November 2009
MESA students from 26 university and community colleges from across California attended the sixth annual MESA Student Leadership Conference, sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric.
More than 150 outstanding engineering and computer science major students developed career strategies through skill-building workshops, interaction with technical professionals and personalized mock interviews during the three-day conference.
The conference goal is to better prepare MESA students for the professional workforce. The event included workshops such as "Leader vs. Manager," "Product Development Lifecycle," and "Communication Skills for the Workplace." Students also obtained information about research and graduate studies, transfer options and student organizations.
When students weren't working in groups at workshops or holding mock interviews, they heard from industry and education leaders about the state of the science, technology, engineering and math workforce.
Jose L. Perez, the MESA Champion Award winner and chairman of the California Utilities Diversity Council, spoke during the industry networking dinner. Other speakers included Emir Macari, dean of the college of engineering and computer science at CSU Sacramento, and Larry Broussard, chief of staff to Assemblymember Sandre Swanson.
Students from the following community colleges attended: American River, Bakersfield, Butte, Cañada, City College of San Francisco, Cosumnes River, Gavilan, Los Medanos, Napa Valley, Sacramento City, Santa Barbara City, San Joaquin Delta, Skyline and Yuba.
Students from the following universities attended: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, CSU Chico, CSU East Bay, CSU Fresno, CSU Los Angeles, CSU Sacramento, San Diego State, San Francisco State, San Jose State, Sonoma State, UC Santa Cruz and University of the Pacific.
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