🚀 EARLY CAREER IN ENGINEERING OR AEROSPACE? THIS ONE IS FOR YOU.

THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF BUILDING YOUR EARLY CAREER

Get noticed. Navigate what no one teaches you. Build momentum before you have the title.

You can learn the technical stuff in school.

But who teaches you how to actually build a career?

👀 How do you get noticed for the right reasons?

🎯 How do you land stronger assignments and better opportunities?

🤝 How do you find mentors and sponsors who will actually support your growth?

💬 How do you advocate for yourself without feeling awkward about it?

🧭 How do you navigate workplace dynamics when no one gave you the playbook?

💥 What do you do when something goes wrong or your career takes an unexpected turn?

🚀 How do you start becoming a leader before anyone gives you the title?

That is what this workshop is about.

👥 WHO THIS IS FOR

This workshop is intentionally designed for people who are still building the foundation of their engineering or aerospace careers, including:

🎓 Undergraduate and graduate engineering students preparing to enter the workforce

🛠️ Engineering and aerospace interns

🌱 Recent graduates

🚀 Early career engineers and technical professionals

🔄 People transitioning into engineering, aerospace, or an adjacent technical career who are still early in that journey

This is an EARLY CAREER focused program, not a general professional development session for all career levels.

✨ WHAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT

This will be a candid, practical, discussion driven workshop covering things many people only learn after they have been in the workplace for a while:

✨ Getting visibility and positioning yourself for stronger opportunities

🤝 Mentors, sponsors, professional networks, and relationships that actually matter

📣 Advocating for your own development and growth

🧭 Navigating workplace dynamics, setbacks, and difficult situations

🚀 Building leadership credibility before you have the title

🤖 How AI is changing technical work and what early career engineers should be thinking about now

💬 BRING THE CAREER QUESTION YOU WISH YOU COULD ASK AT WORK.

This is not meant to be a traditional lecture.

Come ready to ask questions, hear real world examples, and talk openly about the career situations early career technical professionals actually face.

📅 EVENT DETAILS

Friday, November 20, 2026

🕝 Check in: 2:15 PM
Workshop: 2:30 to 4:00 PM ET

📍 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Kossiakoff Center
Laurel, Maryland

The workshop is being held concurrently with the 2026 AIAA Young Professionals, Students, and Educators Conference (YPSE) at Johns Hopkins APL.

🎤 Following the workshop, attendees will have the opportunity to continue into additional YPSE programming, including an industry keynote.

🎳 An optional early career networking and bowling event with complimentary food and drinks is also planned for later that evening.

Separate registration will be required for the networking event. Additional details will be announced closer to the event date.

🎟️ WORKSHOP REGISTRATION

The workshop is FREE, but advance registration is requested and is separate from YPSE conference registration.

REGISTER HERE:

https://forms.gle/BSuxyjdPBjnjRFsV8

Know a student, intern, recent graduate, or early career engineer who needs this conversation?

👉 Send this their way.

We want the room filled with people who are actively figuring out what comes next in their engineering and aerospace careers.