SWEet connections
Catherine Hurley ’05 found herself in a time warp. In one moment, she was in the present, attending a meet-up of UD alumnae and current students at a restaurant last October during the Society of Women Engineers conference in Chicago. The next moment, she was a student again.
Twenty years ago, Hurley attended the same SWE conference as a student and landed her first engineering job. Just as quickly as the memory comes up, she’s back in the moment, talking with current students and sharing how she turned her UD engineering education into a career.
“The students were so impressive and engaging. They asked me tons of questions, about advice on career paths and things I’ve done,” said Hurley, who currently works with Fermilab. “So I told them about my trajectory and how, similarly, their foundation in engineering at UD is going to take them pretty much anywhere they want to go.”
Hurley’s experience stood out to Sarah Boeckman, a mechanical engineering and technology sophomore, who is interested in biomechanics — an industry full of large companies with plenty of competition.
“It felt disheartening to be in these long lines at the conference, but talking to the alumni gave me a new perspective, that I don’t need to be in a perfect internship to still have a successful career. Building on the experience I can get now will still allow me to be in intense programs in the biomechanics sphere,” Boeckman said. “That took the panic away.”
Sophomore Zsofi Karetka also had a moment of clarity after talking with Katie Obaggy ’14, who works for United Airlines in a position that combines engineering and supply chain management.
“I asked her how she got interested in that role, and she said it was more that she found out what she wasn’t interested in. It was eye-opening because I have trouble figuring out what I like, but I know what I don’t like,” said Karetka, an industrial engineering technology major.
“Seeing someone who followed a similar path and it worked out well for her, that was reassuring.”
After that conversation, Karetka landed an interview for an internship with United Airlines and is now waiting to hear back.
“There’s less pressure because they’re UD alumni; you want to hear their stories. The intention is to make the connection with somebody you can go to for advice, or go to when you’re struggling with opportunities,” Boeckman said. “Dinners like this and going to the SWE conference makes that feel more reachable and approachable.”
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A version of this article appears in print in the Spring 2025 University of Dayton Magazine, Page 50. EXPLORE THE ISSUE — MORE ONLINE