ONU IEEE Student Professional Awareness Conference (S-PAC)

Open to all engineering majors!  The talk is free, however, if you would like to join IEEE for dinner there is a cost for non-IEEE members.  Pizza and Pop will be provided for attendees (Free for IEEE members, $4 all others).  Please pre-register so that IEEE may plan accordingly for space.

Most people agree that engineers must be technically proficient, professionally astute, and clearly aware of their social responsibility.  However, in business today, engineers must be able to deal with all the nontechnical aspects of their career.

Students graduate knowing how to design circuits and write code.  But, ask them to plan a meeting, organize a presentation, or develop an annual budget and, most likely, they’ll be overcome with apprehension.  Why?  Because engineering schools are reluctant to add these nontechnical skills to an already full curriculum.  In reality, these nontechnical competencies are just as critical to engineers’ futures as their technical training.

A professional topic is any nontechnical skill which enhances the career skills of the engineer.

Details of this session...

• Speaker - Jim Watson, Founder - Watson Associates

• Title - "Leading The Way To Success"

Jim Watson received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, completed post graduate engineering courses at Youngstown State University, and is a graduate of the Executive Management Program at the University of Michigan. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio, a Life and Senior Member of IEEE, and a national S-PAC and S-PAVe speaker.  A full biography is attached below.

Leadership is an important engineering tool, and learning to be an effective leader in various environments helps to guarantee your personal and professional success as an engineer.  Leadership skills will definitely be part of your career when you are a leader or when you work with others who are leaders.

So, what do you think is a good definition of a leader?  Thousands of history books have been written about leaders.  Typically, these focus on individuals who have been heads of state, generals in a military setting, corporate officers, front-runners in a cause, or outstanding individuals in academia and other areas.

However, leadership is not limited to the famous of history.  In fact, it can be found in all walks of life including engineering.  And to the benefit of mankind, engineers will continue to be leaders as they apply important technology to help solve the challenges of a fast moving world.

Leaders have vision and the ability to inspire others to accomplish great things.  There are two reasons you will benefit by understanding the principles of leadership.  First, you can apply these to leadership opportunities and achieve greater success.  And second, you can work more effectively with leaders when you are part of their team.

This presentation will give you practical ideas on how you can develop and enhance leadership skills now so you will be prepared to be a leader and/or work more effectively with leaders in your career. This discussion includes:

• Common principles of leadership
• Your opportunities to develop and improve leadership skills
• How you can practice working with leaders
• How you can apply your experience in leadership roles to your working career
• How you can use leadership skills in your profession and community

When you learn to be a leader and to work with other leaders you achieve greater success in your career and life.