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Upper School Engineering Students Collaborate With Early Career Professionals
“The most surprising thing when I left college was finding out how far kindness and professionalism could take me in my career. It was almost more important than being good at the job itself.” —Rafael Rodriguez, law student and former supply chain advisor at CVS
Early career professionals like Rodriguez shared advice in Matt Goodman’s Advanced Engineering & Design class, providing new perspectives for students to engage with. Goodman matches his students with professionals based on their interests. These professionals serve as mentors for the students’ spring projects.
Students work with their mentors throughout the semester, asking questions, getting feedback, and learning about their mentor’s career experience. For Huett Nelson ‘24 and Bradford Cooper ‘24, working with Rodriguez has opened their eyes to the inner workings of the supply chain industry as they develop their startup, 17 Summit. Rodriguez helped the students navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship, provided real-world expertise, and guided them to discover where their work might fit into sectors of a supply chain system.
When reflecting on their mentorship, Nelson and Cooper shared, “It was great to hear Raf’s point of view and learn from his experience to add to our knowledge of supply chain management. He understood our challenges and gave insights into our business model, which helped us intentionally pivot our business.”
In addition to Rodriguez, professional mentors included Jacob Nikolajczyk, a product development engineer at Verdox, and Clara Pakman ’19, who is studying cognitive science and socially informed design at Dartmouth College.
St. Luke’s Computer Science and Engineering Department also hosts a speakers series open to all Upper School students, not just those enrolled in a CS&E course. Speakers this year have included Jason Kuperberg, founder of Otherside AI, and Caitlynn Weeden, an aerospace engineer at SEKISUI.
“It’s been really exciting to see students engage with these outside professionals and become more comfortable sharing their work beyond the classroom,” shared Goodman.
Any community members interested in learning more about these projects or the Engineering Program can contact Matt Goodman at goodmanm@stlukesct.org.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 35 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
