In a world where technology is ever advancing, how does one keep up? This thought is often at the forefront of minds, especially for students who have to consider how these advancements will change their career paths.

Miami University College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) meets this problem head-on with the annual Leadership in Technology Speaker Series, where students are connected to alumni who are leaders in their fields. This allows students the opportunity to gather insights from experts with real-world experience. 

In February, Brett Cope ’90, CEO of Powell Industries, and Dinesh Paliwal MS ’83 and MBA ’85, partner at KKR, appeared at this year’s event. After being introduced by Beena Sukumaran, the Dinesh and ILA Paliwal Dean of CEC, Cope and Paliwal candidly discussed numerous topics, including mentorship, interpersonal skills, and career development. 

They also spent a large portion of the event speaking about AI. This can be a distressing topic for many students due to concerns that AI will replace jobs, but Cope and Paliwal discussed how they believe AI isn’t replacing jobs, it’s changing them. In order to not fall behind, they expressed how important it is to embrace new changes and utilize them to the highest advantage.

One student in attendance, Caroline Bergh, a senior Mechanical Engineering major, appreciated their discussion of AI. 

“I thought it was good to hear from such impressive people in different industries that AI isn't replacing us,” she said. “If we embrace it, then it can hopefully make a really positive difference.” 

Student Caroline Bergh asks a question from the audience.

The dialogue on AI also had a large impact on Khushi Shah, a sophomore Finance and Business Analytics major.

“The event itself gave me more clarity towards how I can use technology, how I can use those set of skills that we already have as a young generation to actually increase my chances of employment, rather than thinking about how that is going to affect my unemployment,” she said. “That was game changing for me."

Before the end of the event, questions were opened to the audience. Khushi asked a question about AI, asking “How can you be very creative in problem solving, knowing that you have answers at the tips of your hands?” 

They answered by noting the importance of judgment and gut feeling, which AI lacks. 

Recognizing the wisdom of their advice, Khushi began to implement it into her own life after the event, making a conscious effort to be the first source of thinking before turning to a large language model. 

“I'm currently implementing it and even though it's been a very short time between the event and right now, my brain's running much faster. I have increased my productivity by 3 times I would say,” Khushi said a few days after the event.

During the speaker event, Caroline also asked a question: “What advice do you wish someone would have given you when you were about to graduate college?” 

In response, Cope and Paliwal expressed the importance of having mentors and a good network. Paliwal also spoke about how he wished he had been told of the importance of workplace culture and to not solely worry about salary. Caroline was impressed by the detail, substance, and attentiveness of their response. Paliwal even returned to her question later with another piece of advice, after being able to pick her out of the crowd and recall her question.

Students speak to Paliwal after the event.

After the conclusion of the event, students were able to speak directly to Paliwal and Cope and have a personal interaction with the speakers, discussing life at Miami. Moreover, they were given another opportunity to ask questions and gather advice. 

Being able to gain wisdom and perspective from the speakers left a lasting and beneficial impression on the students. They left the event feeling motivated, especially after being encouraged by alumni who were once in their shoes. 

“I just feel like leaving so inspired and empowered shifted my energy,” Caroline said. “I just love feeling excited and also proud to be a part of CEC at Miami, and [it] made me proud of my alumni. It's exciting to know that you're part of such a great alumni base here.”

With this in mind, the students encourage others to attend the event in following years.