Enriching technical capabilities by improving professional skills

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — When Anthony Aloisi, a system engineer at Siemens Mobility, was exploring graduate engineering opportunities, he knew he wanted to find a program that would complement his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Penn State.

Aloisi discovered the best program to enrich his technical capabilities by enhancing his professional skills was the master of engineering in engineering leadership and innovation management (ELIM), offered by the School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs’ engineering leadership development (ELD) program. Aloisi earned his degree from the program in spring 2018. 

“Not only was I able to grow my professional skill set in the classroom, but I was also able to demonstrate the skills while at Global Design Thinking Week in Berlin, Germany, and while visiting a Lockheed Martin facility in New York,” he said.

Aloisi explained that these experiences provided him with opportunities to meet and collaborate with dozens of other students and young professionals on an international scale.

“It was experiences like these that have helped me become the professional that I am today,” he said. “ELIM brought out the best in me, and I could not be more thankful for the opportunity.”

Aloisi celebrates his second anniversary with Siemens Mobility this month. Before taking on his engineering role in the rail infrastructure division’s communication-based train control (CBTC) group in New York City, Aloisi participated in the company’s engineering development program rotation. He spent his first three rotations as a software engineer in the research and development division, a verification and test engineer and software engineer in the onboarding engineering division and a wayside engineer in the wayside engineering division, all based in Pittsburgh. For his fourth rotation, Aloisi served as a system engineer in the CBTC group, where he is continuing as a full-time employee.

Aloisi credits the ELIM program and his closeness with faculty with helping him secure his position, as Siemens serves as one of ELD’s industry supporters. Because of the established relationship between ELD and Siemens, Aloisi connected with the company’s recruiters at an ELD-sponsored career fair in fall 2017. During his interview, he applied the professional skills he learned in ELIM courses to secure an engineering job.

“One of my favorite parts of ELIM was building close relationships with my professors and advisers in the program,” he said. “I believe that having the opportunity to build these deeper relationships directly correlated to my success in landing a job post-graduation. Their [professors’ and advisers’] time and investment in me as a student helped me to build confidence in myself and my skills in the workplace. ELIM forces you to think differently, and I have found that to be extremely valuable in my career thus far.”

Aloisi believes ELIM’s close connections and invaluable educational experiences set it apart from other graduate engineering offerings, providing students with unique opportunities to advance their careers in new ways.

“Companies don’t run on technical experts alone,” he said. “There is a need for people who can be project managers, people managers, big picture thinkers and business leaders. ELIM allows mostly technical individuals to think differently from their peers. Not only do you get to look at engineering from a different perspective, but you also learn about yourself and how to engage with the people around you.”