ECC Students Look to Launch STEM Careers
Ten El Camino College students recently gathered in downtown Los Angeles in a step toward becoming the diverse leaders of tomorrow's tech and engineering workforce. MESA's Student Leadership Conference at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel brought together hand-picked engineering and computer science students with industry professionals to develop the next generation of STEM leaders. The Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program guides diverse students from underrepresented backgrounds into STEM careers. This conference provided MESA students with the unique opportunity to interact one-on-one and in small groups with company executives, engineers and recruiters. Students participated in mock interviews, communications, team building, emotional intelligence and financial literacy workshops, and attended entrepreneur and alumni panels.
This year's partners and sponsors included: Edison International, Southern California Gas Company and Pacific Gas and Electric as top sponsors, as well as Applied Materials, San Diego Gas and Electric, Cisco, Intuit, California Resources Corporation and Lyft. ECC students joined other students from UC, CSU and California Community Colleges campuses.
The MESA program at El Camino College is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the state. MESA|STEM has helped more than 1,100 students transfer to four-year colleges and universities since the program began in in 2002. For fall 2018, more than 100 transfer students transferred to outstanding higher education institutions such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine, Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Long Beach, among others. Nearly 80 MESA|STEM students received a total of $114,400 in scholarships to continue their education. For more information, view: http://www.elcamino.edu/academics/mathsciences/mesa/.