The month of February was very active since it was the month of Engineering on the US. The ASME, IIM, and SAE student chapter started the month with an ME Open House focused on the recruitment of female students.  Currently, we have the biggest percentage of women on Mechanical Engineering on the US with a population of 15% but we want to increase this number. For this reason, we decided to organize an activity were the young women of the island could have the opportunity of learning the opportunities and advantages of the Mechanical Engineering profession and have a better judgment when deciding their field of study. The activity was sponsored by the company Kimberly Clark and a Minority Grant of ASME International.

 

      We had five different schools from around the island and over 100 students participating of this activity.  More than 50% of the students were females.  The Open House started with a presentation of the opportunities of the ME career by one of our professors, Dr. Miguel A. Torres.  The students were able to see the different areas were the mechanical engineer can develop it self. Then we had a presentation by Kimberly Clark about the roles of women on engineering, especially mechanical engineering.  A presentation from the UPRM’s Coop Office explained the benefits of participating in coop experience while a group of students talked about their researches, special projects and social life at the Colegio. This last conference had a big impact on the students because the information was given in a different view and the language was perfect for them.

 

     On the middle of the month we choose a week for professional development activities.  We had the sponsorship of different companies for  offering their time and resources for the benefit of our students.

 

     The week started with a three hour seminar of Mechanical Seals offered by John Crane. The seminar gave an overview on mechanical seals, applications and design analysis. The seminar was focused on the engineering part of the mechanical seal and is part of a trilogy of seminars that will continue on March with Engineering Applications and Failure Analysis. The second day we sponsored an activity with Amgen. This company is growing on the island and wanted to give a big impact on our campus. The company gave conferences on how to prepare a good seminar and how to improve our interview skills, among others. ASME was recognized as the student’s associations with more attendance during the day, with a participation of 118 students. The third seminar was a seminar of Mechanical Components offered by P&W. The speaker was a Chief Product Design for Mechanical Systems and had the participation of both students and professors. The seminar explained all the components of a turbine both mechanical and of materials. The fourth and final presentation was about The Engineer on the Aerospace Industry by Raytheon. The seminar explained all the areas on the aerospace industry available for the mechanical engineer and what steps do we need to follow if we want to succeed on this area.

 

SAE Student Chapter

 

Presentation at the 2003 SAE World Conference and Exposition

 

The students Adalis Vallejo and Virginia Díaz participated in the Student Booth Competition held during the 2003 SAE World Conference and Exposition in Detroit, Michigan.  These students presented the various projects that are being carried on at the University, such as:  Mini Baja, Formula, and Aero Design.  Universities of the US and Canada also participated in this event.

 

Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez
P.O Box 9045 Mayagüez, P.R. 00681

Phone: 787-832-4040 Ext. 3659 or  2560

Fax: 787-265-3817

Technical Support:  admin@me.uprm.edu

Academic Support: ee_jimenez@me.uprm.edu