Engineering Ambassadors conference connects student engineers at Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Engineering Ambassadors Network, a program for student engineers to share their love of engineering with K-12 students, recently held its Spring Leadership Conference at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. The three-day conference hosted 206 participants from 19 universities across the country to network and improve their leadership skills through workshops and speaker-led discussions, according to Engineering Ambassadors Network Director and Associate Teaching Professor Lori Miraldi. 

“This conference was a great opportunity to bring engineering ambassadors together from across the nation to learn and grow as professionals,” Miraldi said. “The goal of this program is to not only help our ambassadors grow into strong communicators and leaders, but to equip them with the skills necessary to inspire students to explore a future in engineering.” 

Since its launch in 2009, Penn State’s Engineering Ambassadors Program has sought to inspire and motivate the next generation of engineers. Student ambassadors meet with K-12 classes to give short presentations on engineering topics and engage students in hands-on activities, encouraging students to explore a career in engineering. 

What originated as a program to connect Penn State engineers to Pennsylvania schools has grown into the Engineering Ambassadors Network, a national initiative consisting of over 40 universities across the country. Each year, over 500 engineering ambassadors visit thousands of students around the country to share their love for engineering.  

For Mahathi Mallina, a third-year industrial engineering major, getting involved in the ambassadors program at Penn State was a way for her to give back to her community. 

“The engineering outreach camps hosted by college students at my local library in Downingtown brought together kids from different backgrounds and experiences and inspired me to join the Engineering Ambassadors Program when I came to Penn State,” Mallina said. “As an engineering ambassador, I want to show students who were in my shoes the opportunities studying engineering can provide them.” 

In her two years as an engineering ambassador, one of Mallina’s memories stands out — facilitating a presentation on coding robots to a group of students. 

“At first, some students were apprehensive and not sure if they wanted to participate, but by the end of the session, I could really see them light up while coding their robot to do things like play music,” Mallina said. “Watching them express their creativity and persevere through challenges was amazing, and to me, is what engineering is all about.” 

The Spring Leadership Conference began on Feb. 28 with a kick-off dinner and presentation by engineers and representatives from RTX, a company in the aerospace engineering industry. After the presentation, attendees were offered some time to network. 

Throughout the weekend, attendees had choices between sessions that covered topics like effective leadership, approaching difficult conversations, being an agent for change and skill workshops. Participants also had the opportunity to participate in team-building activities facilitated by members of Penn State Navy ROTC.  

“I really enjoyed the hands-on aspect of the ROTC team building activity,” said third-year civil engineering major and engineering ambassador Diana Deleon. “The point of the activity was to learn how to better build teams with new people, so ambassadors from Penn State were paired up with ambassadors with other schools to compete in a series of team challenges. My team did a great job of competing and encouraging one another, even though we had never met before.” 

Samantha Splendido, a doctoral student in mechanical engineering and vice president of Graduate Women in Engineering (GradWIE), facilitated a session this year with other graduate students and Cindy Reed, director of graduate and postdoctoral equity for the College of Engineering and faculty adviser to GradWIE.  

“Undergraduate students typically have a lot of questions about graduate school, so our session provided an opportunity to hear some of the major components of applying and getting into graduate school,” Splendido said. “What made our session a success was how responsive the attendees were. These students are strong leaders within their programs, and the engagement they demonstrated brought such a strong energy to our session. The leadership, communication and professional skills developed through this program are exactly what employers and graduate programs are looking for.” 

Students interested in becoming an engineering ambassador can visit the Leonhard Center’s website for more information or reach out to Miraldi with any questions.