Hello SHPE Familia!  Welcome to your monthly e-news for May 2017.   B y you for you.
Let's Celebrate! 40 Years
We are 6 months away from our annual conference and are excited to be celebrating our 40th year since our first conference in 1977!  We want to hear your stories and experiences; be on the lookout for social media campaigns to celebrate our past, present, and future. 
In This Edition:
  • Community
  • SHPEtinas!
  • SHPE Updates
  • Leadership
Regional and Local Impact
   Region 1: Fresno Professional Chapter
Promoting Careers in STEM
by,  Zoraida Martinez
Board Member
Fresno Professional Chapter

The SHPE Fresno Professional Chapter hosted the 10th annual Regional Science Bowl Competition last February at Fresno State. The Jeopardy style competition tested the participants in: biology, chemistry, Earth science, physics, energy and math.  Fourteen teams from surrounding counties participated, the winning team Granite Ridge Middle School will compete at the National Science Bowl in Washington DC at the end of April. The 2017 Regional Science Bowl was an event hosted by the SHPE Fresno Professional Chapter with the help of UC Merced and Fresno State students.

SHPE Fresno and Silicon Valley Professional Chapters teamed up to promote careers in the STEM fields at Pueblo Fest in Tulare, CA. SHPE Professionals shared the stage with NASA astronaut Jose Hernandez motivating the audience to pursuit a higher education and continue to thrive! The SHPE booth hosted an interactive environment for kids and their parents to learn of the many career opportunities in engineering by showcasing the Virtual Reality glasses. Our chapters look forward to continuing a team effort of promoting careers in STEM and plan to collaborate in future events. 
Region 4:  NJIT Chapter
It's The Great Gatsby!
by, Mike Chica
President
SHPE-NJIT

SHPE-NJIT hosted their 25th Annual Gala Banquet in the heart of Newark, NJ on April 13th. This event saw over 250 attendees which consisted of SHPE Jr. students, college students, professionals/alumni; NJIT faculty/staff, including NJIT President Joel Bloom; and our corporate sponsors: Cisco, UPS, Verizon, Prudential, and Pennoni! The gala showcased all of what SHPE-NJIT has accomplished throughout the year, such as: 
  • Regional Outstanding Chapter Award for Region 4
  • Outstanding Chapter Development, and the Blue Chip Award
  • 100 events we’ve had for the 2016-2017 academic year; and,
  • the plethora pre-college related events with our 5 SHPE Jr. Chapters.


SHPE Jr. members provided a testimonial of how SHPE has changed their lives! The gala was also an opportunity for the outgoing executive board to connect with its supporters. Outgoing President, Mike Chica, was able to give an emotional speech of the adversity he faced and the passion that drove him to continue taking SHPE-NJIT to the next level. Incoming President for 2017-2018, Miguel Reyes, was able to address the crowd with his inspiring vision for the future.

Region 5: Mississippi Professional Chapter
Savvy Financial Planning: Investing for Retirement
Lyan Garcia
Board Member 
Mississippi Professional Chapter

The Mississippi Professional Chapter of SHPE held its first financial planning seminar titled “The Secrets of Tax Free Investing”. The purpose of the seminar was to provide our members and other professionals in the local area information about financial planning and how to invest today for a better tomorrow. Most of our members are recently employed professionals that were unaware of the importance of personal financial planning and how it should begin early in their careers in order to reap the benefits in their retirement. Christopher Johnston, a financial advisor from Northwestern Mutual in Jackson, Mississippi, was invited to discuss different ways to maximize retirement income through tax free investments.  

This is the third of four seminars SHPE-MS plans for 2017.  These seminars aim to benefit members so they can develop skills that can be applied in their careers and personal lives. 
Member Spotlight
Giving Back: SHPE's Community Impact through Leadership 

Mario Gutierrez, SHPE Graduate Member

As a first generation Mexican American, raised by a widowed mother, I have found that my ultimate purpose is to improve the lives of others. My passion for engineering and desire to become a role model for my community drove me to pursue a PhD in chemical engineering focusing on drug delivery research at the University of Michigan. Throughout this journey, SHPE has been a tremendous champion in my academic success, developing my leadership and professionalism and motivating me towards pursuing graduate school.  Early on, as president of the Michigan State University SHPE chapter, I was able to impact the Hispanic community in Lansing by leading the first Noche De Ciencias event in the area, which is still hosted on a yearly basis. During my last year at MSU, I served as RSR6, representing 35 university chapters in 9 of the Midwest states and helping establish 3 new chapters in the region. Now, as a graduate student, I continue to be involved with SHPE as a member of  the National Graduate Committee (NGC), a committee within SHPE dedicated to creating a graduate education pipeline and ensuring graduate student success. In Spring 2016 I applied to the SHPE Dissertation Scholarship,  a scholarship open to all STEM doctoral degrees. Receiving the SHPE Dissertation Scholarship gave me more financial flexibility, allowing me to focus on research and academics.

I deeply appreciate the continued support from the SHPE community and efforts to strengthen me as a successful Hispanic Engineer. You too can apply for PhD/MS scholarships by visiting http://scholarships.shpe.org/students/.The NGC wants to help and is offering to review scholarship application materials, contact ngc@shpe.org.

Celebrating SHPEtinas
 
During the month of March, we celebrated Women’s History Month by highlighting the exciting work our SHPEtinas are doing via our SHPE National Facebook page. From researching intelligent resilient infrastructure, managing the California High Speed Rail, developing biocompatible materials for drug screening, saving lives with innovative medical technologies, managing a large complex well installation, controlling and mitigating corrosion, protecting the environment, developing strategies for manufacturing performance, examining U.S. patents to writing, hosting and reviewing software, our SHPEtinas are impacting positively our nation through STEM.

We are witnessing waves of change contributing to closing the gender gaps in STEM fields but we still have a lot of work ahead. Hence, this year’s Latina Track theme at the SHPE National Conference is Finding Your SuperPowers and it aims to take SHPEtinas through engaging and diverse workshops enabling self-reflection to discover and learn how to leverage their strengths to fulfill their fullest potential at school, work and in their community. We want SHPEtinas to gain the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in college and beyond. Success for us is increasing the retention of our female members in STEM and providing the insight and tools they need to enter their fields as innovators, prolem solvers and be role models in their communities for generations to come. 

Let’s continue to spark conversations at SHPE at large to support one another, men and women, to become stronger together!

SHPE National Updates
Onwards to 50K  diverse engineering graduates annually by 2025!  SHPE's National Board Chair, Claudia Goggin and Interim CEO Barry Cordero attended a strategic planning session in Washington D.C. at the National Press Club.  Follow us @SHPE and @50KCoalition to learn more!
Building A Diverse STEM Pipeline:  PreCollege Program