- Coalition of Minority Professional Engineering Societies -
Professional Development Conference
Welcome Address:
Sandy Ennis
Vice President, Diversity & Inclusion, Chief Diversity Officer, DTE Energy
Keynote Speaker:
Joi M. Harris
Vice President, Gas Operations, DTE Energy
Motivational Speaker: JoAnn Chávez
Vice President & Chief Tax Officer, DTE Energy
Schedule of Events
7:30-8:30 am Registration/Breakfast
7:45-8:30 am HR Resume/Networking
8:30-8:45 am Opening Remarks
8:45-9:00 am DTE Energy Welcome
9:00-9:45 am Keynote Speaker
9:45-9:55 am Break
9:55-10:05 am Society Introductions
10:05-11:30am Motivational Speaker
11:30-12:40 pm Lunch / HR Networking
12:40-1:30 pm Breakout Session #1
1:30-1:45 pm Break
1:45-2:35 pm Breakout Session #2
2:35-2:50 pm Break
2:50-3:40 pm Breakout Session #3
3:40-4:00 pm Closing Remarks
A. Cybersecurity and the Connected Vehicle
Ron Gaynier, Senior Research Engineer, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
There have been many advances in the technology integrated into automobiles over the last decade from Wi-Fi to active safety features. Come learn how researchers are addressing the cybersecurity concerns of the technology in current and future vehicles.
B. Communication Skills for a Successful Career
Larry Castleberry, Fuel System Development Supervisor, Ford Motor Company
Come learn how communication skills can enhance your career! We spend hours learning subjects such as Calculus and Physics, but how much time do we spend on mastering a tool that is integral to our career: the ability to communicate clearly! In this presentation Mr. Castleberry will provide steps on how to: communicate clearly, get your point across, find your voice, and overcome your fear of expressing yourself! Learn how to improve your communication skills and enhance your career!
C. PANEL: HR Secrets - Boost Your Application
Moderated by Alicia Harris, Manager, Employment Strategy & Compliance, DTE Energy
A panel of human resource representatives and engineers will share their experiences with the hiring process. Come hear their advice on how to get your application to the top of the file, and the steps you can take to ace the interview, and land the job!
D. Patents: Offensive and Defensive Strategies for Engineers
Kimberly Slaven, Patent Attorney, Dickinson Wright PLLC
During your engineering career, you will most likely come up with a patent-eligible invention, and possibly hundreds of them. This session will cover how to best protect your inventions and avoid infringing the patent rights of others in view of recent legislation, as well as court decisions. The first half of the session will cover patents from an offensive perspective, including how to obtain and enforce your own patents. We will discuss what constitutes patent-eligible subject matter and the requirements for obtaining a patent in the United States and other countries. The second half of the session will cover patents from a defensive perspective, including actions to take before using new technology to avoid infringing the patent rights of others, and ultimately avoid costly and time consuming litigation.
E. Distribution Management System Implementation
Heather Storey, Manager, Operational Engineering Support, DTE Energy
Come discover the data requirements, data interfaces and the data-cleansing efforts necessary for implementation of an integrated centralized model-based distribution management system (DMS). This presentation also discusses the functionality gained from the distribution analysis tools in DMS and how DMS is used to improve operation of the distribution system.
Breakout Session #1
Breakout Session #2
A. Harness Your AMPS
Harness creation explained, from challenge to satisfaction. Discover how to transition from concept to implementation. Connect the wires between modules. Watch the magic of the amps flow.
B. Persuading Others
Siraj Mumin, Supervisor , Transmission Operations - Gas, DTE Energy
Persuasion is a situation that arises almost every day in our personal and professional lives. Sharpen your skill sets in persuasion by focusing on the value of others. Learn how to leverage your inner-strengths to guide others into becoming champions of change.
C. PANEL: Alternative Energy
Moderated by Silvia Karlsson, Lead Advanced Thermal Engineer - Airflow Strategy, General Motors
A diverse panel of engineers will share their experiences on alternative energy and how it will shape the energy grid going forward. They will also discuss the roadblocks, such as low oil prices, state federal regulations, and community perceptions, to implementing and introducing alternative energies into the distribution system.
D. Leveraging Mentoring to Develop Your Career
Shannon Dare, Supervisor, Global Product Planning and Strategy, Ford Motor Company
This presentation will cover the multiple types of mentoring and how to enhance your professional development. Whether your company has a formal mentoring program or if you need to develop your own informal mentoring relationships, this presentation will offer insight into the broad benefits of mentoring.
E. Elevate Your Energy and Engagement (by changing the stories you tell)
Nan Reed Twiss, Owner, Coach for Higher
Do you sometimes get triggered by situations that put you in an ugly mood… ones that you know don’t serve you? Do some circumstances elevate your energy and others drain you? If so, welcome to humanity! As you well know, your energy, whether positive or negative, affects your work and all aspects of your life. The higher and more positive your energy, the easier (and more likely!) it is for you to accomplish things that are important to you. During this highly interactive workshop, Nan will help you discover an extraordinary model to shift your energy to a more powerful place. You will learn to: a) Develop skills to quickly control your mood and elevate your energy, b) Conquer emotional roadblocks and create authentic positivity for effectiveness at work, home and in you relationships, c) Identify one area in your life where you can make positive change immediately and experience how these techniques work in real time, and d) Meet other people and share your journey.
Breakout Session #3
A. SAE On-Road Automated Vehicle Reference Architecture & Interface Task Force Overview
Steve Underwood, Ph.D., Director Connected Vehicle Proving Center, University of Michigan – Dearborn
Self-driving cars are a disruptive innovation that will emerge as a predominant mode of transportation over the course of the next twenty years. The architecture for this transformation is addressed along with the prospects for increasing levels of automation supported by new automotive designs and standards.
B. Electrify Your Elevator Speech: Pitching Yourself for Your Next Career
Roselyn Gaudet McKay, Electrical Quality Engineer, Ford Motor Company
Is what you do who you are? Focus on being the "true you". Embrace who you are and not who you think others wants you to be. Learn how knowing the true you gives meaning to your elevator speech (your 30 sec sales pitch). Learn how your message is more than the words you speak.
C. PANEL: Courageous Risks for Amping Up Your Career
Moderated by Jessica Mattis, Manager, North America PPO Material & Production Control, General Motors
A panel of diverse speakers will address how they have taken risks in their career, what they learned from these risks, and how they plan on continuing to take risks. Additionally we hope to address how diversity can be used as an advantage in developing your career, and how the Harvard Business Review describes “courage as being a skill.”
D. Challenges Across Cultures: Effectively Completing a Project Outside the US
Claire Bourseleth, President, TMB Consulting LLC
Come find out about the work that Engineers Without Borders - Detroit Professional Chapter has done in El Salvador and Nicaragua on water and sanitation projects. Learn how these projects are completed successfully and about the rewarding experiences.
E. Smooth Transmission: Optimal Load Management for Power Grids
Zhongyang (Joe) Zhao, PhD Candidate, Wayne State University
Did you know about 40% of all carbon dioxide emissions are attributed to electricity generation in the US? Reducing greenhouse gases emissions due to electric power generation and consumption has received increasing attention worldwide. The presentation will explore the models of load management to reduce emissions. Three kinds of load management algorithms are studied and compared using IEEE 14-Bus system.