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CareerZing Readers Meet UF’s Dean of Engineering

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InterviewKellySophieMarielle2

CareerZing recently attended the reception held in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida for University of Florida’s new Dean of Engineering. Three of our CareerZing readers went along and spent time with Dean Cammy Abernathy.

In this interview, they talk about their memorable meeting with Dr. Abernathy. They also share their impressions of the faculty presentations given at the reception by Drs. Scott Banks and Peter Ifju on their latest research in engineering for worn out joints and unmanned air vehicles.

Finally, the students share their thoughts on career exploration and give some valuable advice to high school students following in their academic paths.

Our interview subjects, Marielle, Sophie and Kelly, just graduated from Spanish River High School in Boca Raton, Florida and are headed to universities this fall.

CZ: Now that you’ve all graduated from high school, what colleges are you attending next year and what will you major in?

Sophie: I’m going to Georgia Tech and will study in environmental engineering

CZ: What made you consider environmental engineering as your major?

Sophie: The last 4 years I’ve been involved in the environmental club. Even though meetings were held on Friday’s after school and I would rather have gone home to sleep, when I realized I was good at math, things just connected and I enjoyed it.

Marielle: I’ll be at the University of Florida and will major in aerospace engineering. I’m really good at physics and math. That’s why I chose that major. I’ve always been interested in it since I’ve been a little girl.

Kelly: I’m going to the University of Florida and am interested in chemical engineering and biology. I’ve been in the biotech academy at Spanish River and have always been interested in biology. I also did well in AP Chemistry.

CZ: We all attended the UF reception where we saw presentations by two professors and met the new Engineering Dean - the first female Dean in the 100-year history of UF’s engineering program. First, what did you think about the presentations? Which did you like the most and how helpful do you think they were?

Marielle: I always understood that mechanical engineers used their background to do biomedical stuff but some use ME to make smaller airplanes to do environmental stuff. I better understood with the ME and aerospace majors – you’re not as limited as I thought you would be. I enjoyed the second faculty presentation since he was in the aeronautical field which is what I want to pursue.

Sophie: I thought they were both interesting. They did not change my mind because they are not my fields, but also because they were research oriented. The presentations were geared towards getting money for what they are doing. I appreciate that but it’s not related to undergrad work. That kind of thing is out 5 or 10 years for me.

Kelly: I like them equally. Those presentations showed even if you don’t want to do research it shows all the work they put into it. If you weren’t interested in research, you wouldn’t be interested in spending so much time in the major itself. So I think it was helpful to figure out which engineering disciplines were right for me. It helped me isolate what I wanted and what I didn’t want.

CZ: What impressed you about Dr. Abernathy when you met her?

Sophie: That she was willing to talk to us for so long. That she was interested in spending time with undergrads. I figured we would meet her, maybe shake her hand, but for her to actually spend 10-15 minutes with us, that was great.

CZ: What did you get out of what she said?

Marielle: She wanted us to ask questions and was so willing to share her knowledge . It was nice that she offered for us to email her if we did think of follow up questions.

Kelly: I was happy that she wanted to talk to us. She didn’t act like she was too busy for us or too “high up” to spend time with us. It shows you that even a dean of engineering is interested in asking you what you want to do and is getting excited about your interests.

CZ: Was there any advice she gave you that enlightened you?

Sophie: She talked about how even though the presentations were research oriented, the entire school is not. It shows that UF pays a lot of attention to the undergrads - which showed in that fact that she spent time with us too. It reassured me that I would have a good experience at UF if I chose to attend there.

CZ: What about her being the first woman to head up an engineering department at such a significant university?

Marielle: I don’t think she talked a lot about it because she knew she was preaching to the choir. We all know how unique we are for having an interest in a technical or engineering field. So she didn’t emphasize that.

Kelly: I don’t think she wanted to act like being a woman is different than a man when it comes to being an engineer. She was so articulate and knowledgeable that it didn’t matter. She kind of proved herself already. I’m sure she would have answered our questions if we brought up the gender issue. I’m sure she’s encountered people who’ve acted like they were better because of their gender.

CZ: Was there anyone else you talked to at the reception that you thought helped or inspire you?

Sophie: There was a woman there who was the first engineering grad from UF which really amazed us. She explained that just because you are going into chemical engineering, for example, it doesn’t mean you are going to spend the rest of your life doing chemical equations and nothing else. You can still have a family or do other adventurous things throughout your life.

Marielle: It was cool how she could raise a family and still work in the chemical engineering field - being multi faceted - being able to raise a family, take care of her kids. I found that reassuring because I definitely want a family and I don’t want to be restricted by work.

CZ: Do you find that the event was helpful in your career exploration?

Marielle: I didn’t have as great of an understanding of what they did at UF in the projects they did. I went to other schools too and learned about their project work. It was helpful to see what they were doing at UF.

CZ: What other things have you all done to explore what you wanted to major in?

Sophie: I visited schools and set up meetings with professors that taught in the majors I was interested in. I talked to advisors – talked about curriculum. I asked about what classes you actually take. I didn’t want to declare a major then not like any of the classes. I went to an alumni meeting for Georgia Tech and listened to an environmental engineering professor speak on his projects. He put things in a very easy-to-understand way and made me happy that I chose it.

CZ: Is there anything you wish you could have done that would have validated your career decision that you weren’t able to do?

Sophie: Internships

Marielle: There were tons of biotech internships offered to us because of our participation in the biotech academy at our school but not as many engineering ones. I wish I could have had more opportunities in the engineering side.

Kelly: The whole biotech thing – our teacher emphasized the bio and chemistry aspect but the whole engineering aspect is the technology part. We didn’t get opportunities to do that part. My internship over Junior/Senior summer was in a biomedical lab. It used a lot of technologies that we use in our class but I think it confuses kids to isolate just the biochemistry part. I’m glad I did the internship and realized it was kind of boring to me. I was interested in what they were doing but being in the lab 4-5 hours a day vs. 30 minutes a day, like we were in the classroom environment, is very different.

CZ: What other things did you do to explore your interests?

Kelly: I went to a community hearing where the county was considering putting a turnpike entrance right in the middle of a community near my house. The whole interaction between the panel of county employees and the community was fascinating. It was cool to see how the engineering field intersected with people and affected the way they live. I met the engineers on the panel. I talked to all of them and learned what they do.

Marielle: I would recommend doing the science fair. It was required for me but a valuable experience as I look back on it. I went to the judging. It is nice because it separates the projects into categories and they bring judges in that have a background in the field related to your project. So I really got an understanding of what they do. My project was on astronomy and the judge they assigned to me actually made the satellite that I did my project on. He helped me understand the difference between aerospace and astrophysics by telling me what he did. It was an interesting and eye-opening experience.

CZ: At what point do you think students should start exploring their career possibilities?

Marielle: At the beginning of your high school junior year. You want to have an internship between junior and senior year that will expose you to what you want to learn and start narrowing your options. 10th grade is too early because you haven’t taken that many classes. But by junior year you have been exposed to a lot academically.

Sophie: I chose pretty late. I was planning on being an English major. Then at end of junior year I started becoming interested in engineering. You have a good portion of your junior year and the summer but after that it will be too late. If nothing comes to you then don’t try to dedicate yourself to one major, choose a school that has many majors and go in “undecided”. You don’t want to spend four years studying something you don’t like or won’t feel a connection to.

CZ: Do you have a feeling of how many of your peers have chosen a major?

Marielle: Most of them have picked something. Very few are going undecided. I think they took the majority of their course load in subjects that interested them. So I think they figured out a direction.

Kelly: Most people I talk to feel like they have no idea what they want to do. They just take random classes or ones that have a good teacher. But I would say sophomore year would be when to think seriously because that’s when you pick your classes for junior year. Freshman year, you’re taking more required classes. The next two years you’re narrowing it down to what you’re interested in. Don’t take classes just because you heard the teacher’s fun or because your friends are in it. Don’t take classes that won’t help you at all – it’s o.k. to take a few electives but get some focus.

CZ: Do you get help in school on career exploration?

Marielle: Not in our school because it is so big. I think that’s going to help when we go to UF. A lot of private schools get help from the beginning. I think actually it hurts them when they go into a big school like UF because they won’t survive if they have to navigate the system on their own. I guess it helps not having a lot of guidance. It helps in that we have to do figure out how to do it on our own.

Kelly: I agree with Sophie - if you don’t know exactly what you want to do, pick a big school that has lots of choices. I’m sort of undecided but I narrowed it down to a field. If you do have an idea of the specific major you want, you can start looking at colleges like Georgia Tech, for example, which is a specialty school. You don’t even know it exists until you take an interest in a particular field or major, then you start looking at the schools that specialize in that field. That’s a good way to end up where you want to be. But if you can’t narrow it down to a specific major, the best option is to pick a school with lots of majors so you can explore.

Marielle: That’s how I ended up choosing UF. UF’s program is the same for the first 2 years, and then they start to specialize. Northwestern, which was my other option, has you specialize right from the get go. So if I’m not positive that I want to go into what I declared it is scary going right into it the first year of college. Northwestern was more limited. UF had a lot more options in the field.

CZ: Did Georgia Tech have a broad curriculum in the first 2 years?

Sophie: All of the engineering students have certain courses. But if you are in civil and environmental, they are closer to each other than they are to mechanical so you have different courses the first 2 years, but not many. If you do happen to change majors, it does add some time to your overall program but not much. You should be able to transfer.

CZ: Are you considering doing internships or co-op education with during college?

Marielle: Definitely. I‘m hoping I’ll have more opportunities now that I am going into engineering. I was limited in the biotech arena but now I am more specialized in what I want to pursue so I hope to have more internship opportunities.

Kelly: I think the magnet programs are good in general. They can help you find internship opportunities for the 4 high school years. You can also get a skill and get a job with an associates degree or limited college education after you graduate from high school. The internships you do get can help you find out what a job is like or what the career path is like. You can eliminate something you aren’t interested in too. If you don’t go to an academy or some kind of specialized program in high school you won’t get that exposure to the field and the subject at all. You’d have to go out of your way to figure that out.

CZ: Do any of you have any geographic preferences on where you want to end up after you graduate college?

Marielle: UF’s proximity to the Kennedy Space Center was a big factor for me in choosing the location of college.

Sophie: No. I was open. I applied to schools across the country with the hopes that I would stay in the college town nearby. I was secure in the knowledge that if I have a passion and if I want to be happy I’d make myself happy no matter where I was.

Kelly: Someplace warm would be nice – I don’t know if I could deal with the cold. But that’s just weather. I don’t know where I’ll end up because I don’t know the nature of the work that I will be doing. If I wanted to work in a corporation or in management I would probably want to work in a city. But it doesn’t matter – just where the jobs are when I graduate.

CZ: Are any of you considering going the entrepreneurial route after graduating?

Marielle: No not really.

Sophie: I would I like the idea of being a consultant in my field. Not in 4 years. I need more experience.

Kelly: I don’t know at this point.

CZ: What do we think will help other students with in their career decisions?

Kelly: Just talk to any adult you know. If they have something interesting to say, listen and learn. Just talking to someone helps decide what you like or eliminate what you don’t. Any job is going to have annoying parts and it’s good to know what those are. Also, you get ideas about jobs you didn’t know existed.

Marielle: I would go with where you’re interested. Don’t let your family push you. My mother was so bent on me becoming a doctor. She finally dropped it recently. I told her that’s not going to happen. You need to be strong.

Sophie: My mom wanted me to be a doctor too, that’s why I was in biotech. But it didn’t work. Remember that even though your major is where you’re going to concentrate your work, you can still take electives in random things that you’re interested in but are not related to your major. You can still enjoy subjects in addition to your major.

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