6/2/2025 Max Dudley and Taylor Parks
Written by Max Dudley and Taylor Parks
This past semester, MechSE Teaching Assistant Professor Kellie Halloran and Teaching Associate Professor Blake Johnson piloted a new mentoring program that connects first-year Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics students with seniors. Halloran and Johnson teach ME 170 (Computer-Aided Design) and ME 470 (Senior Capstone Design Project), respectively.
Civil and environmental engineering Teaching Assistant Professor Jacob Henschen, who has started similar programs in his department and others, approached Halloran and Johnson about the possibility of connecting students in MechSE and provided guidance during the program’s development.
Per the pilot structure, ME 170 and ME 470 design teams are paired up at the beginning of the semester. As both courses have a semester-long design project, teams from both courses are able to provide and receive feedback on project designs and progress throughout the semester. Over the course of 16 weeks, the program also provides three separate sessions in which ME 470 students share about both their capstone projects and life on campus, including topics such as recommended events to attend, favorite places to study or eat, and most valuable experiences. During these sessions, ME 170 students have the opportunity to ask questions and seek advice from their 470 team partners. The symbiotic setting first-year students to receive guidance and seniors to reflect on their collegiate journey.
“We are able to foster connections between students who are in different stages of their education,” Halloran said. “It was great to hear conversations about life and experiences at Illinois. I think the discussions were helpful for everyone involved within the mentorship program.”
As the program continues, Halloran hopes that it will promote curiosity and a passion for engineering. “[The program] really does impact the way that students feel like they belong within the department,” she observed, noting that Henschen has measured this impact in CEE. “They feel included and supported, which leads them to [being] more comfortable classifying themselves as engineers.”
Other goals for the program include implementation across all four years as well as promoting the development of subjective design skills such as communication and teamwork.
“It really has felt like a team effort to do all of this,” Halloran said of the pilot. “It’s been fun to grow as a community with the students, [and] it has led to cohesiveness among the instructors and design classes as a whole.”
“We have always taught that mentorship is a professional responsibility for engineers, but it felt like an afterthought without putting it into practice,” Johnson said. “Professor Halloran and I wanted to make it a part of our culture. With the groundwork laid by our friends in CEE, we were able to put together a great first effort this past spring, and we are excited to see how it develops in upcoming semesters.”