ASME Networking Event | Department of Mechanical Engineering

ASME hosts Networking Event for Students and Professors

We spoke with Hailee Shehu, President of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers regarding their first Networking Event for Students and Professors on March 28, 2024.

Who is ASME?

"We, the ASME Student Chapter at Stony Brook University, strive to help students develop themselves professionally, and to familiarize students with the engineering industry by providing opportunities of exposure to real world applications. We also strive to promote a productive and challenging environment through competitions, workshops, monthly meetings, and mentoring opportunities, while also forming strong team connections." We welcome all students, not just Mechanical Engineering majors, to attend our meetings and events in order to grow professionally and socially. Our organization is a great way to meet like-minded individuals and make friends you'll likely see in your classes for years to come.

What was the purpose/outcome of this networking event?

The purpose of the social was to bring the department together for a night of networking outside the classroom. We hope that the event helped bridge the gap between students and faculty. We know that it can often be intimidating for students to take steps like going to office hours, and thus the only setting where these students may get to interact with professors is a class lecture. Our goal was for students to get to know their professors better, see their passion for what they do, and feel more comfortable to ask asme_networking_2

them for help or for opportunities to work with them outside the classroom.

We were so excited to see how successful the event was. Students and faculty were so deep in conversations that they didn't even want to change tables during the "speed networking" portion of the event. We've received so much positive feedback and we can't wait to host this event again next year.

What other events/projects does ASME work on?

One of our main projects is called "Go Baby Go," which is a program that provides modified, ride-on cars to young children with disabilities so they can move around independently. This project allows engineering asme_networking_3 students to apply their knowledge to a real-world application while helping make a difference. Another project we introduced last year was "Pumpkin Chuckin'," where students built their own catapults to launch pumpkins.

We also host panels, including research panels, alumni panels, and graduate student panels, as well as workshops on different programs, including Solidworks and MATLAB.

Here's what some of the professors in attendance had to say:

"I am very proud of this group's accomplishments and initiatives. Under the leadership of their current president Hailee Shehu, they organized a faculty-student mixer which was attended by many of our faculty. The mixer was professionally done and led to insightful conversations between Mech students and faculty on topics of education, research, career, and professional growth. Kudos to our faculty and students who attended this event and made it a huge success. " -Faculty Advisor of ASME & Assistant Professor, Anurag Purwar

"The students organized a great event and it was a pleasure to interact with them. We usually interact with students in a classroom setting. Talking to them in a much more relaxed setting makes the students open up and share their perspectives on things. Personally, I think such interactions are not only beneficial for the students but also for the faculty." - Associate Professor, Nilanjan Chakraborty

"It was really great to have a chance to introduce myself and get to know a handful of students, especially being new to SBU. I'll take any opportunity to talk frontiers in fluid mechanics research, but to do so with such an enthusiastic group of MEC students was particularly fulfilling." - Assistant Professor, Spencer Zimmerman