by Mimi LaValle
LSU College of Engineering
BATON ROUGE — The LSU College of Engineering recently hosted its third annual Encounter Engineering E2 bridge camp, the largest ever with over 100 incoming freshmen and 30 upperclassmen participating in the program.
Students attended sessions in physics, math, study skills and time management. Peer mentors led their teams in the Ropes Adventures Team building and in the Rube Goldberg Design competition.
The highlight of the camp was the “Business and Baseball” Luncheon at Alex Box Stadium with LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri serving as guest speaker.
“I look through the room of engineering students ? you’ve been blessed with intelligence and have worked hard to build analytical skills,” said Mainieri. “Your potential is ready to burst at the seams and is endless.”
Mainieri challenged the LSU Engineering students to make a difference.
“Go out into the world and apply your trade,” he said. “See how will you affect society and contribute to the betterment of the community. Your goal is well defined to be an engineer. Our world cannot survive without successful engineers. You have been given a gift of intelligence ? push yourself. I implore you to challenge yourself to be great? you have a chance to make a difference.”
The second part of the “Business and Baseball” Luncheon featured LSU alumni and industry leaders who offered wisdom into engineering careers and what LSU students need to succeed.
When asked by LSU’s engineering freshmen what was needed beyond the engineering curriculum, Erick Comeaux, 1997 LSU chemical engineering alumnus and manager of Engineering & Technical Services for The Williams Companies, Inc. advised to “ get real world experience before you graduate, enhance your business skills and develop your communications skills, which is the hardest one to achieve.”
Will Pecue, LSU petroleum engineering alumnus and president of Taylor Energy Company, LLC recommended that engineering students look at involvement and leadership positions within the University’s non-engineering organizations, stating “Consider things on the other side of campus, it will open up the world.”
Students also inquired about suggested minor degrees of study or additional skill sets that would help in the engineering field. Comeaux offered the following options: “business administration, chemistry, especially for chemical engineering, and communication skills.” Pecue added that there are many global opportunities in engineering and strongly encouraged those interested to study a foreign language.
Encounter Engineering is an integral part of the College of Engineering’s Engineering Engagement for Student Success (ENG2), an academic initiative designed to increase the retention and graduation rates of engineering and construction management students during the pre-college, freshman and sophomore years.