The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) was founded to empower Hispanic students to realize their fullest potential and impact the world through STEM awareness, access, support and development. Last year, SHPE won the Event of the Year award and was mentioned as one of the best SHPE chapters in the region. In addition, SHPE has strong partnerships not only with clubs and faculty, but also with companies for job opportunities and K-12 schools for pre-college outreach.
SHPE mainly works with Barringer High School in Newark, Eastside Highschool, Passaic Academy and Public School 30 in Passaic for pre-college outreach. This engagement was described by Carlos Martins, a second year Computer Engineering major who serves as the club’s pre-college coordinator. “We try to get them [students] involved more with STEM through activities and workshops.… For older students we have presentations where we would talk to them and get them prepared for college and ready for what’s to come.” The students are provided an exposure to STEM in a way they may not get in their normal education.
On campus, two events which SHPE is known for are the semesterly Latin Night and the SHPE National Conference. Danny Tandazo, a senior in Mechanical Engineering and the public relations chairman, attended the National SHPE Conference last. He described the conference as a great place for networking opportunities and a chance for students to learn more about their future careers. “We encourage our members to go. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The networking, the people you meet, the events… you’ll never see that anywhere else except for conventions like that.” Their Regional Leadership Development Conference will be hosted here at NJIT on October 30.
Maria Lima, President of SHPE and a Mechanical Engineer major, said Latin Night is “a dance event just to be more social and bring the whole chapter together.” She sees this event as a chance for bonding amongst SHPE members and an opportunity for NJIT students to see some of SHPE’s culture. “This year we have seen huge turnouts at our events.… The fact that they are putting their all into this organization, I’m proud of that.”
Latin night is Thursday, October 10 at the Highlander Club.
Pancakes and Productivity is Friday, October 11 from 11:30-1 PM at the Redwood Hall kitchen.
You can follow SHPE on their Instagram njitshpe, email them at [email protected], or check out their website shpe.njit.edu
Simon Chen contributed reporting.
Photo by Katherine Ji
