.  

Convention participation was made possible through the University’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of Student Success. 

A student-based organization at the University, SHPE aims to empower students through STEM awareness, access, support, and development. The University’s student chapter looks to build interest and inform current and future students of Laredo and surrounding areas about the various engineering fields. 

The students are led by Dr. Tariq Tashtoush, TAMIU associate professor of Engineering and SHPE advisor.

“I have worked with the TAMIU SHPE chapter since 2015 when we participated in our first convention with 13 students. Since then, the number of students participating in the Convention and its competitions has increased significantly... This year, we have several of our students who were now recruiters for their companies,” noted Tashtoush. 

Dr. Mahmoud T. Khasawneh, director of the School of Engineering, noted the importance of the University’s Engineering programs, access to cutting-edge facilities, and the impact of participating in these Convention opportunities.

“In all engineering programs, students get hands-on training in state-of-the-art facilities with industry-level equipment and software packages that enable immediate workplace readiness and contribution. We are proud of the immense recognition our students receive, as evident in their continuous placement with prestigious Fortune 500 companies and federal government agencies,” Dr. Khasawneh observed. 

He continued, “TAMIU is essentially putting students on an equal footing with students from bigger institutions of higher education in the country. Seeing our students at the forefront of innovation in some of the biggest companies in the world is the ultimate recognition of the quality Engineering education we offer at TAMIU’s School of Engineering.” 

For Engineering student and SHPE president José C. Hernández, attending the Convention alongside peers afforded him the chance to network with major companies.  

“Students attending the SHPE National Convention expanded their network and moved forward to a better future after education in the career they always dreamed of and becoming the successful person they want to be. This Convention opens up multiple opportunities for students to grow both in their education and professionally. It has a massive impact on not only the students’ life, but the families of those students, with opportunities that will help them succeed in life,” said Hernández. 

Currently, the University offers degrees in Systems, Computer, or Petroleum Engineering. The degrees provide the versatility needed to remain successful in a rapidly changing job market, noted Khasawneh.

“The Systems Engineering program emphasizes transdisciplinary preparation rooted in continuous process improvement methodologies and applications. The faculty’s diverse Engineering backgrounds, which reflect the program’s wide-ranging curriculum, enable graduates to develop a holistic perspective of complex systems, Engineering design endeavors, and problem-solving activities in a variety of areas such as robotics, space mining and exploration, efficient energy systems, transportation systems, nanotechnology, and modeling and simulation,” Khasawneh said.

For students considering Computer Engineering, the program is designed for those looking to specialize in developing or using computer systems. 

“The Computer Engineering program utilizes a complementary perspective of hardware and software systems. Students acquire strong knowledge in computer systems design to build new systems and evaluate and improve the performance of existing ones while contributing to national security and critical infrastructures priorities such as semiconductor and processor technologies and manufacturing,” Khasawneh explained. 

Finally, for those interested in providing solutions related to energy resources, the University’s Petroleum Engineering degree focuses on how petroleum engineers can maximize oil and gas extraction while also minimalizing the environmental impact of the production process. 

“The Petroleum Engineering program is unique in its equal emphasis on the three pillars of petroleum engineering: drilling, production, and reservoir engineering, with a focus on increasing oil and gas production in a world with increasingly significant geopolitical limitations on energy supply. The program employs innovative hands-on research-based activities that combine experimental, simulation, and machine-learning approaches,”  Khasawneh shared. 

For more information on the University’s Engineering degrees, visit https://www.tamiu.edu/coas/soen/engprog.shtml. 

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