What is a Student Professional Awareness Conference (S-PAC)?

S-PACs are student-organized conferences conferences that involve discussions on various professional development topics.

Since 1979, Student Professional Awareness Conferences (S-PACs) have:

• Significantly enhanced the leadership and non-technical skills of technology students.
  
  
• Trained pioneers and innovators to tackle the dynamics of the technology profession.
  
  
• Bridged the professional needs of technologists-in-training and wisdom of technology leaders from different fields.
  
  
• Transformed several thousands of students into leaders of the IEEE or other corporations and professional organizations.
  

Who Organizes and Participates in S-PACs?

IEEE student branch leaders plan and organize S-PACs in collaboration with faculty advisors and the regional coordinators of the IEEE-USA Student Professional Awareness Committee. Any technology student interested in improving their leadership and other professional skills should consider organizing or attending an S-PAC.

Committee’s Mission:
“The IEEE-USA Student Professional Awareness Committee helps organize conferences and workshops to increase professional awareness among engineering students.”

Professional Awareness Topics for S-PACs.

Eight categories represent the professional awareness issues of concern to IEEE Student Members: 

Career Development
Technologists are uniquely positioned to embark on careers that are not only technical but also in various areas including business management, finance, economics, health, law, non-profit sector, consulting, journalism, public relations, entrepreneurship, government, and entertainment.

Discover how to:

• Make the most of your career choices, career fairs and internships
  
  
• Fare well in informational and formal interviews
  
  
• Craft and customize your resume, curriculum vita, and cover letter for different career pathways
  
  
• Be better informed for your job search and negotiations
  
  
• Establish and maintain professional connections and a circle of mentors
  
  
• Prepare for professional registration, certifications, as well as advanced degrees
  

Professional Integrity
Ethics and engineering are fundamentally intertwined. Decisions made by engineers can have a profound impact on society.

Discover how to:

• Practice ethics in a work environment that is constantly influenced by realities of globalization, financial motivation, and information overload
  
  
• Generate or customize a framework or set of principles for ethical conduct across differing conflicts and scenarios
  
  
• Balance professional integrity against corporate loyalty and other personal interests
  

Personal Skills
Personal skills are as crucial as technical skills for a successful career in engineering.

Discover how to:

• Develop skills that are necessary to effectively run a meeting and manage a committee.
  
  
• Apply the best practices for time management and priority setting of tasks
  
  
• Better manage your online persona and learn how it can assist or affect your career
  
  
• Plan your finances and investments

Engineers and Public Policy
Decision-makers are frequently looking to engineers for advice to improve public policies.

Discover:

• How a legislation is drafted, introduced, and debated in Congress
  
  
• The major policy issues and contentions of current interest, and why you should care
  
  
• The role engineers play in informing and shaping public policy and how to get involved

Leadership in Professional Organizations
Staying involved in a professional society adds value to your career. However, becoming a leader improves your professional net worth and profile.

Discover how:

• A professional society—such as IEEE—can help you in your professional and personal growth
  
  
• Staying involved with a professional organization is a value to you and your profession?
  

The Practice of Innovation
Innovation is a complex theoretical concept but can be learned by practice like any other art or science.

Discover how to:

• Capitalize on your professional training and creativity to become an innovator
  
  
• Learn from the success and failure of others
  
  
• Incorporate elements and practices of other cultures and professions (such as arts, humanities, media, and sociology)
  

The Art of Communication
In a world of short attention spans, it is crucial to create and communicate a message that sticks.

Discover how to:

• Master the art of storytelling
  
  
• Deliver better presentations
  
  
• Improve written communication
  
  
• Leverage social, traditional, and other media effectively
  
  
• Use these skills to help improve the public understanding of engineering and its impact
  

Humanitarian Grand Challenges
Engineers play a major role in advancing technology for the benefit of humanity.

Discover how to:

• Play a role in reducing poverty and hunger, improving infrastructure, and addressing environmental and economic challenges
  
  
• Become a global citizen and an ambassador for the engineering profession

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