The Bridge - Issue 1, 2023 - 20

2022 Year in Review
Building Alumni Relations
with Four In-Person Receptions
Across the Regions
The adage, " Once Eta Kappa Nu, always Eta Kappa
Nu " was put into practice this year with four in-person
receptions held across three regions connecting with
close to 150 alumni. These receptions allowed for
alumni to share memories, learn what HKN can offer
them currently, and ways they can support current
students. Below are the locations and dates of the
2022 receptions:
* 19 March at IEEE RadarCon in New York, NY
* 2 April at Region 3 SoutheastCon in Mobile, AL
* 19 July at IEEE PES General Meeting in Denver, CO
* 11 October at IEEE Phased Array Symposium
in Waltham, MA
Speaking at the Alumni Reunion held in Denver, Jim
Jeffries, former IEEE President related, " 50 years after
my induction, the HKN Alumni reunion reminded
me again that I had joined as a professional and not
just taken a job and was a chance to catch up on the
expanding role of HKN's commitment to scholarship,
service, and the Profession. " More Alumni receptions
are being planned for 2023. To learn more about
how to reconnect as an HKN alum, visit: https://
hkn.ieee.org/ieee-hkn-alumni-reconnect-form. If you
would like to host an alumni reception, reach out to
Nancy Ostin at n.ostin@ieee.org.
Funding for our Alumni Receptions was provided by a
generous donation from Dr. and Mrs. Richard Gowen.
Alumni Reception at IEEE PES General Meeting in Denver, CO
Uplifting Graduate Students
for Success
HKN Students at the SoutheastCon Alumni Reception
THE BRIDGE
In 2022, a pilot Alumni - Graduate Student Mentoring
Program was spearheaded by Joseph Greene, 2022
IEEE-HKN Student Board member, in an effort to
forge closer ties between professional HKN members
and graduate students, stating " Whereas advisors
focus on your collegiate success, mentors are
invested in you. By engaging with you in a broader
context, mentors use their experience to help you
set reasonable career expectations, set personal
goals, as well as strive towards your personal and
professional success. "
The pilot program had the dedicated participation
of nine mentors supporting 14 graduate students.
Mentors and mentees formalized their goals by
signing a contract which also included agreed upon
meeting times and topics to cover which ranged
from how to build a start-up while bonding to how
to evaluate post-graduation job offers. John D.
McDonald, IEEE Life Fellow and Member of National
Academy of Engineering, who served as a mentor
stated, " There's no greater feeling as a mentor than to
use your experience to help others achieve success
themselves. When they accomplish something they
didn't think they could do, and they are so happy
and confident, and they say that they couldn't have
done it without your help, that's what it is all about. "
John's mentee, Sabrina Helbig, a graduate Electrical
Engineering student at the University of Pittsburgh
and President of IEEE-HKN's Beta Delta Chapter, is
grateful for the help that she has received stating,
" my mentor has helped me to reach for opportunities
that I may not have otherwise been able to grasp,
that I was maybe afraid to pursue, or that I hadn't
even thought about. He has introduced me to new
people, encouraged me to share my own knowledge
https://hkn.ieee.org/ieee-hkn-alumni-reconnect-form https://hkn.ieee.org/ieee-hkn-alumni-reconnect-form
The Bridge - Issue 1, 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Bridge - Issue 1, 2023
