Attitudes are important and clear communication is key
Mentors have a lot to offer engineering students, early career engineers and teachers in terms of experience, guidance and support. One of the most important attributes of a mentor is good listening skills. Your mentees need to feel that their questions and concerns are important to you to foster trust and good communication so that you both benefit from the mentoring experience.

Both mentor and mentee need to respect the other in terms of timeliness of responses to emails. Engineers are working longer hours and traveling more than ever. Teachers are juggling course work, grading papers and other activities. They may also have limited access to their email, depending on the school policy and their daily schedule.

In addition, everyone has social and personal commitments. If you receive an email that you cannot respond to in a timely manner, please acknowledge it quickly and let the other person know when you will be available to answer them. Respect for one another and the courtesy of a timely reply are essential for a good relationship. (For instance, if you are going on a vacation or business trip and will be unreachable for a period of time, an email informing your mentee or mentor would be appropriate).

Courtesy and professionalism is expected on both sides of the relationship. Set limits, if necessary. As a mentor, if much of your work is confidential or deals with proprietary information, share that with your mentee as appropriate. If it is better to use an alternate email address because of constraints at work or system security, let your mentee know that.

Getting started
As soon as you receive the contact information for your mentor/mentee, please contact him/her.

Mentors - don't hesitate to send an introductory email giving the mentee some information about yourself - education, career path and present duties. Don't be shy about asking them for information about their background, career goals and expectations. Break the ice by asking them their needs.

Mentees - Feel free to initiate the online exchange by an email telling your mentor about yourself and what you think you need to be a success as an engineer. Remember that the mentor volunteered to help and is expecting regular contact with you. Don't worry if it seems awkward and stilted at first. As you become comfortable together, communication will be become easier.   We ask that there be no solicitation of funds or donations from the mentor.

Questions
If you have any questions regarding the program, or have any comments or difficulties, contact Noel Netel.