Orange County Branch Newsletter

September 2020

ASCE OC Mentorship Program

A Professional Panel in Uncertain Times

By Lydia Chun, EIT | Mentorship Committee Member

On July 22, 2020, the ASCE OC Mentorship Program held its first-ever virtual professional panel. This event was open to all ASCE members and there were 30 total participants, including some attendees from college chapters. Stephen Cruz and Nadia Mugisha acted as moderators and there were 3 speakers for the panel, each from a different field within the industry.

The panel included an interactive survey using "Kahoot!" where participants could anonymously post answers to a series of questions related to mentorship. The panelists were then asked to share their personal mentorship experiences, their perspectives on the importance of mentorship, what makes a good mentor, and why even consider being a mentor.

A key topic of discussion was the current situation surrounding COVID-19. The panel offered a platform for participants to openly discuss about impacts to our industry, advice on how to still develop professionally during this time (you can finally start to study for that PE exam), as well as provide encouragement to one another.

One thing that is certain is that the Mentorship Program is continuing to find ways to stay connected! Interested in being a mentor or protégé? Check out our page for when the applications are open!

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About the Author

Lydia Chun is an Associate Traffic Engineer at Iteris, Inc. She is a UCI alumnus and previous participant in the Mentorship Program. She enjoys the outdoors and watches too many cat videos online. Lydia can be contacted at lchun@iteris.com or via LinkedIn.

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