ILSTU Technology Student Ambassadors

RSO Feature of the Month! Construction Management Student Association (CMSA). They even won 1st place for the RSO Parade Award for their amazing float this past weekend for Homecoming 2021!

Congratulations to our 1st place Scavenger Hunters!! 🥳 Thanks to everyone who came out for the cookout/scavenger hunt.

Our ambassadors got to talk to prospective students at the Open House yesterday!

Come join us on Oct 1st at 1pm for a FUN Scavenger Hunt with a Cookout! We will have free food. RSVP through the QR code!

*RESCHEDULED for Oct 2nd*

We are hosting our first tailgate party this Saturday, Sept 4th at 1-3 pm! We are so excited to see everyone there as we celebrate the first football game of the semester! Come out and join us!

Welcome back to Wisdom Wednesday! Today we are featuring not only a Department of Technology alum but also a Student Ambassador alum!!

What is your name, major, graduation year, occupation?

Name: Christine Gesell
Major: Graphic Communications
Graduation Year: 2019
Occupation: Associate Account Manager for Specialty Print Communications
- For those of you wondering what that means/ what I do at my company. Here is a brief description of what we do.

Specialty Print Communications is a direct mail printer. We pride ourselves on being data driven which really help us connect on a personal basis to each individual person. SPC offers a wide range of direct mail capabilities to help you reach your campaign goals and create a better relationship with your customers. As an account manager, I work directly with the client to take their promotional mail piece throughout the entire production process.

What advice do you have for current students?

For ISU students in general, I would say take advice from your professors, ask them questions, and pick their brains, and reach out to them when you are struggling. They can always help you and have great insight. As for current students within the graphic communications program, my biggest advice would be to get involved within the major such as joining the organization and internships. You are able to make so many connections and contacts if you get involved and talk with people that are in the industry. Lastly, I would say to everyone, try to not become overwhelmed. There are so many career opportunities that you can explore. You really need to find something that you are truly passionate about and that you can see yourself doing in the future.

Hey Everyone! Welcome back and HAPPY EARTH WEEK! This Wisdom Wednesday features an SRE alum! Read on for his advice for all our technology based students!

Name: Josh Bertolet
Major: Renewable energy technology
Year: 2013(I think)
Occupation: IBEW inside wireman

Advice: Show up and get involved. Being present for every class goes a long way in establishing a relationship with professors. Making it a habit translates to the career when you are viewed as dependable and reliable. Being involved will help you understand what your interests are and what kind of career you want to pursue. Some of those extracurricular activities

Don’t pigeon hole yourself into a career directly related to your degree. Part of getting a degree establishes that you are capable of following through to completion with a tough task. You’ve managed to negotiate the bureaucracy that is US higher education. You’ve invested in yourself that you have the ability to succeed when it’s hard.

My career diverged from renewable energy but remained in the energy sector. I pursued a career through the IBEW apprenticeship program shortly after graduation. The pay and benefits are what initially attracted me. The work variety and brotherhood with fellow electricians are what keep me. I’m currently working on the expansion of the Rivian plant in Normal.

Check out these Technology Capstone Presentations featured at this years 2021 Research Symposium! Thanks for all your hard work students!

https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/urs2021tec/

FEATURE FRIDAY!

Time for another Friday to feature one our Student Ambassadors! This Friday we feature Graphic Communications Student Ambassador Sydney Hatchel!

What is your name, major, and year?
My name is Sydney Hatchel, my major is Graphic Communications - with a concentration in Marketing Graphics Technology, and I'm a senior this year!! (1 month to go!)

What do you like to do for fun?
I love to spend time with my friends when I can, and of course love to spend time with my adorable puppy. I also love traveling and adventuring, most of it being local since the pandemic but hoping to do a lot more after graduation. I also enjoy listening to music and you can probably find me listening to my music 24/7 (no joke).

What has your favorite class been at ISU?
My favorite class would’ve had to been TEC 150. I took that class my freshmen year and was the first class I was taking specifically for my major in Nelson Smith. It was the class that I realized that I was in the right major and I was going to have a great 4 years here at ISU.

What has been your favorite experience at ISU?
My favorite experience would have to be becoming a student ambassador (and I’m not just saying that for the post haha) I was asked to apply to become a student ambassador my sophomore year. And now 3 years later, I still love being an ambassador for my major and for the Department of Technology. It has been the greatest experience and has helped me grow professionally and personally in the past 3 years.

What are you looking to do after college?
I am looking to move out of state hopefully and get to gain more experience in my industry while getting to adventure and travel a bit. I hope to still get a chance to bring more awareness to how cool my major is and what all we can do with our major, since there is such a vast amount of positions you can hold with our degree.

Welcome to our final Major Monday! The last Major to highlight in the department is Engineering Technology!

What is your major all about?
Engineering Technology at Illinois State University is an applied program that allows students to explore the integration of engineering principles and modern technology. The courses in Engineering Technology focus on the management of people, processes, and materials through hands-on, application-oriented activities. As a result, our students are well equipped to become technically-oriented managerial professionals and leaders in business and industry.

Does your major have any affiliated RSO's?
Our RSO is Engineering Technology (ET) Club. The ET Club is an ISU registered student organization with the goal of allowing the students to pursue their skills and knowledge in a fun alternative environment outside the classroom. This is achieved through regularly scheduled meetings with key-note speakers, field trips, national competitions, and other group activities.

What are some job opportunities in your major?
Most graduates from our Engineering Technology program have the word "Engineer" in their job title. So what is the difference between Engineering and Engineering Technology programs?

While Engineering majors eventually do work involving conceptual design or research and development with a heavy use of analytical tools and theoretical design, the Engineering Technology program at Illinois State will prepare you to improve engineering processes, manage projects, and apply existing technology to solve complex problems.

Job titles include:
Project Engineer
Process Engineer
Production Engineer
Quality Engineer
Manufacturing Engineer

Is there anything you would like to highlight about your major?

Welcome back to Wisdom Wednesday! Have we got some wisdom for your brains today from our SRE ambassador coordinator!

What is your name and major(s) taught?
My name is Matt Aldeman, and I teach in the Sustainable & Renewable Energy and Engineering Technology programs.

What advice do you have for students to be successful?
So this is advice for current students, right? In that case, I think I have two main pieces of advice for students to be successful. The first is to get involved in activities and groups. They serve several purposes: they help you get to know other students in your area, which is beneficial socially and can also help because you can ask them course-related questions. They also tend to result in team projects, which are great for talking about in future job interviews and resumes (doing well in classes is great, but it’s often the stuff outside of classes that is really the most beneficial). They also help you interact with faculty outside of class time. My second piece of advice is to make an effort to get to know your instructors. Ask questions in class, go to their office hours, email them, ask them for advice, etc. We like to interact with students, so it’s not a bother when students come to us.

Hello and welcome to another week here at ILSTU! This Major Monday we are featuring Technology and Engineering Education (TEE)!

What is your major all about?
Technology and Engineering Education is all about teaching future educators the basics of all of the other technology majors so one day they can go and teach in middle and high schools. Students take classes from the Computer Systems Technology, Construction Management, Engineering Technology, and Graphic Communications Technology to equip them with knowledge from each area and a few classes to explore what topics interest them most, usually what they want to teach in the future. In addition, students are prepared to teach with the great teaching classes from the College of Education.

Does your Major have any affiliated RSO's?
Our affiliated RSO is TEECA, Technology and Engineering Education Collegiate Association. TEECA works to share and better resources for technology and engineering education. It also helps organize and run STEM based competitions for students ranging from elementary school to high school.

What are some job opportunities in your major?
The demand for technology and engineering teachers has never been higher in Illinois or across the United States. Most Technology and Engineering Education majors secure teaching positions before graduation. Our overall job placement rate is nearly 100 percent. The majority of our graduates go into teaching right after graduating. Topics they are licensed to teach in are computer aided design, woodshop, automotives, graphic communications, construction, and manufacturing. Most students who do go into shop and automotive usually supplement the courses at ISU with automotive classes at Heartland Community College.

Is there anything new you would like to highlight about your major?
This coming Spring 2022 class has that largest student teaching class in over ten years!

That's awesome to hear! We are lucky to have such an amazing opportunity to train some of our favorite teachers growing up! We all have that one tech teacher that inspired us to follow this technology career we have chosen, we are happy TEE is an option for our students!