San Jose Phi Zeta

During the spring semester of 1982, Dr. Raghumal Agarwal organized the formation of the San Jose State Phi Zeta Chapter. On October 8, 1982, the chapter was
installed by National President Alexander Peters, Secretary-Treasurer Hudy Hewitt, Jr., and Vice-President John Crisp.

In harmony with the spirit of Pi Tau Sigma, the chapter then organized several programs for their students and the Mechanical Engineering Department. These programs included student tutoring, proctoring of exams, and grading homework.Currently the chapter is putting together a reference library, conducting a study for possible improvements within our department, and providing various aids to both the student body and the faculty of the Mechanical Engineering Department of San Jose State. All our members, past, present, and future should be congratulated for their hard work as should all the Pi Tau Sigma members nationwide.

ANNUAL SUMMARY REPORTS

2023-2024 Kevin Li (President)

    The San Jose State University (SJSU) chapter of Pi Tau Sigma, the international mechanical engineering honor society, has experienced a year of significant growth and transformation. Our chapter is proud to announce several key developments over the past year, all of which contribute to our mission of fostering the highest ideals of mechanical engineering education.
    Our chapter welcomed a new board of officers this year, marking a fresh start with a group of dedicated and enthusiastic leaders. The most notable change in our organizational structure is the decision to introduce two secretary positions. This change was made to distribute the workload more effectively and ensure that all administrative tasks are managed efficiently. Having two secretaries can better handle the increased volume of communications, event planning, and record-keeping responsibilities that come with our growing chapter.
The new officers have already demonstrated their commitment to enhancing the chapter's activities and engagement with current members and alumni. Their leadership is expected to generate innovative ideas and further strengthen our community.
    One of the most exciting developments this year is the establishment of new partnerships with various on-campus organizations. These collaborations aim to provide our members with more resources, networking opportunities, and professional development.
    We are thrilled to announce our partnership with the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) at SJSU. This partnership bridges the gap between mechanical and biomedical engineering, providing our members with insights into the interdisciplinary applications of their skills. As part of this collaboration, BMES has agreed to offer PTS members a discount on their annual convention held at SJSU. This convention is a prime opportunity for our members to learn about the latest advancements in biomedical engineering, engage with industry professionals, and explore potential career paths in this rapidly growing field.
    In addition to our partnership with BMES, our chapter has officially partnered with the SJSU Career Center. This collaboration has been instrumental in enhancing our members' career readiness and professional growth. The Career Center has approved Pi Tau Sigma for career treks and organized visits to Bay Area companies. They provide our members with firsthand experience of industry environments, opportunities to interact with professionals, and a deeper understanding of the mechanical engineering landscape in Silicon Valley.
Furthermore, the Career Center will facilitate contact with industry representatives, offering our members exclusive access to career resources, workshops, and networking events. This partnership underscores our commitment to ensuring Pi Tau Sigma members are well-prepared to enter the workforce and succeed.
    The past year has been one of significant progress and achievement for the SJSU chapter of Pi Tau Sigma. We introduced a new board of officers and established strategic partnerships with various student organizations and the SJSU Career Center. We look forward to building on this momentum in the coming year, continuing to support our members in their academic and professional endeavors, and furthering the values of Pi Tau Sigma. Thank you to all our members, partners, and supporters for making this year a success.

 

 Initiation:

 

2022-2023 Meshi Shachaf (President)

The San Jose State University Phi Zeta Chapter hosted many social and industry event throughout the 2022-2023 academic year. Many of our current team entered their final year of education, as such planning and organizing event became difficult. In the beginning of each fall and spring semester an official invitation is sent to qualified Mechanical Engineering students, routed through the Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering. These students are invited to attend our information session. At the information session, officers gave a presentation on the benefits of joining the club, examples of previous events, and how the members could grow with the experience of becoming a member. During this academic year, officers communicated with our members on a Discord server created for the Pi Tau Sigma members of San Jose State and through newsletters.

In the fall 2022 semester San Jose State University finally transition into a primarily in person format following the covid pandemic, with the benefits and drawbacks this decision resulted in. Therefore, the officers at the San Jose Phi Zeta Chapter focused on hosing in person social and industry events in order to benefit and connect to our members. This semester we focused on building group comradery by hosting many in person social events. Our popular events included Billiard’s night, Bowling Night (our traditional classic), many game nights, and a nice Brunch with the officers event. Holding these events allowed us to build intercommunication and camaraderie between our members, building closer relationships in our chapter. Though we held many social events, we did not forget our industry events. We hosted an exciting interview and building tour at Onto Innovation. For this particular event we also invited Tau Beta Pi chapter at San Jose state university, the honors society of engineers. At Onto we had the unique opportunity to talk with current managing engineers, a hiring agent with HR, and even tour the clean rooms at the local location.

In the spring 2023 semester, officers fully shifted all possible hosted events to an in-person format. In this semester we had the goal of improving the quality of our events for future semesters. We hosted our social events to build member comradery, starting with bowling and a group hike at a local open preserve. We hosted a group building challenge, inviting all students. We held some industry events as well, a portfolio event to teach members how to build a online presence and w interview we reviewed with the vice president of J&J. We had a officer attend the Pi Tau Sigma 2023 National Convention. We also volunteered with the department in hosting an awards ceremony. We became deeply involved with the organization of this event. Making the invite list and inviting all possible alumni, we built a comradery with the mechanical endangering department chair and staff with volunteering our time organizing this event.

 

 Initiations

Fall 2022 in-person Initiation: 6 Initiates, Conducted on December 7, 2022

Spring 2023 In Person Initiation: 5 Initiates, Conducted on May 16, 2023

Spring 2023 In Person Make-Up Initiation: 1 Initiate, Conducted on May 19, 2023

 

2021-2022 Meshi Shachaf (Treasurer)

The San Jose State University Phi Zeta Chapter hosted many social and industry event throughout the hybrid 2021-2022 academic year. As many of the experienced officers graduated the previous academic year our team for the fall semester was Michelle Duong (President), Jie Kai Teo (Vice President), Meshi Shachaf (Treasurer), and Gian Mendoza (Events Lead). Our team into the spring semester was Jie Kai Teo (President), Gian Mendoza (Vice President), and Meshi Shachaf (Treasurer). New officers were recruited during the semester; Carey Yip (Candidate Manager), Claudia Bird (Secretary), Raj Guru Singh (Recording Secretary), and Matthew Culaton (Events Lead). In the beginning of each fall and spring semester an official invitation is sent to qualified Mechanical Engineering students, routed through the Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering. These students are invited to attend our information session. At the information session, all the officers gave a presentation on the benefits of joining the club, examples of previous events, and how the members could grow with the experience of becoming a member. During this hybrid academic year, officers communicated with our members on a Discord server created for the Pi Tau Sigma members of San Jose State.

In the fall 2021 semester San Jose State University tried to transition to a hybrid format, unfortunately Omicron became an issue just after classes started. Therefore, the officers at the San Jose Phi Zeta Chapter focused on virtual social and industry events in order to benefit and connect to our members. Coffee with the Officers was the only in person social event we were able to host during the fall semester. Virtual social events included Gartic Phone, Jackbox.tv, and Trivia Night. These events enabled Pi Tau Sigma Members to meet and socialize in virtual environments. Virtual industry events included Resume Building and Q&A with Technical Marketing Manager of NVIDIA, Abood Quraini. We were able to hold one in-person industry panel with employees from Air Systems Inc. The event with NVIDIA was hosted by Beta Tau Pi, and all other events were hosted by Pi Tau Sigma.

In the spring 2022 semester, officers shifted to bringing some of our online event to an in person format. With covid-19 restrictions decreasing we were able to host a few more events in person while still respecting health regulations. A very successful event and exciting event we hosted was our in-person industry tour at Zipline, a drone delivery company specializing in delivering medical supplies to remote areas. This was our most attended event of about 20 members. Another new successful event includes “Coffee, Cookies, & Milkshakes!” an in-person social with current members and alumni. During this semester we continued to hold trivia and game night to connect with our members. We also had three officers attend the National Convention and a team participated in the 2022 Technical Challenge. We also assisted the department in hosting an awards ceremony and have plans of continuing that next semester. We hope to continue holding in-person events and assisting the department in the new academic year.

Initiations

 

2020-2021  Andrew Alkakos (President) & Michelle Duong (Events Lead)

The San Jose Phi Zeta Chapter hosted many industry and social events throughout the virtual 2020-2021 academic year. As half of the officers graduated in Spring 2021, new officers took over with much to learn. The officer team for the 2020-2021 Academic year was as follows: Andrew Alkakos (President), Haadi Elahi (Treasurer), Tanmay Gupta (Vice President), Michelle Duong (Events Lead), Jie Kai Tao (Events Coordinator), and Meshi Shachaf (Initiation Coordinator). In the Fall 2021 Semester, the President sent out an invitation email to the Mechanical Engineering Department Chair. The Department Chair then sent out the official invite to the mechanical engineering students who met the requirements, to invite them to attend an information session. At the information session, all the officers gave a presentation on the benefits of joining the club, examples of previous events, and how the members could grow with the experience of becoming a member. Following the information, the officers collected membership dues and forms for the new candidates. The email invitation and information session process was repeated for the Spring semester as well. Throughout the virtual academic year, the officers created a Discord server for the Pi Tau Sigma members of San Jose State University. This was a great idea that could help the members stay active, ask questions, and partake in events in a work-from-home environment. 

In the Fall 2020 semester, the officers focused on social and industry events to truly benefit the members. Social events would be vital for networking with peers and for forming meaningful friendships. In the Fall Semester virtual social events were as follows: Among Us Game Night, Meet the Officers with Coffee, Trivia/Jeopardy, Pictionary Game Night. These events were a great way for Pi Tau Sigma members to socialize and meet one another in a virtual environment. Industry events in the Fall semester were as follows: Agilent Networking Panel, Career Paths for Engineers Panel, Networking with Lockheed Martin Engineer, Networking with San Jose State & Pi Tau Sigma Alumni. These Industry events were held over Zoom and were all hosted by Pi Tau Sigma. The members greatly benefitted from these events and learned a lot about other industries that they could possibly explore. 

In the Spring 2021 semester, the officers shifted their focus to industry events. An exciting and informative event that was hosted by the Phi Zeta chapter was an industry talk via Zoom with John Magnasco, VP of Robotics & Digital Solutions at J&J. He gave a presentation about his engineering journey, as a student and as an industry professional. This event was successful with high attendance and even the Department Chair attended! Other successful industry events hosted included: Networking with Air Systems, and an Interview with Karan Shah. With the gradual alleviation of COVID-19 restrictions, the next academic year holds potential for the return of in-person events. The next set of officers will carry the PTS tradition and continue elevating the overall experience for future candidates.

Initiations

 

 

2019-2020  Marcus Freitas (President) & Julio de Pereda (Treasurer)

The San Jose Phi Zeta Chapter hosted a variety of events throughout the 2019-2020 academic year. As all of the officers graduated in Spring 2019, new officers took over with much to learn. The officer team for the 2019-2020 Academic year was as follows: Marcus Freitas (President), Julio de Pereda (Treasurer), and Hugh Pham (Vice President), Lissette Romero (Events Coordinator). In the Fall 2019 Semester, the President sent out an invitation email to the mechanical engineering students that met the requirements inviting them to attend an information session. At the information session, Julio and Marcus gave a presentation on the benefits of joining the club. Following the information, we collected membership dues, and contact information for the new candidates to attend events. The email invitation and information session process were repeated for the Spring semester as well.

Following the information session, various events were held throughout the semester. In the Fall 2019 semester, the officers focused on social and industry events, to truly benefit the members. Social events would prove to be beneficial for networking with peers, as well as forming meaningful friendships, while the industry events aided the members in their career pursuit. In the Fall semester social events were as follows: bowling at the SJSU student union, Boba hang out, indoor soccer at the Spartan Rec Center, Engineering Olympics with Tau Beta Pi. Industry events in the Fall 2019 semester were as follows: Company Tours of Tesla, Facebook, Carbon 3D, Lunch and learn with PSC Biotech, and Lockheed Martin, and a Job Hunting Workshop hosted by the SHRM club at SJSU. 

In the Spring 2020 semester, the events were tremendously affected due to shelter in place guidelines as a result of the Coronavirus. Therefore, many of the events were moved to an online setting. To give the candidates the best initiation experience possible under the circumstances, the officer team had to quickly adapt to the situation. An exciting and informative event that was hosted by the Phi Zeta chapter was an industry talk via Zoom with a Stanford mechanical engineer named James Bui. He gave a presentation about his overall engineering journey as a student and as an industry professional. This event was successful with an attendance of over 25 people and it was a great learning experience for the candidates, active members, and officers that attended. Some social events such as Netflix Parties, Coffee With PTS Officers, and trivia nights were hosted to relax and lighten the mood of the candidates and officers. Even under the difficult circumstances of the pandemic, the Phi Zeta chapter adapted well and closed the school year off in a successful manner. The next set of officers are sure to carry the PTS tradition and continue elevating the overall experience for future candidates. 
 

Initiations