How much power does a student have over their future?

A lot, according to recent Engineering graduate Shannon Keegan.

Keegan, who works for aerospace defense company Northrop Grumman, was a featured speaker at the Feb. 25 Evening With Industry gala, an annual networking event hosted by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) University of Nevada, Reno chapter.

“College is probably the time you feel like you have the least power in shaping your career,” Keegan said. “I’d argue it’s actually one of the most important times.”

In a speech that matched the event theme, “The Power of You,” Keegan emphasized the importance of finding your true interests, getting involved with clubs and learning how to ask for help as ways of setting yourself up for success.

“My biggest advice, and what really matters at the end of the day, is that you find something that is fascinating to you,” Keegan said. “And that’s where you should put your time.”

About 250 Engineering students attended the event, in which they are matched up with industry sponsors for the cocktails-and-dinner program.

“This space holds ambition, talent and the future of engineering,” Elena Chau, SWE campus chapter president, said. “What matters the most is that you showed up and started the conversation.”

The event also included an address from Engineering Dean Tom Weller, who discussed the national need for engineers and the role women play in filling those positions.

“There are about 5 million engineers and computer scientists in the United States, and only about 25% of those are women,” Weller said. “That is absolutely not a talent problem, that is an access and an opportunity problem, and organizations like the Society for Women Engineers exist precisely to address that problem.”

Also at the event, the SWE Sierra Nevada chapter presented scholarships to Chau, the SWE campus chapter president; and to Suprabha Timalsina.

Events sponsors included Agru; DEI Engineers; Dragonfly Energy; Gradex Construction; Granite Construction; Horiba; Kimley-Horn; Lochner; Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; Lumos & Associates; Nevada Division of Environmental Protection; Nevada National Security Sites; PK Electrical; Qualus; RIX Industries; Resource Development Company; Stantec; TYLin; Tectonics Design Group; Trinity Consultants; Turner Construction; Wood Rodgers Inc; Wright Structural Engineers; and ZFA Structural Engineers.