2021 Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology | FALL - VOL. 36, NO. 2 by Career Communications Group

T H E

E N V I R O N M E N T A L

I S S U E

The Road to Success:

AN AMERICAN

DREAM WWT chief technology advisor shares his inspiring life story

Rick Piña

Chief Technology Advisor World Wide Technology

INSIDE • Understanding weather patterns better with AI • Careers to help you save the world

www.hispanicengineer.com • Fall 2021

HBCUs & climate change

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FEATURES

CONTENTS

COVER STORY 18 World Wide Technology (WWT) chief technology advisor shares his inspiring life story

Rick Piña Chief Technology Advisor World Wide Technology

INSIDE

LEARN HOW AI IS IMPROVING THE WAY WE UNDERSTAND WEATHER PATTERNS

26 THOUGHT LEADERS SHARE THEIR PERSPECTIVES Highlighting global energy and the role veterans can play. 30 THESE SCHOOLS ARE NOT WAITING TO BE SAVED Instead, here is what the community is doing to combat the global environmental crisis.

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PUBLISHER'S PAGE VOLUME 36 | NUMBER 2

DEPARTMENTS News & Events ....................6 Get the latest news and critical academic dates.

Scholarships ....................... 8 The South Dakota Space Grant Consortium is offering internship/ fellowship opportunities. Learn how you can apply.

Financial Aid .................... 10 For financial success, budgeting is vital! Here are a few tips to get you started.

Internships ........................ 14 Avoid these 6 mistakes during your summer internship.

Graduate Life ...................38 So, you are thinking about going to graduate school? Here is a guide to choosing the right graduate program for you!

Community College Life .41

CHAMPIONING ACADEMIC SUCCESS

In October 2021, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) hosted its 35th annual conference on Hispanic higher education. No doubt about it, the premier organization leads exemplary programs and strategies that foster the educational success of Hispanic students. Earlier this year, HACU announced that it was seeking workshop proposals that address the theme, “35 Years of Championing Hispanic Higher Education Success,” in six tracks. The submission deadlines were in April, but the focus of the tracks is on perennial issues in U.S. education. They include grant opportunities available from government, private, and individual sources; community college partnerships; Hispanic-serving school districts/HACU-member institution collaboration; and business-industry-education partnerships. On Feb. 26, 1996, Antonio R. Flores became the third president and CEO of HACU. According to the organization, there were 18 founding members when the association was stood up in 1986. Now, HACU represents 500 colleges and universities that serve two-thirds of the more than 3.8 million Hispanic students in higher education across 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Internationally, HACU’s membership of higher education institutions is also a critical constituency. During Flores’ tenure as president of HACU, the association has tripled its membership (from 161 members in 1996 to 509 in December 2019). In addition, the organization has expanded its budget, developed its programs threefold, improved legislation for Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and increased federal funding for HSIs from $12 million in 1995 to $143 million for 2020. In addition, HACU has secured millions in new private financing for HSIs and associate members, including a $28 million HSI Kellogg initiative. Looking to the years ahead, HACU states that the strategic plan calls for significant gains for its membership. More than $4 billion in federal funding has been allocated to HSIs during Flores’ tenure.

A new study has identified the “Labor Market Value of Community College.” Here are the results.

Career Center ...................43 Want to land your dream job? Here are 5 tips to help you do it.

Tyrone D. Taborn Publisher and Chief Content Officer

Blue Collar STEM ............ 44 These are the 12 fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs that require only a 2-year degree.

Career Outlook ................47 Climate change is happening now. So, these environmental careers are in demand and help fight climate change.

• Industry Overview • Job Horizon

Visit Hispanic Engineer & IT magazine online www.hispanicengineer. com www.hispanicengineer.com

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Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology, (ISSN 10883452) is a publication devoted to science and technology, and to promoting opportunities in STEM fields for Hispanic Americans. This publication is bulk mailed to universities and colleges nationwide and in Puerto Rico. The editors invite editorial submissions directed toward the goals of Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology. In particular, HE&IT magazine wishes to present ideas, current events, and personality profiles of successful Hispanic Americans in science, technology, and related business pursuits. Fully developed articles may be sent, but queries are strongly encouraged. Articles and letters should be sent to: Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology, Editorial Department, 729 E. Pratt Street, Suite 504, Baltimore, MD 21202. No manuscript will be returned unless accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology cannot be responsible for unsolicited material. Copyright ©2021 by Career Communications Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

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NEWS &EVENTS

by Lango Deen ldeen@ccgmag.com

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THESE NATIONAL CONFERENCES Great Minds In STEM

Annual GMiS Conference October 5-8, 2022 Pasadena, California

American Indian Science and Engineering Society

AISES National Conference October 6-8, 2022 Palm Springs, California

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities Annual HACU Conference October 8-10, 2022 San Diego, California

Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans

SACNAS National Diversity in STEM Conference October 27-29, 2022 San Juan, Puerto Rico

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers

SHPE National Convention November 2-6, 2022 Charlotte, North Carolina

Migrant farmworkers' daughters 2019 saw the largest graduating class in University of California, Merced history, and Anna Ocegueda was one of the stars. One of five children of undocumented migrant farmworkers from Mexico, Ocegueda was the first in her family to graduate from university, earning a bachelor's degree in psychology and a minor in Spanish. Later that day, her sister took a photograph of her with their parents,

Top: Anna Oceguega and her parents Bottom: Jennifer Rocha and her parents

standing in orange groves. (https:// twitter.com/ucmerced/status/112870681 5347138560?lang=en). This year, Coachella native Jennifer Rocha, a University of California, San Diego graduate, took a similar photo in the farm fields where she worked with her parents. Since June 9, Rocha's story on UC San Diego's Facebook page has garnered 36,000 emojis and

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been shared 25,000 times. "Having to work two jobs, commute, and go to school at the same time was a struggle,” she wrote. “So many times, I wanted to give up, but my parents and their pieces of advice and support were the reason I kept going."(https:// www.facebook.com/UCSanDiego/ posts/10159431381224781)

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Mother and daughter prospered at San Diego State College of Engineering under the same mentor This commencement season, business administration, computer science, finance, and psychology were among the top 10 degrees earned by the 10,000 graduates at San Diego State University. Among those honored by the College of Engineering was graduating senior Jamilla Thomas. According to Delaney Weidner of San Diego State News, Thomas’s mother, originally from Grenada, earned a degree from SDSU 25 years ago and now works on Mars rover projects. Thomas began work at Rockwell in July. Both mother and daughter prospered at the College of Engineering under the same mentor, Theresa Garcia, now assistant dean of engineering student affairs, who directed the MESA (Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement) program at SDSU 1997 to 2014.

Couple establishes endowed scholarship for engineering Since their graduation in 1997, Alfredo and Sandra P. Aldrete have remained active in MESA (formerly known as the Minority Engineering Program). They provide scholarships, serve on the MESA board, and volunteer for various college efforts. They both credit the MESA program with much of their academic success. This spring, the College of Engineering at San Diego State University announced that the couple made a gift to establish the Alfredo Aldrete and Sandra Pulido Aldrete MESA Endowed Scholarship for Engineering. Alfredo is a radio frequency communications test and evaluation engineer at G2 Software Systems. Sandra is a systems engineer at Northrop Grumman. As an Air

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Jamilla Thomas and her mother

Force veteran, Alfredo used his GI Bill to pursue his education at SDSU with credits he earned at the Community College of the Air Force. Sandra transferred from San Diego Community College to SDSU.

AIAA Engineer of the Year Humberto "Tito" Silva III, a Sandia National Laboratories researcher, has been named Engineer of the Year by the world's largest aerospace technical society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Selected by a committee of his peers, Silva was cited for improving failure-rate predictions of aerospace flight systems as they reenter Earth's atmosphere. The work helps direct engineers to attack the worst problems first for reentry rockets, spaceships, and satellites. AIAA president Basil Hassan, who is also the deputy chief research officer at Sandia, said, "Tito's work helps ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear deterrent by helping to understand potential uncertainties in extreme thermal environments. The methodologies developed here could also be used for other entry and reentry-type applications that similarly concern engineers." HE

Humberto “Tito” Silva III

To stay up to date on all News and Events visit l.ead.me/bbSyoB

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SCHOLARSHIPS by Lango Deen editors@ccgmag.com

THE SOUTH DAKOTA SPACE GRANT CONSORTIUM

he South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, one of the nation’s leading engineering, science, and technology universities, has announced that 28 students were selected by the South Dakota Space Grant Consortium for scholarship and research funding from NASA. Tom Durkin, deputy director of the consortium, said about 96 percent of funded students go on to careers in various aspects of science, technology, engineering, and math. The South Dakota Space Grant Consortium links NASA and one of the many programs established by Congress in 1991 to support NASA’s Office of Education to maintain the nation’s leadership in aeronautics and space exploration. According to South Dakota Mines, Dalton Lund, a graduate student in electrical engineering, is interning with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center assisting with the development of a Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF) propulsion system that has the potential to be used to explore deep space, including crewed missions to Mars and beyond. 8

The South Dakota Space Grant Consortium has announced the SD Space Grant Consortium Student Internship/ Fellowship Stipend Program. Applications are still open for Spring 2022.

Kole Pickner, a graduate student in mechanical engineering, is interning with NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center working on a magnetic coupling system for cryogenic fluid transfer. Pickner also works part-time in Mines’ physics department in Dr. David Martinez’s research group. In addition, he helps design and builds calibration and testing equipment for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) that will be constructed at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. The calibration research is funded by the DUNE project and the Department of Energy.

inside Black Hills caves. The research may lend insight to life on other planets.

A third student, Mathew Clutter, a Mines computer science major, has an internship assisting with a high-altitude ballooning project offered by Montana Space Grant Consortium.

Kaytie Barkley, a mechanical engineering graduate student, is studying the joining of lightweight composite materials that could be components of future spacecraft.

Mines students are studying a wide range of aerospace and NASA-related research topics. Each of these three graduate students received $5,000 research stipends:

James Gormley, a mechanical engineering graduate student, is working on experimental designs for techniques that can be used to analyze the lunar surface and lunar ice caps.

Michael Cyrier, a paleontology graduate student, is researching rare microbial life, known as extremophiles, that live deep

Twenty-two other Mines students received NASA scholarship funds from the SDSGC to continue their studies. HE

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FINANCIAL AID by Evan Crosby editors@ccgmag.com

BUDGETING FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS Heading off to college can be an exciting time. Finally, finally, you are turning the page on one era of your life and venturing off into another. But there is a lot of change in being a new student, some of it good and some of it more challenging.

irst, of course, there is the excitement of meeting new people, finding out what you are passionate about, and the independence that comes with being on your own. But along with that independence comes a lot of responsibilities that may be new to you. One of the things you might have to start managing yourself is your finances. For many college students, this will be the first time dealing with rent, bills, groceries, and all sorts of other expenses that have not cropped up in the past. This might be overwhelming if you have not had to handle any of these things before. But do not panic! There are plenty of college budgeting tips out there to help. So, how can you budget to save money and cut expenses? One of the best

ways to manage this is to put together a realistic budget specifically designed for college students. For example, your budget should track your rent, utilities, food, transportation, school supplies, and more. Budgeting for college students is not always easy, so let us look at some critical components to learn more.

What College Students Need to Consider in a Budget

When you first start putting together your budget, you will want to do your best to predict certain expenses like your cost of living, transportation, the cost of textbooks, and more. You can start calculating big portions of your cost of living by starting with your rent and utilities. While there may be some variance in certain utility bills, things like your rent, Internet bill, and phone bill will stay static throughout the year, so you can start incorporating these costs into your budget ahead of time. Specific bills like electricity and water might change a bit more from month to month, but after two or three months, you will likely have a better idea of the general cost of these bills.

Typical College Student Expenditures

There are several different expenses that you may have to consider as a college student. Let us look at some of the biggest ones. 1. Rent and Utilities When it comes time to start looking into what living arrangements are out there for you, the key is to weigh all the options in front of you. You will need to start by getting an idea of the cost of rent around your school and then comparing this to the cost of living on campus (assuming that is an option available to you). Whether you end up living in a house/apartment or staying on campus, your living arrangements

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

will likely end up being one of your most significant expenses. Not only will you have to deal with the cost of rent, but you will also need to consider the cost of utilities. This can include things like water, gas, electricity, Internet, and cable. You generally will not have to worry about these things if you live in a dorm on campus, but you will need to account for them when you are putting together a realistic budget if you are out there on your own. One thing that may help you cut back on all these expenses is getting some roommates to share these costs. This way, you will be able to split the costs of rent and utilities instead of shouldering all these things on your own. Whether you have roommates or not, you will want to shop around for the best deals when setting up your utilities. Get quotes from different companies and look out for any student deals that may be going on. You will also want to evaluate your needs to make sure you are not spending money on things you do not need. 2. Food and Transportation Another big area to consider is the cost of food. If you are living on campus, you may be paying for a meal plan through your school. But if not, you are going to have to pay close attention to your food costs and look for ways to keep them low. This starts with being smart at the grocery store and cooking at home as much as possible. You will want to make sure you put together a meal plan, make a shopping list, and stick to that list. To help you save on groceries, you should also:

• •

Avoid shopping when hungry Plan to have leftovers

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DEPARTMENT

• • •

Choose generic brands Buy produce that is in season Buy meat sporadically

Another considerable expense, particularly for those living far from campus, is the cost of transportation. While some people may be okay getting around on foot, you may need to drive if you are looking at a long commute. Whether you buy or lease a car, you will need to incorporate the cost of driving into your budget. Factor in the price of gas, insurance, regular maintenance, and any repairs that may come up along the way. 3. Textbooks and School Supplies As crucial as your textbooks will be, they do not typically come cheap. While considering these costs is an essential part of budgeting for college students, you can reduce the amount you spend on textbooks for the year. Start by seeing if you can rent these textbooks to avoid having to buy them at all. If the textbooks you need are not available for rent, see if you can find these books used instead of having to buy them new from your school's bookstore. You can also see if your school has any Facebook groups designated for buying and selling textbooks.

College Student Income

When you are putting together a realistic budget for a college student,

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it is not all about keeping track of your expenses. You will also need to incorporate the money you have from student loans, grants, scholarships, personal loans, and student employment. Consider things like:

• • •

The amount of tuition that will be paid for by scholarships and grants The number of hours you work at your part-time job every month How much money you have coming in from student loans, and the cost of paying these loans back

1. Student Loans, Grants, and Scholarships When it comes to scholarships, grants, and student loans, you need to understand the differences:

• •

•

Scholarships are generally given based on merit (academic, athletic, etc.) and do not need to be paid back. Grants are generally given out based on needs from either the federal or state government. To see if you may qualify for a grant, you can submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Student loans are given by certain financial institutions and the government, and this is money you borrow to help you pay for your education. They often come at lower costs than certain other loans. In addition, the cost of interest may be fixed, and in some cases, partially subsidized.

2. Personal Loans When your money is tied up in rent, bills, groceries, textbooks, and school expenses, you may not have much money left over for any emergencies that pop up. If an unexpected expense comes up and you do not have the savings to deal with it, online loans may help. If you take out a personal loan, you will need to incorporate your loan payments into your budget. 3. Student Employment If you are a student and you need help paying for your education and living expenses, a part-time job may be what you need to help you get by. Finding a job on campus could be ideal if you are looking for an employer that is comfortable accommodating your school schedule. Still, you may also find employers off-campus that are willing to do the same—especially if you are living in a college town where businesses are used to employing students during the school year.

Creating a Student Budget

Going off to college can be one of the most exciting times in your life, but it is essential to remember that your education likely will not be cheap. If you want to get through these student years, you will need to be careful with spending your money. Make sure you put together a realistic college student budget and incorporate things like:

• • • •

Rent and utilities Transportation Food School supplies

You will also need to know what financial options you have at your disposal, like scholarships, grants, and student loans, and you will need to understand the differences between them. Your college years are going to be some of the best of your life, so make the most of them! HE

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We’re committed to driving and achieving real change — creating a tomorrow we can all be proud of, standing together as one. Jacobs’ Action Plan for Advancing Justice and Equality is about achieving true equality for all of our employees current and future, with a focus on empowering women and employees of color to advance and achieve at Jacobs. It’s about doing our part as a global leader to educate and change the culture in our communities — reaching bright-eyed future talent early to highlight and celebrate futures ripe with potential.

And, it’s an opportunity for our global community to get this right. To learn more about our openings (experienced, graduate, intern and co-op) please visit our Jacobs Careers page: careers.jacobs.com

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Learn more about careers with the Forest Service at

https://www.fs.usda.gov/working-with-us/jobs/events USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

INTERNSHIPS By George deGeyter ldeen@ccgmag.com

6 MISTAKES SUMMER INTERNS SHOULD AVOID When you make mistakes during your internship, you risk losing out on a job offer in the end. If you have an internship now or are seeking one, here are some tips to help you avoid mistakes.

Neglecting to understand what your manager expects of you After your first few conversations with your manager, you may assume that you have a good grasp of what is expected of you. However, many interns find out when they make the midpoint presentations that they are not on track. The problem is that managers tend to be too busy to explain to interns what exactly is expected of them. Nevertheless, it is important to press your manager for at least a half-hour a week to discuss your work. At the end of each of these meetings, you should type out every idea you have taken away from them and email them to your manager; in a short, concise form, make sure that the two of you are on the same page. It is also a good idea to plan to complete your project or final presentation a couple of weeks before you need to turn it in. This way, you will have plenty of time to ask for feedback and make course corrections, as necessary.

Neglecting to collaborate with your fellow interns When you intern at a large corporation that has a complex organizational structure, it can take weeks to find the right people to get in touch with. It is important not to waste time, however. There may be other interns at your company who have projects like yours. You can compare notes and share resources, contacts, and much more. When you start your internship, you need to establish lines of communication with other interns and find opportunities to share knowledge. Not only is this likely to improve the quality of your work, but it may also allow you to make use of a valuable opportunity to show your manager that you are a great team player, as well. In the event of a job offer at the end of the internship, you will head in with a better understanding of the organization, its teams, and its products than you would have if you tried to go through your internship on your own. Taking an absence of feedback to mean you are doing well Feedback is a critically important part of success in any internship. Unfortunately, managers tend to be overworked and are often too busy to remember what feedback can mean to their interns. If you do not receive detailed feedback at least once a week, do not assume that it just means you are doing well. You need to reach out to your manager and set up a meeting to talk about it. Your manager will appreciate the initiative you take and help you make the most of your internship experience. Not getting important people on board throughout your internship Internships tend to last no longer than 10 weeks. That is not much time to allow the influential people at your

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company to gain insight into the way you think and work. Often, however, interns make things worse by closely guarding their projects until they are complete. They are afraid to let important people at the company see their work when it is incomplete. However, when they do this, they miss out on natural opportunities to position themselves where they can be seen and get buy-in from all stakeholders. Sharing your work with your managers can help when you are looking to translate your internship into a job offer. Not seeing your internship as a job Often, interns make the mistake of seeing their projects and other responsibilities as exercises rather than actual work. As a result, they fail to pursue success at their internships the way they would if they were paying jobs. The most successful interns, however, take ownership of their internships. They carefully study their project briefings by themselves, determine what data is needed, identify the stakeholders they need to be in touch with, and work with a sense of urgency. Indeed, it can be a difficult, lonely, and insecure experience to make your way in an organization when no one seems to have the time to sit down with you and explain things to you. However, finding your way is an opportunity to prove to your managers that you are a self-starter. It is an essential quality for anyone to demonstrate if they hope for a full-time position at some point. Not seeking every opportunity to further your understanding The typical internship gives interns too little time to understand the different ways things are done at a company or in an industry. So, when you are anxious to make a good impression, your instinct, at times, may be to cover up your ignorance and feign knowledge.

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If you do not receive detailed feedback at least once a week, do not assume that it just means you are doing well. You need to reach out to your manager and set up a meeting to talk about it.

At some point, however, you may find yourself too deep in your pretense of knowledge to be able to come out and ask basic questions you need answers to. It is important to resolve to not fake anything, be honest about what you do not know, and take every opportunity to ask good questions that add to your knowledge of how to go about your internship successfully. When you take your internship

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seriously, are up front about the shortcomings in your knowledge, go about your responsibilities with a sense of ownership and urgency, seek feedback, and aim to satisfy your managers' expectations, you are likely to find that you can make a great success of your effort. HE

Did you enjoy this story? Check out more stories like this online at www.hispanicengineer.com

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AD DO WORK THAT CREATES

POSSIBILITIES At Abbott, we’re all about helping you live the best life you can through good health. Every day, more than 109,000 of us bring you information, medicines and breakthroughs to manage your health and make life better in the 160-plus countries we serve. We’re bringing together our diverse perspectives to change the face of healthcare. Join us in this life-changing work while achieving your career and personal goals. Learn more at: abbott.com/careers. Connect with us:

Abbott is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status.

GENERAL ENGINEERS · ,_,, .. -'{--· : ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS �._� ..•� . -�MECHANICAL ENGINEERS ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS COMPUTER SCIENTISTS OPERATIONS RESEARCH ANALYSTS

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by Lango Deen 18

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Secrets of Leveling The

With Rick Piña, Chief Technology Advisor for the Public Sector at World Wide Technology

N THE "LEVELING UP" EPISODE of the High-Tech Sunday podcast, Rick Piña, chief technology advisor for the public sector at World Wide Technology, talks about the importance of acquiring new experiences, accessing new spaces, and having mentors and positive role models. In his current role at World Wide Technology, a technology services provider that employs about 7,000 people, Piña and his team engage customers on strategy, innovation, and transformation focused on operational and business outcomes at an enterprise scale.

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Piña also leads the Rick & Isabella Piña Ministries (RIP Ministries), a nonprofit that he co-founded with his wife, Isabella. RIP Ministries is dedicated to serving people in low-income communities, with a particular emphasis on the Caribbean.

We're Here To Do Something Good

Over the last 60 years, Dominican immigrants have multiplied in a migration pattern triggered by economic upheaval. According to the Migration Policy Institute, Dominican arrivals in the United States since the 1960s have included university students, professors, and low-income women fleeing the Latin American economic crisis.

She grew up in La Vega in the Dominican Republic. One of nine children, Piña's mother had an eighth-grade education, more than all her siblings. The family had no running water and no electricity. People would laugh when Piña’s mother would say that she was going to New York City. She finally made the trip in 1970.

"The two big things in my life are technology and my faith in God," Piña said. "From the perspective of sowing a seed, I would say my mother."

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

“The two big things in my life are technology and my faith in God.” – RICK PIÑA

Piña was born a couple of years after his mother arrived in America and was the first in his family to speak fluent English. In addition, the values instilled at the heart of their family were his mother's belief in making the most of good opportunities. "Knowing English doesn't mean much to most Americans, but in the apartment building I grew up, I was the only kid that knew English," Piña explained. "People would stop by, knock on the door, and say to my mother, 'Hey, I got this mail. Can your son read the mail?' I had to read people's mail, tell them what the government was telling them to do. ‘You must show up here or there.' And because I knew English, my family would say, 'Dude, you know English. Do something with your life.'"

‘Man, I Just Hope I'm Alive When I'm 18’ On his mother's recommendation, Piña got his first job operating a cash register in a bodega. Starting at age 13, he worked six days a week, 12 hours a day over the summer, for $150 a week. Though his mother wanted more for him beyond a steady job in a corner store or driving a cab, the deck often seemed stacked against young Rick. While in elementary school, at P.S. 149 (The Danny Kaye Elementary School), Piña recalls some teachers coming to his classroom one day armed with dire statistics: That x percentage of Black and Brown males in East New York, Brooklyn would be dead or in jail by the time they turn 18. "I was in the third or fourth grade, and that impacted me in a significant way," Piña said. "I remember many times, on a Saturday morning, getting up early, sitting on the stoop, waiting for my friends to play tag or football, and

thinking about what those teachers said. I don't know why anyone would say that to a child." In the fifth grade, Piña got a chance to attend a school for the gifted. But he had to take two public New York City buses to get to downtown Brooklyn. Initially, Piña felt real excitement going to his new school. He was just as proud of his blue and white suede Adidas, which his mother had bought him that school year. However, on the first Thursday, Piña got robbed of his shoes on a public bus by a group of teenage boys who threatened him with a gun. Shaken by the experience, Piña made it home safely, but his mother decided the local school was a safer bet. Although Piña was later accepted into every high school in the city, he chose one located about two blocks from his tiny apartment in a block of row houses. “As bad as it was, it was in my neighborhood,” he said. After a brief move to the Dominican Republic during high school, where the medium of instruction was Spanish, Piña came back to New York to ensure he graduated high school in the U.S. "I had an academic scholarship to get to college, but I would have to take the train," Piña said. "To take to the train for four years was like playing Russian roulette with your life back in the ‘70s and ‘80s." Inspired by a cousin who was in the military academy in the Dominican Republic, Piña opted to join the United States Army as a telecommunicationsvoice communications recruit. On his 18th birthday, he recalls crying with relief. Finally, he had made it out of a poor neighborhood riddled with violent crime and drug addiction. Finally, he had a chance at life. Piña would spend 25 years in the U.S. military, eventually retiring as

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

the chief technology officer in the Army and working at the highest level of the Pentagon. "I got to explain to (industry) what the Army was doing and what we needed from technology in Silicon Valley, Boston, and Austin," Piña said. "Conversely, they communicated with me what they did, and I helped marry the Army gaps and opportunities with evolving or emerging technology."

Technology and Faith At the end of his tenure, Piña visited World Wide Technology (WWT) in St. Louis, MO, with his former boss, Lt. Gen Robert "Bob" Ferrell. At the time, Piña said he thought he would move on to run a consultancy with his cousin. But as luck and chance would have it, he met David L. Steward, chairman and founder of World Wide Technology, who gave him a book called Doing Business by the Good Book. "I'd never met a Christian billionaire before," Piña noted. "I was impressed with World Wide Technology, the people and the culture. That was six years ago." Speaking about his current job, Piña said he gets to do the same things at WWT as he did in the Army. "I get to talk technology to intelligence, federal, departments, and higher education in all 50 states, local governments, and municipalities," he said. "World Wide Technology works with many tech companies in Silicon Valley; Boston; Austin; Redmond, WA; and Seattle. We can integrate technology, and we focus on customer outcomes. We work our way backward from the result to the technology."

‘Mentors, role models, coaches, and sponsors’ During the pandemic, Piña helped lead “prayer calls” with an emphasis on the spiritual and mental health of WWT employees and family members. He also leads the Hispanic and Latin employee resource group at WWT. Currently, Hispanic Americans make up 17 or 18 percent of the workforce, but they only make up 4 percent of company executives. That statistic is roughly equal to that of Black executives and a little lower than Asian Americans. "I'm big on mentorship," Piña said. "I gleaned a lot from Colin Powell's book

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because he was a son of immigrant parents from Jamaica who grew up in the Bronx. I was the son of immigrant parents who grew up in Brooklyn. He was in the Army, and I was in the Army. So, I modeled things after Gen. Colin Powell. From that perspective, I would say it is important for Hispanics and other minority groups to be represented at the most senior level. Young people need to look up and see somebody who looks like them, that sounds like them. That they can connect with and resonate with in some way, and when they do, it does something on the inside that is almost intangible." Reflecting on his stint in Bosnia during the late 1990s, Piña said he worked closely with a then two-star general, Larry Ellis, on a command handover. A few years later, Piña and his wife ran into the general at a commissary (grocery store) at Fort Hood, the United States Army post near Killeen, TX. "My wife is a woman of color, and General Ellis is African American," Piña explained. "My wife looks at the general, and she is amazed at the sight of a Black general." Fifteen years later, Piña had a similar aha moment. He ran into a general of Hispanic descent, the first Latino leader he had ever seen: Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. "I said, excuse me, sir, my name is Ricardo, and I start speaking to him in Spanish, and he starts talking to me in Spanish," Piña recalls. The conversation lasted 30 seconds or about a minute, but Piña felt just as amazed as his wife when she ran into the first Black general she had ever seen. "When you see somebody who looks like you, someone you can connect with on an internal level, it becomes, ‘If they can do it, I can do it too.’" Nonetheless, Piña notes that if you look at boardrooms and pictures and do not see anybody who looks like you or has a similar last name, the unspoken message is that this is not your reality.

Piña's advice to minority executives "When you get an opportunity to go into those board rooms or move up, we have a responsibility as leaders to take more of a public role,” Piña said. “I want someone who looks like me and sounds like me to see and be inspired as Gen. Sanchez did

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for me in the halls of the Pentagon." “You have a responsibility to open the door for the next person.” After running the most advanced surgery department in the Department of Defense, Isabella Piña now runs her own company. "My wife, who grew up with no running water, no electricity in Dominica, reminds me that I was not lacking," Piña said. "I thought I grew up poor because we grew up on welfare, food stamps, Medicaid and government assistance, and government cheese. But we would go to the Dominican Republic at least once a year because my mother would save up pennies in New York. “Every time we went, we went with a suitcase full of clothes and returned with no clothes because she would give everything away. I remember going down to the river to take a bath: no running water, no electricity. So, there was this weird dichotomy: in the Dominican Republic, my family was like, 'Wow, dude, you're rich. You live in New York.' And in New York, we were poor, at least by the standards of this country. "Only in America do you have the best chance to get out of poverty, get out of the conditions you are in if you do it the right way. This country is still the symbol of hope for most of the free world. My mother raised my sister and me as a single parent. No matter how bad people thought we had it in Brooklyn, it was still better than where my mother came from in the Dominican Republic. "Where I grew up in East New York in Brooklyn, the motivation to do right was scarce, and the opportunities to do wrong were plenteous. But my mother instilled in me that the family came to this country to get a better life, and because of that, I stayed away from the many opportunities that would have taken me down the wrong path." "My mother taught me dignity, honor, and respect. I was taught to do what’s right because it’s right and then do it right every time! "People ask my wife and I all the time, 'Why do you guys do so many things?' If I am called to do something, I will do it with all my heart. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing right. And if I am not going to put my heart into it, I would rather not do it." HE

“Only in

America

do you have the best chance to get out of

poverty,

get out of the conditions you are in if you do it the right way. This country is still the symbol of hope for most of the free world.” – RICK PIÑA

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

HOW

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAN IMPROVE THE WAY WE UNDERSTAND

WEATHER PATTERNS

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In 2019, weather and climate disasters caused $14 billion in damage. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is responsible for preparing a weather-ready nation to support disaster preparedness, response, and restoration. NOAA is responsible for providing forecasts, monitoring, and guidance on conditions from the ocean to the sun. We do this through satellite data, numerical weather prediction and supercomputers, radar, and unmanned systems, to name a few of the technologies we use. Many of us get a little nervous when we think about the use of AI. We become even more uneasy when we consider using it in weather forecasting. Much of this anxiety is due to misunderstandings and misconceptions about the use of AI in predicting outcomes. NOAA has been using AI methods for over 25 years by providing transformative advancements in the quality and timeliness of NOAA science, products, and services. From ocean robotics and environmental mapping to model parameterization and automated weather (WX) warnings, implementing AI algorithms has helped the administration provide faster and more reliable results. These NOAA AI projects support big data initiatives by reducing compute time and operating costs and providing data to partnering agencies ready for usage in AI methods for disaster response and risk management. An example of the use of AI includes the National Ocean Service and National Weather Service researchers partnering to use AI to detect rip currents from coastal imagery. This is important because rip currents are a cause of death for many surfers. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) help initialize our forecast models, allowing NOAA to take the data we receive from the satellite and input that into forecast models for numerical weather predictions, which is how broadcasters can announce the weather predictions. However, it is in our failures where we learn the lessons that propel us toward technological advancements. Unfortunately, we experienced this type of failure with our GOES-17 satellite. The main instrument, the advanced space line imagery, had experienced what we call a loop heat pipe anomaly, meaning that the instrument does not cool properly at night. This is unfortunate because if a natural

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disaster such as a tornado happened at night, the impact and fatalities could be significantly greater without proper prediction. The GOES-17 was expected to provide us with leading data. However, the imagery was degraded and unusable. One of the current mitigation proposals for this is to use AI, the same algorithm that detects facial imagery from our cell phones, to overcome the missing images that we have from the satellite. This is not operational just yet, but this is one potential direction for us to give us the data to provide even more accurate forecasts. Another example of how NOAA uses AI is through neural networks with an AI-based ensemble model. Ensemble models use data from several different forecasting models to reduce the sharpness and minimize the false alarms in some of our outputs.

Did you know National Ocean Service and National Weather Service researchers use artificial intelligence to detect rip currents from coastal imagery? This is important because rip currents are a major cause of death for many surfers.

It is extremely important for us to adequately warn the public when and when not to take action, so we must process data to ensure we give accurate public information. AI has brought transformational improvement in performance, skill, computing, and cost. As we look to the future, we hope to implement AI by providing better organization and coordination, resource opportunities, and research into applications by partnering with cooperative institutes and science centers, including HBCUs and minority-serving institutions. In addition, our mission is to continue promoting a current and future workforce that is trained in AI. Together with NOAA’s unmanned systems, omics, and cloud strategies, the NOAA AI strategy will not only significantly improve performance in our lifesaving and economically impactful missions; it will accelerate our renowned environmental science and technology leadership through the 21st century. HE This commentary is derived from a BEYA Leading Voices presentation by Jamese Sims, Ph.D. Dr. Sims has served as an algorithm engineer for NOAA Satellites. She is a senior physical scientist at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. To view her discussion you can watch the video here:

https://l.ead.me/bcZ9DE

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Typical companies have mission statements. We have ISMs. ISMs are the beliefs we live by that drive our decision-making.

Learn more about working here at MyRocketCareer.com/ISMs.

PERSPECTIVES ON THE

FUTURE

OF ENERGY by Christopher Zacher

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PROJECTIONS FROM THE WORLD’S LEADING CLIMATE EXPERTS show that disregarding climate policies will increase our global energy consumption by approximately 30 percent through 2040 and beyond, led largely by fossil fuels.

A National Perspective on Global Energy Panelists

These experts believe that without a major shift in current policy and technology trends, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will continue to grow, and climate change will drastically worsen. At the 2021 BEYA Global Competitiveness Conference, three energy industry veterans—BENTINA TERRY, senior vice president of Southern Company; MARGARET JACKSON, deputy director of Atlantic Council’s Climate and Advanced Energy Program; and DANA REDDEN, founder of Solar Stewards—joined us to answer some questions about the future of energy. Here’s a peek at what they had to say:

How do you see the current state of energy production and use? BT: The whole energy sector is in flux. We’re moving toward more renewables and more distributed resources. We’re electrifying many things, too, which is kind of a backbone or cornerstone for other technological advances. You can’t have autonomous vehicles until you make electric vehicles. DR: I’m really excited about the democratization of energy. That means individuals and businesses in this space will have a lot more control over not only their energy consumption but their production. We’re seeing that happen globally, and it’s helping with economic development and national security and producing cleaner energy. That’s very encouraging. MJ: While we are starting to see a rapid rise in renewable energy, there’s also a rise in fossil fuel consumption, which is concerning. The good news is that, every year since 2015, global renewable energy installed capacity has outpaced fossil fuel installed capacity. We’re also seeing the major oil and gas companies rebranding as energy companies. So, we’re seeing the market shift, but it’s going to take some time. Q: What type of transition strategy is needed to fix the crisis we’re facing? MJ: The “Four Ds” are a good way to frame the solution—decarbonization, digitization, decentralization, and democratization. Decentralization and

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Bentina Chisolm Terry

Dana Clare Redden

Margaret Jackson

Senior VP - Metro Atl & Corp. Rel Georgia Power Company

Founder Solar Stewards

Deputy Dir. Climate & Adv Energy at Atlantic Council

democratization put energy closer to the consumer. In regards to decarbonization, we can’t overstate the importance of the shift to electric. And digitization… we need digitization for better grid management. You’re starting to see partnerships between companies like Microsoft and Shell to integrate AI and blockchain technology, and that’s very exciting. BT: A lot of what we’re talking about in the industry is research and development, how both corporations and the government can invest in continuous R&D or energy technology. How do we continue to research and develop carbon capture? How do we continue to electrify more and more of our transportation sector? We’re working on a project in Atlanta with MARTA, our rapid transit system, to electrify buses. Trains are already electrified, which people don’t think about, but now we’re working to electrify the buses, and [those types of projects] require research and development across the entire sector. DR: I might be a little biased as an entrepreneur, but what we need is a vehicle to bring new technology to market. It’s great to have a solution, but until it can reach people and perform and function in a marketplace, it’s going to sit on a shelf. For this transition to work, we need innovative business models to push new strategies and challenge the status quo. That’s where the magic happens and where we really start to see the adoption of solutions.

Q: What are the biggest challenges in achieving a future where renewable energy is status quo? DR: The challenge is in speaking to the part of humans that is hesitant to change. It’s as simple as that. We need that messaging. We need to convince folks what’s in it for them. The biggest challenge is human nature. MJ: I agree with Dana—we’re very much happy to stay with the status quo. We used to hear that there’s a tradeoff between the energy transition and economic prosperity, but that’s not the case anymore. We have all of the technologies we need [to significantly reduce emissions], but the reality is that it’s policy and our individual decisions that prevent us from getting there. BT: One of the things we always have going on in the back of our minds is how to get these technologies to the least among us. Where are people living in apartment complexes going to charge their electric vehicles? How do we get landlords to want to take energy reduction measures in properties where they don’t pay the power bill? Equity has to be an overlay when we think about getting these technologies into our communities. We have to think about balancing emissions reduction with the cost to our customers. HE

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AD I’VE BEEN ABLE TO EMBRACE GREATER COMPLEXITY IN MY WORK

AND GREATER OPPORTUNITY FOR MY CAREER At FM Global, we help clients identify the risks their businesses face and help them safeguard by building resilience to those risks — hence protecting their assets. I started nearly six years ago as a Field Engineer I. Due to the complexity of the visits I performed and the amount of work in my area, I’ve already moved to Field Engineer II, then Senior Engineer and now Engineering Specialist. Currently I am in the Earthquake and Chemical Risk Specialist program. The level of challenges and responsibilities that I face today is exponentially bigger than when I began. I feel like I’ve experienced so much in a relatively short time. There aren’t too many places this level of growth and exposure is possible.

4ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES

What you are exposed to at FM Global is incredibly diverse, from the industries you engage with, to the people you meet, to the types of challenges you face and the opportunities for growth and ongoing success. I can’t think of anywhere else that can offer this range of experience.

NA LORINEEERING ENG IALIST SPEC

CE 20

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LOYE

EMP

Uncommon careers and an uncommon approach. Take a closer look, and discover just how different a career in insurance can be.

CLIMATE CHANGE

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CONSERVING THE ENVIRONMENT FOR A SUSTAINABLE WORLD by Lango Deen

OST AMERICANS (62 percent) say climate change affects their local community, according to Pew Research. Most of the groups surveyed in the American Trends Panel also said significant impacts include floods and storms (70 percent), harm to wildlife and their habitats (69 percent), damage to forests and plant life (67 percent), or droughts and water shortages (64 percent). More frequent wildfires and rising sea levels eroding beaches and shorelines were also cited by equal percentages (56 percent of those asked) as significant impacts on their local communities. Three-quarters of Americans (77 percent) agree that priority should be given to wind, solar power, and hydrogen technology. rather than increasing the production of fossil fuels. In addition, large shares of the public (72 percent) said they use fewer plastic bags, straws, and cups or reduce their water consumption (68 percent) to help the environment. About half (51 percent) of Americans say they are driving less or using carpools, while one in four Americans said they try to live in ways that protect the environment. HOW HBCUS ARE PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT In 2018, researchers at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University were awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to investigate the impact of particles on cloud formation. The project probed the properties of particles in emissions and

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Equity and Justice was established in what happens when the particles meet the School of the Environment (SOE) mineral dust from the Sahara, the largest at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical hot desert in the world. The project University (FAMU). was designed to enhance research in atmospheric sciences at historically "Our years of active research Black colleges and universities. HBCU engagements through funds from the researchers collaborated with Colorado National Oceanic and Atmospheric State University, a leading atmospheric science institution, to model health impacts and collect samples Students from FAMU aboard maritime research monitored water platforms on National quality in correlation Oceanic and Atmospheric to oyster ranching. Administration (NOAA) ships. "Household pollution from biomass burning contributes to nearly 3 million premature deaths per year," said Google Scholar and professor Solomon Bililign, the principal research investigator at N.C. A&T. "Having a better understanding of the health impacts of pollution due to biomass burning should help improve household burning conditions in the developing world." In 1981, “Warming Warning,” a documentary on the effect of pollution of the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, shook the world. A study that addressed toxic waste sites was also published in Florida. In response, the Center for Environmental HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

FAMU School of the Environment College of Engineering at Tennessee State University. "Environmental science is the area of biological, chemistry, and physical sciences to study the environment and its impact on humans and other living species. It involves examining natural resources such as water, air, soil, and the Earth with respect to the interactions of animals and quality of life," he explained. "Environmental engineering is an application of science (environmental) to create industrial policies, operations, technology, and infrastructure to provide a more inhabitable and safer environment for a better quality of life. The degree programs, for both majors, centers on the above concepts and in practice." Raghava R. Kommalapati, Ph.D., is the director of the NSF-funded CREST Center for Energy & Environmental Sustainability at Prairie View A&M University. He is also a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Roy G. Perry College of Engineering at Prairie View A&M. Below are excerpts from a conversation with US Black Engineer magazine this summer.

Administration, has kept us in the forefront of training generations of students in ecosystem characterization, ecological processes, forecasting and modeling, and human dimensions," says Victor Ibeanusi, Ph.D., dean of the School of the Environment. "Every season, we take our undergraduate students at the School of the Environment on a boat trip to Apalachicola Bay and Spring Creek, where we monitor water quality in correlation to oyster ranching to study the effects of the dwindling freshwater to the bay and climate change impacts to oyster ranching."

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE VS. ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment of environmental engineers is projected to grow 3 percent from 2019 to 2029, about as fast as the average for all occupations. However, the employment of environmental scientists and specialists is projected to grow 8 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations. "These fields are becoming more popular with the concern of the impact of climate change and corporate responsibility to the environment," said S. Keith Hargrove, academic dean of the

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"We have been offering courses in environmental engineering for more than two decades, but the focus recently has somewhat moved towards environmental sustainability. Of course, everything that we do in life can be done more sustainably. The focus of our research center is related to environmental sustainability in the broader field of energy. In other words, I focus on sustainability as it relates to energy production, and it includes both fossil fuels and renewable energy. Everything we do in the center has a focus on sustainability. We have mainly three research thrust areas. Some folks are working on converting biomass into ethanol, which is added to gasoline. But in our current phase, we are looking at converting biomass (like energy crops) into hydrocarbon fuels that we can directly put into the car. You do not need to mix it up with gasoline. We are producing hydrocarbon fuel that goes into the vehicle directly. "The second focus in our center is wind energy, both onshore, which was what we did in our Phase I. In Phase II, we are focused more on offshore wind energy.

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We are looking at how we can support and sustain wind turbines and their foundations in the offshore environment. Remember, offshore foundations are quite different from those on the land, particularly related to reliability. We are making offshore wind more sustainable and readily available as a significant energy source.”

Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Reearch Laboratory

REUSE OF WASTEWATER "The third focus, which I lead as the director in the research center, is how we can make some of the processes we use for energy generation, wastewater treatment, etc., more sustainable than they are right now. For example, one of the main problems with hydraulic fracking operations, which is a major source of oil and gas in Texas, we use millions and millions of gallons of water every day when we pump oil and gas from the fracking operations. This water becomes contaminated with organic materials because it comes out with oil and gas along with thousands of parts per million of dissolved solids (inorganic ions). This water cannot be reused, so many companies use what is referred to as deep well injection, where we will never see that water again. However, this process has resulted in increased seismic activity in Texas and Oklahoma. So, one of the things we are doing in our center is cleaning this water using membranes processes well enough to use it for agriculture or reuse it for other water

applications, including fracking water. "We also have another project where we use membrane processes to reuse poultry process wastewater. When we process poultry meat, we produce tremendous amounts of high-quality water and create a problem finding enough clean water. We are using membrane processes to treat this wastewater to such a high quality it can be reused in the poultry process. In other words, we make the process a clean, closed loop. So, you take a million gallons of water, and you can keep reusing this water without having to look for fresh water each time. These

are some of the sustainability research aspects that our center is working on. WHAT HAPPENS TO EMISSIONS? "Our center is now in the second phase. We finished the first phase of $5 million, and we are now in the second $5 million funding. We are funded until 2024 to conduct this kind of research on our campus: energy and sustainability aspects of energy. For example, what are some of the impacts of using gasoline in cars? Or any other energy production: coal power plants, natural gas power plants. What happens to these emissions?

FAMU School of the Environment

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HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

How do they impact the air quality? We have modeling work that we have done to study those aspects. For example, if we shut down a coal power plant in Houston and initiate a giant wind farm in south Texas, will that have an air quality effect in the Houston area? These are some of the things we are doing in our research. "In our program, we have a Master of Science in engineering, with concentrations in civil engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and environmental engineering. We are also looking at offering energy engineering concentration, which will include environmental sustainability.” WHERE ENGINEERING MEETS SCIENCE "As you can imagine, engineering is more application-oriented, meaning we use the concepts of science and design processes to clean water, wastewater, control air pollution, remediate contaminated soil, or other processes. So, it is more the application of scientific principles to solve everyday problems. "But if you look at the science, this may involve different sub-areas. Like toxicology, where people study the effect of other toxic chemicals on the human body. What kinds of impact can a particular class of chemicals have on human beings? "Then there is ecology, which looks at

Michael S. Regan

some of the processes that impact all the environments surrounding us, for example, different life forms, starting with microorganisms to the animals, and human beings are part of this ecosystem. All these are interrelated parts of ecology and are one of the topics of environmental science. More specifically, you can break it down into biochemical processes and the interactions between human beings and microorganisms. So those are the issues that people in environmental science study. Those programs are usually part of the colleges of arts and sciences. "In some cases, they may have a particular school where they may be looking at some of these environmental issues. They might call it the School of Environmental Sciences. Different universities offer these things in various colleges. But engineering is generally located in the College of Engineering, and we typically do not go into pure science issues. We limit ourselves to engineering because we use scientific principles and apply them to different processes or treatments. "For example, an environmental scientist can develop a process that an engineer may take that process and then use in a real-world application. As a researcher, I am in between these two disciplines: science and engineering. I teach engineering, but I do research where I study the science and create processes, and then as an engineer, I take that process and see if I can use it in a realworld application. My role as a researcher brings me closer to science." PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW Michael S. Regan, a North Carolina A&T State University graduate, developed a passion for the environment while hunting and fishing with his father and grandfather and exploring the vast lands, waters, and inner Coastal Plain of North Carolina. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in earth and environmental science. As administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, he is responsible for helping to advance the Biden-Harris administration's commitment to combating climate change, restoring the role of science and transparency, and promoting environmental justice. Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, Symone Johnson Barker grew up in Cherry Hill. In an interview with Ray

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Reearch Laboratory

Kennedy of CCG Media, she spoke of playing in Middle Branch Park as a little girl but being unaware that a nearby river led to the Chesapeake Bay. Johnson Barker started watching animal shows on Saturday mornings and began noticing the bugs and birds in her neighborhood. During high school, she volunteered at the National Aquarium in Baltimore as an exhibit guide. Her job involved talking to people about what they were seeing, and the role inspired her to become a marine scientist. One of her role models at Hampton University was Dr. Deirdre Gibson, chair of the Department of Marine and Environmental Science at the historically Black college and university (HBCU). SUSTAINABILITY FINANCE ADVISOR The Gulf Coast Equity Consortium is a five-year project designed by Dr. Robert Bullard, distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University, and Dr. Beverly Wright, executive director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. Members of the consortium are leaders of communitybased organizations and professors at HBCUs. In 2019, Entergy Corporation and the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) invited local businesses to discuss the new Gulf Coast Carbon Collaborative. US BCSD was founded in 1992 to control greenhouse gas emissions in the Gulf Coast region and the risks posed by climate change. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.9 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. www.hispanicengineer.com

Jackson State Energy Inc's PVAMU STEM Collaborative, I am aware of the PVAMU engineering research capabilities and realized the synergies between the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development— Gulf Coast Carbon Collaborative goals and PVAMU's subject matter expertise and research.

Prairie View A&M University, the second oldest public institution of higher learning in Texas, is working on an energy and environmental project with NRG Energy, Inc., one of its corporate partners. In his current role at NRG Energy, Tarique Rashaud serves as a sustainability finance advisor on methods to secure sustainable energy project financing. He also sits on the Industrial Advisory Board of Prairie View A&M engineering and contributes to the US BCSD as co-lead of the Gulf Coast Carbon Collaborative.

"The U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development leverages the National Institute for Inclusive Competitiveness to enact a broader HBCU engagement strategy. In brief, the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development— Gulf Coast Carbon Collaborative recently engaged PVAMU in developing the framework for a Solar + Soils Solution, which couples renewable energy technology with mycoremediation (a form of bioremediation) of (contaminated sites) in low- and moderate-income communities and utilizing renewable energy for resilience and climate risk predictive analytics. "Without question, in my opinion, to achieve the Biden-Harris Climate Change goals and global United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a more inclusive tent of research minds is necessary. HBCUs present an underutilized resource that must be engaged to make these lofty goals a reality." HE

Jackson State

"The Gulf Coast Carbon Collaborative leverages industries, non-governmental organizations, and academia to increase understanding and adoption of decarbonization strategies,” Rashaud said. "Through this managed platform, stakeholder companies share details about their decarbonization goals and work together to develop multi-industry projects on electrification, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, naturebased approaches, and low-carbon technologies. "In facilitating these goals, a critical U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development initiative is to engage and leverage the research capabilities of HBCUs to help unearth transformational solutions for the Gulf Coast Carbon Collaborative focus areas of hydrogen, nature-based sequestration, electrification, carbon capture, and storage, nuclear, and low-carbon technologies.

For the latest news on Environmental innovation, Visit our webpage www.hispanicengineer.com

"As a Prairie View A&M University engineering alum and champion for NRG

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Innovation driven by diversity Raytheon Technologies fosters an inclusive culture that harnesses the power of different ideas and experiences to deliver the innovative solutions our customers depend on.

GRADUATE LIFE by Anne Halifax editors@ccgmag.com

A GUIDE TO CHOOSING THE RIGHT GRADUATE PROGRAM program, it becomes even more critical since you will need to choose someone who will serve as your thesis advisor. In addition, find out who is doing the kind of research that you are interested in— look at scholarly publications in your field of study and speak to professors or experts in that field for advice. A faculty that suits your specific needs is one of the most important factors in choosing the right graduate program.

CONSIDER THE COSTS

pplying to a graduate school program is a confusing and nerve-wracking experience, especially when you do not know where to start. Therefore, various factors should play into your decision, from the type of environment you want to the quality of faculty. Below are some of the most important considerations to make when considering a graduate program.

DEFINE YOUR GOALS

The first and most important step when considering graduate school is to define your personal goals. Know what you hope to achieve by enrolling in a graduate program and what area of study you would like to specialize in. You should have a general idea of the kind of work you would be doing after earning your graduate degree and whether that is the kind of work that you would like to turn into a career. For example, if you want to focus on research and publication, seek out research-oriented programs with

strong faculty output. These kinds of considerations will help you narrow down the list of programs that you should apply to.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Sending out applications to every program that catches your eye is both time-consuming and expensive. Instead, give yourself enough time to research the programs that provide exactly what you are looking for. Do they have faculty members that specialize in your area of interest? Do they have access to the facilities and resources that you will need to conduct your research? Give yourself time to look at websites, contact the admissions office, or get in touch with faculty to discuss any potential concerns.

LOOK FOR A MENTOR

No matter what area of study you are interested in, building a professional relationship with mentoring faculty is essential. If you enroll in a Ph.D.

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Do not let your search for "the best" program blind you to strong financial opportunities. When you have narrowed down your list of programs, take a close look at what your degree will cost you. Many programs offer tuition discounts, stipends, fellowships, and grants that can significantly ease your financial burden. Depending on your field of study, it may even be possible to earn a degree through a fully-funded program. Do not bury yourself under a mountain of student debt if there are better alternatives.

MAKE CONNECTIONS

Networking is a crucial skill when it comes to getting into your dream program. Even before you begin the application process, you should be focused on building solid relationships with undergraduate faculty that could provide you with strong letters of recommendation. Once you start looking at prospective graduate programs, do not be afraid to take the initiative and contact potential mentors who share an interest in your field. Getting a good sense of the programs you are considering is invaluable. Choosing the right graduate program is paramount when it comes to getting the most out of your education. Using the advice above, any student will be better informed and more confident when it comes time to begin the application process. HE

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

I N S P I R E • E N G A G E • E D U C AT E • E M P L O Y

COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY

STUDENT RESOURCES

Find your place in space! Apply for a NASA internship or fellowship.

intern.nasa.gov Discover the Artemis Student Challenges and explore how you can join in one of NASA’s mission-related challenges.

stem.nasa.gov/artemis Explore STEM Resources for colleges, universities, and technical and vocational institutions.

go.nasa.gov/HigherEd Follow, share, and be part of NASA STEM to learn more and see our work in action. go.nasa.gov/2Jnor8C

twitter.com/NASASTEM

facebook.com/NASASTEMEngagement

go.nasa.gov/2JqMVhh

Additional NASA STEM resources and information can be found at stem.nasa.gov.

www.nasa.gov

Come grow with us. careers.leidos.com

Leidos is continuously building on the steps that led to substantial growth in 2021. Along with two acquisitions and a climb to No. 248 in the Fortune 500 rankings, Leidos is also proudly positioned as one of America’s most ethical and admired companies, and best employers for diversity and Veterans. We are creating more opportunities for our employees and those who join us, enabling us all to grow together.

LEIDOS IS SEEKING POWERHOUSE TALENT FOR POSITIONS IN THE AREAS OF IT, ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE.

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER: DISABILITY/VETERAN

leidos.com

COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIFE DEPARTMENT by Denise Stephens editors@ccgmag.com

THE ‘LABOR MARKET VALUE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE’

new report has found that although earnings for community college graduates varied, there are strong differentials for certificate or degree holders in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.

Mobility: Identifying the Labor Market Value of Community College in Massachusetts. Among students who enroll right away, women who complete an associate degree are 18 percentage points more likely to be employed than terminal high school graduates.

Black and Hispanic students who earned an associate degree received For students who delayed their entry a higher benefit than their white and into community college by up to five Asian peers and higher earnings. Still, years but completed their degree or all groups certificate, benefited findings greatly from were also a degree or generally certificate positive. Women who earn a completion. However, community college Women while certificate or degree who earn a women make between 15 and community appeared to college 25 percent more than benefit by certificate or high school graduates. attending degree make community Men who enroll right between college, away and complete a 15 and 25 men who credit-bearing diploma percent attended more than or an associate degree but did not high school receive a 10 to 15 complete a graduates. percent earnings boost. certificate or Men who degree saw enroll right no real wage away and benefit. complete “The policy a creditimplications bearing of this report are clear—we need to diploma or an associate degree receive strengthen our policies that support a 10 to 15 percent earnings boost. equity in access and accelerate “We often talk of the payoff of higher completion at community colleges,” education in terms of lifetime earnings, said Keith Mahoney, vice president but these data show the impact is of communications and public affairs more immediate—underscoring the at the Boston Foundation. “That importance of supporting community equity, though, must reach beyond college access and completion— the classroom to include issues like particularly after the disruption caused affordability, access to coaching and by the pandemic,” said Alicia Sasser supports, as well as internships and Modestino of the Dukakis Center at career explorations that give students a Northeastern University, co-author stronger base from which to enter the of the study, Pathways to Economic job market.”

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The research found that the employment and earnings benefits of obtaining an associate degree for under-represented students of color and low-income students were equivalent to, or even exceeded, those benefits experienced by their white and higher-income peers. “The data highlight the measurable impact that community college completion can have for the futures of all students,” said Ben Forman, research director at MassINC, who co-authored the report. “But there are definite groups—when one looks at fields of study or race and gender, where the power of a degree or certificate can put students on a lifechanging trajectory.” “These data demonstrate remarkable outcomes for thousands of people who attend and complete community college, but they also demonstrate the urgency we should feel to close the opportunity gap that keeps students of color from finishing community college at the same rates as their white peers,” added Antoniya Marinova, assistant director of education to career programs at the Boston Foundation. Marinova noted data in the report that while Black and Latino students are roughly twice as likely to attend community college, they are much less likely to complete a degree or certificate—a pattern evident among male students. “Our history of work with Success Boston has shown both that devastating gap and some ways in which we can close it—providing more equitable rewards in an economy that places sharp emphasis on earning a degree.” HE

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

Gaby (She/Her) IBMer ibm.com/careers

CAREER CENTER by Denise Stephens editors@ccgmag.com

FIVE TIPS TO LAND THE JOB OF YOUR DREAMS If you are in the job market, whether for the first time, after a hiatus, or looking for the next step in your professional career, read on for some tips on how to land the job of your dreams.

template. Instead, look to add your flair and tailor the resume's content to the specific job posting.

Research your job

When applying for a particular job, do your research into the company and the job itself. Arming yourself with information such as the company's goals, vision, and job description will go far when it comes to separating you from the crowd. Then, work this information into your application documents (resumes, cover letters, covering emails) so that they will get noticed by recruiters.

Review your social media

Social media has changed the way people in society interact

Skype is fast becoming the premier way to interview applicants—the ability to video chat with anyone worldwide means that applicants are not necessarily restricted to their local area when applying for jobs. Create a Skype account and familiarize yourself with how it works—you never know when an employer might invite you for a Skype interview.

A good resume is one of the essential tools you have at your disposal when applying for jobs, regardless of the industry. Every applicant to a job posting will have a resume; it is those with the most eye-catching and appealing resumes that make it to the next round of interviews.

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Lastly, consider making a profile on a professionally focused social network such as LinkedIn. LinkedIn has many benefits to offer, being the largest professional social network globally, and recruiters often use it to post jobs and interview applicants.

Learn the art of Skype

Brush up your resume

Templates are a good starting point if you are unsure how to format your resume, but do not stick rigidly to the

With that in mind, there are a couple of things to look out for when reviewing your social media profiles. First, check your privacy settings. Second, make sure that the media you post is only viewable by the people who you want to see it.

When applying for jobs, applicants often copy and paste the same resume to multiple applications, which usually works to their detriment. This is because recruiters know how to identify a cookie-cutter resume—and it makes the applicant seem disinterested and lazy.

The social life and history of an applicant are just as important as their professional life. Remember: What goes online can stay online for a long time.

Keep trying and applying

with each other. It has gone from being a mere gimmick to one of the main ways people communicate with businesses and stay in touch with family and friends and how employers conduct checks on prospective employees.

The most important thing to remember is to keep applying, even if you do not find success initially. The job market today is highly competitive, and there are more applicants for positions than ever before. Do not think of rejections as failures—think of them as learning opportunities. Ask the recruiter what you could have improved on and focus on that for the next application. Then, your dream job will certainly find you. HE

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

BLUE COLLAR STEM by Denise Stephens editors@ccgmag.com

TWO YEARS TO PROSPERITY

The 12 fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs that require only a two-year degree

f you are a teenager or a parent of a teen, or if you are an adult trying to better your finances, you are probably wondering whether a college degree is advisable. Not long ago, the answer to that question was a resounding "yes." That is because education and income are intricately linked—the more education you have received, the higher the income you can expect to earn. However, in the past 30 years, there have been unfortunate changes in both the economy and the higher education system. Wages have stagnated for all but the wealthiest Americans, while the

cost of college tuition has skyrocketed and financial aid that does not have to be repaid has become scarce. As for financial aid that does have to be repaid, the principal and interest on a student loan now rival that of a mortgage. Not surprisingly, high school students and adult career-changers are questioning the value of a college degree. After all, it is not much help to qualify for high income if most of one's earnings will be spent repaying a loan. So, the question is valid: Is a college education still worth obtaining? The answer to that question is still

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

"yes," but with two vitally important criteria applied. First, only careers requiring a two-year degree will be considered. Second, consideration is limited to jobs paying better than the national median income and projected to hire an above-average number of new laborers in the next few years. Medical careers are overwhelmingly the most rewarding of the training and employment options available based on those two criteria. Foremost is radiation therapy. A radiation therapist uses a linear accelerator machine to deliver radiation treatments for cancer and other diseases. Radiation

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therapists earn an annual median wage of about $79,000, and the number of laborers in this specialization is expected to grow by 24 percent through at least the year 2022. Next-best in the top 12 career paths is nuclear medicine technology. Nuclear medicine technologists make diagnostic scans of parts of a patient's body and administer the radioactive drugs used in such scans. They earn an annual median wage of around $71,000, and through 2022, job growth is expected to be about 20 percent. Dental hygienists clean the teeth of patients and check the teeth and gums for signs of disease. Job growth through 2022 is projected at 33 percent, and dental hygienists earn an annual median wage of about $71,000. Even medicine has limits. When the end comes, the occupation needed is that of funeral service manager. A funeral service manager arranges and oversees funerals, and in the process, often carries out embalming or cremation. These men and women are also responsible for filing death certificates. While the expected 12 percent job growth in this field is merely average, openings frequently occur because turnover tends to be high. Funeral service managers earn an annual median wage of around $68,000. Medical sonography is the specialty of performing ultrasounds. Over the next few years, job growth for medical sonographers is expected to be extremely high, at 44 percent. The median annual wage for medical sonographers is approximately $66,000. Registered nurses experience more variety in their work than most of the other careers under consideration here. An RN engages in caring for patients, educating patients and their

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families, and often provides more time and compassion to patients and their families than physicians can give. Job growth for RNs over the next few years is projected at 26 percent, and the median annual wage for this occupation is $66,000. Magnetic resonance imaging has been a fast-growing diagnostic method in recent years. These examinations are done by MRI technologists, who are expected to experience 21 percent job growth through 2022 and whose median annual income is $66,000. Web developers design and build websites and web applications. Job growth for web developers is projected to be 20 percent through 2022, and the median annual income is $63,000. Respiratory therapists care for patients who are having difficulty breathing. They do tests to find the cause of the problem, and if needed, carry out procedures to clear mucus from the lungs or connect patients to ventilators. Job growth through the next few years is expected to be about 19 percent, and the annual median wage is $56,000.

Get ready to work hard and be well rewarded. Earning a twoyear degree will be a challenge— but it is also going to be the wisest investment you will ever make. take steps to minimize environmental pollution, and maintain and operate equipment used to prevent or clean up pollution. Job growth through 2022 in environmental engineering is expected to be an above-average 18 percent, and the median annual wage is $46,000.

Radiologic technologists conduct diagnostic imaging exams, such as x-rays, on patients. By 2022, demand for radiologic technologists is projected to grow by 21 percent, and their median annual income is $55,000.

Preparation for a lucrative career does not have to cost a fortune, but it does need to be treated as the life-altering decision it truly is. Just as you would shop around for the highest-quality, lowest-cost wedding ring, you should shop around for the highest-quality, lowest-cost two-year degree. These two-year occupational degrees are available through both colleges and vocational schools. Finally, check the accreditation of any institution in which you are thinking of enrolling. Ensure the degree is respected by the industry you want to train for and that your course credits will transfer if you later decide to earn additional education.

The last of the 12 occupations considered here, but certainly not least in importance, is environmental engineering technicians. These experts collect samples for testing,

Get ready to work hard and be well rewarded. Earning a two-year degree will be a challenge—but it is also going to be the wisest investment you will ever make. HE

Not surprisingly, given all this job growth in medical specialties, medical equipment repairers can also look forward to increasing demand for their services. This occupation is projected to grow by 30 percent through 2022, and the median annual wage is $44,000.

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

Your future starts now. At Wells Fargo, we welcome the insights and perspectives drawn from unique life experiences. It is those distinctive viewpoints that provide us with the fresh thinking we need to help our customers reach their financial goals. Join our team to help create the future of banking through new and emerging technologies. To learn more and apply, visit wellsfargojobs.com/technology

Find out more about why Wells Fargo is an employer of choice at wellsfargojobs.com. Relevant military experience is considered for veterans and transitioning service men and women. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. ©2021 Wells Fargo N.A. All rights reserved.

CLIMATE & ENVIRONMENT

CAREER OUTLOOK

How can engineers help reduce carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases that would limit climate change? Scientists across the globe have observed changes in the Earth’s climate. Some changes include increased heat and precipitation, erosion, and coastal flooding. If improving the quality of life is aligned with your career goals, read more here about college degrees

INSIDE > Industry Overview:

How to Save the World

and industrial sustainability. Environmental engineers, geoscientists, and other professionals help solve the complex problems of the 21st century. In addition, engineers and technicians implement solutions that conserve natural resources. With competitive salaries for

> Job Horizon:

Get the Skills You Need For the Jobs You Want

rewarding work, these careers are worth the preparation and perseverance.

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CAREER OUTLOOK

HOW TO

SAVE THE WORLD

THESE CAREERS WILL HEAL THE ENVIRONMENT

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

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INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

The impact of humans on our environment has been well documented and is becoming more and more apparent. Are you one of the countless college students and recent college graduates who are looking to make an immediate and long-lasting impact on our environmental well-being? Whether you are concerned about the ethical collection of energy, the prudent stewardship of Earth’s resources, ways to improve processes to be more efficient, or anything in between, you will want to consider one of many careers in environmental engineering or environment-related careers. Environmental engineers, among other respected professionals in the field of engineering, apply science and math to design, implement, and evaluate solutions to everyday problems. Environmental engineers use their specialized training, skills, and knowledge to not only carry out this process, but do so in a way that maintains or improves our natural world. People in these types of environmental careers are involved in diverse, complex, and delicate projects such as water management, green building design, and more. Environmental engineer is a great entrylevel position that allows for growth, but also impact. Environmental engineers follow the leadership of senior engineers in carrying out projects and tasks that will solve real-world problems. Senior environmental engineer is a desirable position for graduates looking for positions that will make use of a master’s degree. Senior environmental engineers work closely with management and other stakeholders, while also supervising engineers and other staff to solve problems and complete projects on time and within budget. The annual median salary for a senior environmental engineer is roughly $108,000, while the entry-level environmental engineer median salary is roughly $67,000. Environmental technician is another exciting career that positively affects the environment. An environmental technician works with environmental engineers and scientists to identify, evaluate, prevent, and control contamination of the environment. Environmental technicians inspect and maintain equipment, work with the containment or disposal of hazardous www.hispanicengineer.com

waste, manage waste operations, collect samples needed for a variety of purposes, and assist stakeholders with compliance of regulatory standards. They also sometimes engage in environmental impact studies of new projects or evaluate the environmental health of sites that could possibly contaminate the environment, such as abandoned manufacturing sites or industrial plants. Environmental technicians also sometimes work in testing laboratories. They collect and track samples and perform tests. Their work is invaluable, and it is done under the direction of other professionals. The median salary for environmental technicians is roughly $40,000 per year. Another exciting career to consider is a green building engineer. These professionals help to create construction projects that are sustainable or leave less of an environmental footprint than traditional construction projects. As consumers, officials, and advisory boards become more aware of the impact of construction practices, green building engineers are increasingly utilized to create structures that minimize environmental harm. One common focus for green building engineers is to find ways to lower energy consumption by designing buildings with maximum natural lighting during periods of use, such as an office complex that allows most of its light to come from sunlight during office hours. The goal of a green building engineer is to create more energy- and resource-efficient models that protect occupants from nature’s extremes, while also not harming the environment through standard construction practices. Common areas of focus are:

• • • • • •

Water efficiency Limiting toxic materials Renewable energy Energy efficiency Indoor air quality Sustainable development.

The annual average salary for these cutting-edge positions is roughly $75,000–$80,000.

Statistics, geoscientists typically do any of the following tasks, depending on their specific focus or role:

•

Plan and carry out field studies, in which they visit locations to collect samples and conduct surveys

•

Analyze aerial photographs, well logs (detailed records of geologic formations found during drilling), rock samples, and other data sources to locate deposits of natural resources and estimate their size

•

Conduct laboratory tests on samples collected in the field

• • •

Make geologic maps and charts Prepare written scientific reports Present their findings to clients, colleagues, and other interested parties

Geoscientists use a wide variety of tools, such as a hammer and chisel, to collect rock samples and then use ground-penetrating radar equipment to search for oil or minerals. In laboratories, they may use X-rays and electron microscopes to determine the chemical and physical composition of rock samples. They may also use remote sensing equipment to collect data, and modeling software to analyze the data collected. The average annual salary for a geoscientist is $93,580. What does the future hold for environmental engineers and those in related professions? Experts say that technology will play an increasingly pivotal role in many ways. One example is the semi-autonomous improvements in the manufacturing of green building materials. Advanced AI software will also enable professionals to increase their productivity and make better decisions. If improving the Earth and the use of its natural resources is aligned with your professional goals, you will want to consider a degree or position in environmental engineering or a related field. Environmental engineers, geoscientists, and other professionals help solve the complex problems of today with a focus on improving the Earth. HE

Geoscientists study the physical aspects of the environment and conduct research for a variety of purposes. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

YOUR FUTURE IS BUILT HERE Join a diverse team that is united in pushing the boundaries of imagination and excellence. Come shape the future with us.

boeing.com/careers Boeing is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.

Paul Cejas Engineering Manager

EXCITING CIVILIAN CAREERS WITH THE U.S. ARMY COMBAT CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT COMMAND (DEVCOM) START YOUR JOURNEY AT THE AFC-DEVCOM BOOTH Pre-register and upload your resume here: https://tinyurl.com/yf77mgbk facebook.com/usarmy.devcom army.mil/devcom

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CAREER OUTLOOK

GET THE SKILLS YOU NEED FOR THE JOBS YOU WANT by Alfred Lewis

Are you planning on

entering a STEM career with a focus on environmental or climate science? Perhaps you are interested in improving the maintenance and disposal of environmentally hazardous materials. You might be interested in engineering green buildings that have little to no environmental footprint. Or you might want to engineer solutions that improve clean water availability or clean energy resources. If these types of worldwide issues fascinate you, you should consider an exciting career as an environmental engineer, environmental scientist, green building engineer, etc. What are the necessary college majors, hard and soft skills, and understandings that employers are looking for? Environmental engineers and other professionals working in the environmental and climate industry obtain degrees in environmental engineering, environmental science, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, materials engineering, and many other areas. You will use the foundational principles of engineering, soil science, biology, and chemistry to create solutions to a myriad of environmental problems. You will want a degree that comes from an ABET-accredited college or program. ABET is a nonprofit, ISO 9001-certified organization that accredits college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. In fact, a degree

from an ABET-accredited program is typically necessary to become a licensed professional engineer. Be sure to check your state’s and potential employer’s rules and preferences before selecting your college and program. If possible, consider whether to enroll in a five-year program that awards both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. A graduate degree allows an engineer to work as a senior engineer, in management, or as an instructor at some colleges or universities. As a master’s-level professional, you might choose to do research and development, and many employers prefer candidates who have a master’s degree. Hard skills that are highly desired by employers are proficient use of global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS). GPS has many uses within the environmental industry. According to the U.S. Space Force, “Aerial studies of some of the world's most impenetrable wilderness are conducted with the aid of GPS technology to evaluate an area’s wildlife, terrain, and human infrastructure. By tagging imagery with GPS coordinates, it is possible to evaluate conservation efforts and assist in strategy planning. Some nations collect and use mapping information to manage their regulatory programs such as the control of royalties from mining operations, delineation of borders, and the management of logging

HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

in their forests.” GIS is a powerful tool for data analysis and planning. According to environmentalscience.org, “GIS is fast becoming the tool to use for sustainability and planning as we seek to maximize the efficiency of the environment around us and protect what needs to be protected while maintaining health and jobs in the modern economy. People who work in sustainability know that many disparate elements must come together to keep the mechanics of the world around us functioning in the way we want it to function; today, this includes the ecology.” Soft skills that are highly sought after for environmental engineers and other environmental professionals include:

• • • • •

Imagination Interpersonal skills Problem-solving skills Reading skills Writing skills

What else can you do to prepare for a career in the environmental industry? Practical experience is always valuable, so seek out cooperative engineering programs, where college credit is given for structured job experience. Likewise, summer engineering programs and camps, as well as internships, are great ways to build a resume, gain practical experience, and prepare for the work ahead of you. If you want to make an impact on our environment and help solve some of the world’s most pressing issues, consider a career in the environmental/climate industry. Professionally licensed engineers, senior engineers, technicians, and other professionals all work together to collect data, analyze statistical patterns, and implement solutions that improve clean water availability, conserve natural resources, and improve green energy. With competitive salaries, rewarding work, and challenging problems, these careers are worth the preparation and perseverance. HE

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JOB HORIZON by Alfred Lewis editors@ccgmag.com

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HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | FALL 2021

IntelligenceCareers.gov/NSA

It’s not only

It’s

WHAT you do,

WHY you do it.

What’s your expertise?

Computer/Electrical Engineering

Is it data science or neural networks? Advanced machine learning or artificial intelligence?

Computer Science

Whatever your technical specialty, the National Security Agency has a position that combines your expertise with our mission:

Data Science

The safety and security of our families, our communities and our country.

Apply today

IntelligenceCareers.gov/NSA

U.S. citizenship is required. NSA is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Cybersecurity Information Assurance Mathematics Cryptanalysis Signals Analysis Security & Counterintelligence Paid Internships, Scholarships & Co-op and many more

An overwhelming feeling of belonging, no matter the work setting. A safe space for all to share what’s significant to them. Freedom to bring our whole selves to work without judgment from others.

EMPOWERING ALL

That’s the experience we’re building at Consumers Energy, from hiring to retirement and every step in between. We’re also leading the clean energy transformation. We need engineers and other pros like you to help make it a reality. Join us. Your journey starts at ConsumersEnergy.com/careers

We’re highly invested in technology. And people. T. Rowe Price depends on people and innovative technology solutions to drive our company. You’ll be part of a dynamic group working on cybersecurity, enterprise cloud development, and client-facing Web and mobile applications. We believe diversity works, so we hire people with differing backgrounds and experiences. Our associates bring their whole selves to work—their convictions, talents, and passions. If you’re seeking a meaningful technology career in a culture that thrives on teamwork, we invite you to join us. Contact us at troweprice.com/careers. And let’s discuss your future.

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