Engineers Focused on Leadership and Technical Excellence: Society of Hispanic Engineers 2009 National Conference
By Scott Sherman, Recruitment Manager

Engineering students traveled from all across the U.S. and parts of Latin America to attend the recent Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) 2009 National Conference in Washington, DC. Walking through the hotel lobby and the various conference rooms, attendees could see students exhibiting their remote control vehicles and robots or deeply involved in the extreme engineering competitions. Amongst the overpowering technical brain power, another theme also resonated strong. Many attendees were just as interested in developing their non-technical skills such as leadership and emotional intelligence, and Sodexo leaders led conference workshops to help meet these interests.

Jeff Tinkey, Sodexo’s Senior Director of Building Services for Senior Services, presented how Sodexo engineers partner with business executives to better manage key assets such as brick and mortar buildings and plant equipment. He shared examples of Sodexo using infrared technology to assess the condition of roofs, electrical grids and building walls. Attendees connected with the management partnership topic, but the engineer in their hearts perked up as they examined the infrared pictures.

Sodexo Human Resources Director for Facilities Solutions Healthcare East Jim Moran presented on emotional intelligence to an overflowing room of attendees during his interactive workshop. The workshop guided participants through self-awareness and stress indexes, coaching them on how to better monitor their own and others’ emotions when working with teams and co-workers.

Sodexo’s SVP, Chief Administrative Officer The Honorable Michael Montelongo presented to a fully packed room of attendees on the topic of developing leadership skills. Many expressed that they came to his workshop because, while they were engineers today, they would like the opportunity to step into a leadership role in the future and therefore were interested in building their leadership skills.

The Honorable Michael Montelongo, SVP, Chief Administrative Officer

The audience of students and professionals shared the common interest of solving problems and designing the latest and greatest technologies. Mr. Montelongo’s comments on leadership rang true to the engineering world: “Leaders create a future state worth achieving. Leaders take risks.” He applauded the audience for taking steps in education and professional development that the country will need to solve future problems and to lead.

One of the final comments Mr. Montelongo left his audience with was “Leaders are servants and provide support.” He expressed that the leaders are there to help their teams become better and to succeed. With this final comment, he left a piece of Sodexo with each of the attendees and a piece of advice that will hopefully help them to lead their teams to new innovations.

To learn more about career opportunities in engineering with Sodexo, click here: Careers in Engineering