On Tuesday, September 3, the engineering and architecture pathway classes hosted guest speaker Dr. Jeff Neemann to talk to students interested in engineering majors. Hosted in engineering teacher Mr. Michael Collins’ classroom, Dr. Neemann talked about his job as a civil engineer at the company Black & Veatch while giving students important advice about college and their lives ahead.
Dr. Neemann is the West Managing Director in the Public Agencies & Utilities Business for Black & Veatch in Irvine, California, where he has experience in the development and application of advanced treatment technology with a specialization in environmental energy, specifically water.
During the presentation, Dr. Neemann talked about what he does for work and described what he did in life to get to that point. He also gave the students advice about entering the engineering field right out of college, giving tips about doing internships, and taking every opportunity that is presented to them.
“For the engineering class, you have to learn how are you going to be working in a professional setting. Since [Dr. Neemann] has actually been in a professional setting, he just validates what Mr. Collins has been teaching,” Evan Lee (11) said.
Throughout the years, Collins has been inviting guest speakers to his classes and he notices that when he hosts guest speakers, the students are greatly affected by the different experiences that are being presented to them. This allows them to be better educated and to connect with the speaker on a deeper level.
“Everyone comes with their own story, their own background, and their different experiences,” Collins said. “Some people share that they found out later on, or some had changed their mindset about what they wanted to do with their life. Every time a student hears that, there’s a potential for a student to make a connection to that story.”
Some students enjoy coming to the presentation for the fun of it, gaining knowledge in the process. Others like coming to these lectures to see how people evolved throughout their career, as this helps them understand how they grew and what they learned along the way.
“[The presentation] just gives me a new experience of seeing how people have evolved and how they’ve grown into this individual,” engineering student Adrian Espinosa (11) said.
Guest speaker presentations that occur in Collins’ engineering classroom are filled with detailed information of ways to get ahead and to go into the field of engineering alone. Students have said that these presentations are beneficial as it presents different opportunities, and shows them that they are not alone in the process.
“I have a responsibility, both to myself and to Mr. Collins, to explore what’s in the field and what he’s offering us, because he’s not going to do this unless Dr Neemann is a great speaker,” Lee said.
