’Canes from around the world enjoyed a Global Networking night hosted by the University of Miami College of Engineering (UM CoE), in collaboration with Florida Power & Light (FPL), Palm Beach ’Canes, and the University of Miami Alumni Association.
More than 80 ’Canes, at least a dozen of which were FPL employees, attended, building new connections, starting potential business relationships and growing professional networks.
The May 22 event featured an outstanding fireside chat between Manny Miranda (BSME ’82), senior vice president of power delivery for FPL, and Jean-Pierre Bardet, then-dean of the UM CoE. They reflected on the CoE’s growing partnerships with FPL, which is sponsoring undergraduate students’ capstone projects, as well as creating and sponsoring research projects with graduate students and faculty.
“We are fortunate to have longstanding partnerships with FPL, as those corporate partnerships are pivotal to the success of the CoE,” Bardet said. “CoE needs corporate partners to realize its ambitious goals. Its success cannot rest solely on internal training of students, but must include external corporate partnerships. We must reach out actively to the industry to inform them about what we have to offer.”
Bardet and Miranda also discussed major areas of study that will receive more emphasis in the near future, including ubiquitous, mobile supercomputing; intelligent robots; self-driving cars; neuro-technological brain enhancements and genetic editing.
“The evidence of dramatic change is all around us and it’s happening at exponential speed,” Bardet said. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution is characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, impacting all disciplines, economies and industries, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human.”
The event concluded with Miranda addressing value industry places on non-degree involvement with the University, such as mentoring students, participating in project reviews and supporting student events.
“Raise your hand if you’ve been back to campus within the last five years,” Miranda said. “If you haven’t, I encourage you to visit the new buildings, say ‘hi’ to your professors and get plugged into opportunities to mentor students. That’s the first step in getting involved.”
Global Networking Night took place at Manatee Lagoon – an attraction constructed by FPL as part of its environmental mission to educate the public about the relationship it has with manatees and inspire communities to preserve and protect Florida’s environment and wildlife for future generations.
