On Wednesday night, Loyola University Maryland hosted its 3rd Annual Speed Mentoring Night as part of a science/engineering awareness week on campus. Dr. Raenita Fenner (rafenner@loyola.edu), Assistant Professor of Engineering at Loyola University MD directed the event, giving students the opportunity to rotate and interview an array of mentors about their work lives across engineering professions. Participating mentors came from Loyola University MD, Towson University, Johns Hopkins University, and local firms related to engineering disciplines. Baltimore’s IEEE Women in Engineering and the Society of Women Engineers were the event co-sponsors.

As a member of IEEE’s Women in Engineering, Jessica Chery-Hise, LC, LEED AP BD+C learned of the speed mentoring event through a newsletter email asking for volunteer engineering professionals. Because Jessica had changed majors a few times during her college career before choosing electrical engineering, she was particularly interested in providing advice to young folks once in her shoes.

“Last night was such a great time. I really enjoyed speaking with the engineering students at Loyola. It felt great to feel like I could help them along in some future career decisions. Dr. Fenner did a wonderful job organizing the Speed Mentoring Event. It was a perfect, low-pressure environment to expose the students to real career options relevant to their studies.”