Earlier in October I was in Houston to attend the annual Hispanic Engineer's National Achievement Award Conference (HENAAC). HENAAC key mission is promoting science, technology, engineering and math careers in underrepresented communities, especially the US Hispanic community. It has been doing so for twenty years now.
The highlight of the annual HENAAC conference is the award show that recognizes the achievement of Hispanic engineers and scientists in a number of categories. The top honorees this year were Ellen Ochoa - deputy director for NASA's Johnson Space Center and former astronaut - who was named the 2008 Hispanic Engineer of the Year, and Dan Arvizu - Director of DOE's National Energy Renewable Lab - who was inducted into the HENAAC Hall of Fame. I was honored by HENAAC in 2001, when I was named Hispanic Engineer of the Year, and in 2004, when I was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The conference included a variety of meetings and seminars, as well as a number of programs aimed at students, including a career fair. Among the meetings was a panel - for which I acted as moderator, - of past Engineers of the Year and Hall of Fame inductees to explore innovative solutions to the number one issue HENAAC deals with: how do we convince Hispanic kids and their families that the pursuit of engineering and science careers is one of the best paths to a well paying, highly stimulating job?
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