Students attend World Affairs Conference
Ivy Tech event offers insight into industries
Deborah Good said the topic of the World Affairs Conference was not her choice, and she wasn’t sure who to have speak at the event at Ivy Tech Community College Valparaiso Campus until NextEra showed up at her farm to discuss adding solar panels to the land.
When she talked to them, she thought finding a speaker from NextEra at the conference would be a good idea.
“I believe, firmly, this is a rural community, there’s a lot of farm kids that are here, these kids, these people will be approaching other farmers about putting solar on their property, I want them educated as to what that means, what are the pros and cons of putting solar panels on their property,” Good said.
The Rotary International District 6540 brought high school students to a daylong workshop to encourage them to learn and think critically about global issues affecting their communities at the local, national and international levels.
Hundreds of students gathered Thursday at Ivy Tech Community College Valparaiso Campus for the 2019 World Affairs Conference to learn about the energy sector, engineering and technology. They were able to gain insight into different career paths through speakers from the Rotary Club, NIPSCO, NextEra and the field of computer science.
The Rotary Club of Valparaiso is a service organization of more than 200 business and professional leaders who serve and support the local community as well as worldwide objectives of Rotary International. Valparaiso Rotary Club President Andrew Lucas told the students in attendance Thursday joining the Rotary Club would assist them in creating change, using the example of ending polio.
“On your own, ending polio is probably not realistic, but if you join Rotary, you’re going to have over a million people around the world who are fellow Rotarians, and you can fly to India for a polio immunization day, and you can take part in something like that,” Lucas said in his speech. “That’s what service clubs do — they open doors for you to do more in life than you could accomplish on your own.”
Andrew Campbell, the director of regulatory support and planning for NIPSCO, gave students at the conference a lesson on energy.
“I talked a little bit about, kind of a crash course in how things work from a utility perspective, so this is the part where you really pay attention to get a little bit of a leg up on people that don’t know this stuff,” Campbell said before diving into information about how NIPSCO operates.
Campbell works with NIPSCO’s “Your Energy, Your Future” initiative, which details NIPSCO’s plans to retire its coal-fired generation over the next 10 years with the largely renewable forms. He discussed NIPSCO’s plans for the future, detailing that currently NISPCO uses 4% renewable energy, 25% natural gas and 71% coal, and they’re looking to make changes.
“Between now and 2023, we’re projected to be over 50% renewable side, we want to maintain that natural gas, and we’ll still have a little bit of coal,” Campbell said.
He told students about opportunities in the field, saying some opportunities for jobs would be wind technician, solar technician and electric dispatcher.
Nick Rosasco, the director of the center of information assurance and cyber security education and the director and student adviser for the graduate program for a master of science in cyber security at Valparaiso University, also detailed job opportunities for students.
Rosasco talked about the possibility of careers in software, computer and systems engineering, and cyber security.
“We are constantly — we being the people that do what I do — are looking for better solutions,” Rosasco said.
The event featured other speakers, such as Hunter Armstrong and Zachary Melda, of NextEra Energy Resources, and allowed students a tour of an energy lab at Ivy Tech.
Good said the conference would assist in educated the kids in different career paths, and she said it’s important for them to understand the different education pathways they can pursue.
“Because this transition is happening, it’s going to open up to new careers,” Good said. “For a lot of these kids, what they’re seeing today is totally new to them.”
Hannah Reed is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.