Hispanic engineers making progress
January 21, 2011 · Print This Article
College can be a lonely place, often people with similar majors and/or culture form bonds to help cope with the assimilation needed to survive those tough years.
The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) is one of those groups.
“In spring 2009 we were only four students,” said Omar Castillo, the current president of the Utah State chapter of SHPE. “Now we are 43 members. This is how much support we have been obtaining.”
According to SHPE’s official website, The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers was founded in Los Angeles, Calif., in 1974 by a group of engineers employed by the city of Los Angeles. Their objective was to form a national organization of professional engineers to serve as role models in the Hispanic community.
Castillo believes the success of such an organization comes from the leadership provided. This year the national conference was in Cincinnati Ohio..
“The National Conference happened in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the end of October and it was a terrific success,” Castillo said. “This time we were able to bring 24 members compared to last year when we only had 11 members.”
At the SHPE conference, members had the opportunity to take part in technical and leadership workshops as well as interview with companies such as Turner Construction, Delta Airlines, Goldman Sachs, Fluor, and Cargill Engineering.
The chapter is also currently in the process of adding high schools in the area to SHPE.
Eliot Cuduco, SHPE-USU’s public relations chairperson, said many exciting things are coming together through SHPE-USU. While the goal of the organization is to encourage and develop Hispanic professionals, the benefits are not limited to that particular minority or even to engineers.
“My favorite part of SHPE is that there I was provided with the tools that helped me to grow as a person and as professional,” Castillo said. “There is not a better feeling when you know that you work in an organization to help others and get the skills that will help you to be outstanding and more competitive for the workforce.”