The Department of Materials Science and Engineering is known for building a strong sense of community among the students. This could be correlated with its small size which gives everyone more of an opportunity to get to know each other through common classes, student organizations, and sufficient space for student collaboration.
As students graduate from materials science and engineering at Iowa State University, there has not been a formal way for students to stay connected to the community they had once established during their years as students. This problem is now being resolved through a new young alumni group called MSE GOLD, Materials Science and Engineering Graduates of the Last Decade.
“As materials engineering alumni know from their classes at Iowa State, gold is a precious transition metal that is rare and distinctive for its valuable properties and increases in value over time. That is why it is the perfect name for our new young alumni group,” said Dr. Kristen Constant, Morrill Professor and Wilkinson Professor of Interdisciplinary Engineering and Chair of the materials science and engineering department.
Dr. Constant has been a champion for connecting with the MSE alumni, and she has been looking for a new way to include our most active group of supporters in the department. Andrea Klocke, MSE academic advisor, has been working with students in the department for ten years and expressed her desire to continue the relationships that developed with students throughout the past decade. With the addition of the newest communications specialist in the department, Bailey Schober, the department has the ability to have a strong digital presence to establish the group as well. These three factors gave inspiration to the development of MSE GOLD.
Klocke and Schober will be working with the leadership team to facilitate the mentorship and event coordination for the group. The leadership team consists of five alumni that have committed to assisting in the development of this new group. The leadership team includes:
- Seth Berbano (MatE ’11)
- Nathan Podjenski (MatE ’16)
- Lisa Rueschhoff (MatE ’13)
- John Solomon (MatE ’12)
- Anne Stockdale (MatE ’09)
Beginning on October 2, 2017, the department encourages recent graduates of the last decade to join MSE GOLD.
MSE GOLD is meant for reconnecting with friends, networking and sharing opportunities with other alumni, mentoring current students, and most of all – having fun. An important part of MSE GOLD will include mentoring students to assist in giving career or advanced degree advice and improving professional development skills. This group will also assist in recruiting efforts of the materials science and engineering program at Iowa State for prospective students and industry relationships.
“I am so ecstatic about the opportunity that MSE GOLD presents to myself and other young alumni to reconnect with friends and classmates from our time at ISU. I am most looking forward to networking events and offering advice and connecting with current undergraduate students through the mentoring program,” said Lisa Rueschhoff, an alumna of the department.
“The MSE young alumni are innovative and creative, and they enthusiastically represent the Iowa State materials engineering program all over the country. The department values their knowledge, personality, and heart that was once a large part of everyday life here in Ames. We want to give them a reason to reconnect to the department,” said Bailey Schober.
Participation in this group is voluntary and interested alumni should visit www.mse.iastate.edu/mse-gold/ to sign up for MSE GOLD. Members of this group can look forward to connecting at events on campus, participating in virtual events, being a part of a shared database to assist in networking, and sharing wisdom with current students.