MechSE's Ruben Robles named Knight of St. Patrick

2/17/2015 Lyanne Alfaro

Ruben RoblesOn March 14, Ruben Robles will be one of 12 Knights of St. Patrick honored at the St. Patrick Ball, happening after Engineering Open House.

Written by Lyanne Alfaro

Ruben Robles
Ruben Robles
Ruben Robles
On March 14, Ruben Robles will be one of 12 Knights of St. Patrick honored at the St. Patrick Ball, happening after Engineering Open House.

Since 1950, the Knight of St. Patrick award has been an annual and prestigious tradition at the University of Illinois. Every year, up to 15 College of Engineering students receive the honor for demonstrating leadership, excellence in character and making significant contributions to the college and their peers.

Just four years earlier, Robles was preparing to overcome the hurdles that came with being the first in his family to apply for college.

“My parents are both from Mexico and only got a sixth-grade education,” Robles, now a senior in MechSE, said. “They made sacrifices to come (to the U.S.).”

After being accepted and choosing to attend the University of Illinois, he said he wanted to help others do the same.

“It really motivated me to reach out to high school students and basically inform them of all the opportunities that are available in college,” Robles said.

Throughout his time at MechSE, Robles has worked with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) to do just that.

During his first year on campus, Robles joined SHPE’s freshman round table—an executive board that provides leadership opportunities. By his sophomore year, he joined the MechSE Department.

He also became the high school outreach chair for SHPE. The result? SHPE’s outreach program experienced an 80 percent retention rate in 2012.

Robles organized two main projects that year: a high school visitation in the fall, targeted at minority students from the Chicago area. In the spring, students accepted into the college visited campus to explore science exhibits at EOH.

As internal vice president for the society his junior year, Robles led the freshman round table and connected with SHPE’s counterparts across campus.

He also initiated a different approach for helping high school students applying to college. On the Engineering Council, he served as the Shadow and Engineering Chair, pairing prospective college students with undergraduates in engineering for shadowing. 

In partnership with La Casa Cultural Latina, Robles said he hopes to expand this project to enable students to shadow undergraduates of all majors moving forward.

After graduating from MechSE in May, Robles will work full-time at Pinnacle AIS, helping to implement integrity management systems at different power industries.


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This story was published February 17, 2015.