I had an opportunity to speak to the Business Scholars, and had a great experience! The purpose of the UIC Business Scholars program is to develop leadership excellence and professionalism among a cohort of highly motivated undergraduate business students. Below is the write up from Ms. Amiwala, one of the business scholars with an amazing smile.
Yesterday, for the Business Scholars CEO Perspective Series I had the wonderful opportunity to meet our final guest speaker of the semester, Dr. Karen Eng.
Dr. Eng was absolutely wonderful and she made sure her presentation was interactive so that all of us young business students could open up and ask questions. Dr. Eng began by explaining her position as CEO and President at CSMI, and later, she talked about the steps she took to become an accomplished professional.
Dr. Eng, like many students, did not always have this vision of being a CEO of an entire company; in fact, she went to the University of California and got her degree in biochemistry and biology. Once she graduated, she aspired to become an optometrist. It wasn’t until later in her life that she decided to take over CSMI, the small business that her father started in 1983.
Now, CSMI is a successful firm that serves countries all over the world. Dr. Eng told us that CSMI is an engineering consulting firm which also works with administrations such as the USDA and FDA. One interesting fact we learned about CSMI was that it helps companies create exclusive machines to make packaging and production very efficient. Many of Dr. Eng’s clients are food companies such as Nestle, Kraft Foods, and PepsiCo.
Dr. Eng advised us to explore all our options and ask questions to those who are experienced in the professions we want to pursue. She also said that one of the keys to success was networking, and as business students, we must start developing our network now.
Dr. Eng was very passionate about empowering women and told us that she was one of the few women leaders in her field. I was touched by the fact the she told us that everyone in the room is capable of doing anything they dreamed of, and it was just uplifting to hear that all 40 of us can make an impact to the world, in 40 different ways.
Aside from being an accomplished professional, Dr. Eng is highly involved in organizations that she is most passionate about. She serves as a board member for the Illinois College of Optometry, the Girl Scouts of Chicago and Northwest Indiana, and many more.
Towards the end, Dr.Eng provided us with great insight and she encouraged us to be the best cohort of Business Scholars, so that one day we could also give back to our community.