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College of Engineering

Peer Mentors

Peer mentors in the Department of Engineering Education (EED) support first-year engineering students by helping them get engaged and excited about engineering. They are junior- and senior-level students who have successfully completed the courses they now assist with, bringing strong technical knowledge, communication skills, and empathy to the classroom.

Each year, peer mentors support more than 1,200 first-year engineering students. They help students develop technical skills in areas such as:

  • Tool use and safety
  • Microelectronics
  • Programming
  • Engineering design

Peer mentors also assist students during makerspace sessions, providing one-on-one support and ensuring a safe, hands-on learning environment.

To create an inclusive experience, peer mentors are hired from a wide variety of backgrounds, engineering majors, and personal experiences—helping all students feel comfortable seeking guidance as they transition into college.

Beyond classroom support, peer mentors:

  • Host nighttime mentoring hours
  • Offer technical and academic tutoring
  • Provide social support and advice
  • Guide students on course planning, internships, and involvement in engineering student organizations

This additional support helps students build confidence both inside and outside the classroom.

Serving as a peer mentor offers valuable professional-growth opportunities, including:

  • Leadership development
  • Stronger technical and communication skills
  • Improved problem-solving abilities
  • Experience that strengthens applications for internships, graduate school, and engineering careers

Mentors gain hands-on experience helping students with challenges such as debugging code, redesigning solid models, and writing design reports.

Testimonials

Lisa DeWitte

As a current Ph.D. student in advanced manufacturing, I credit my current career path trajectory to the years I spent as an Engineering Design & Society peer mentor. Teaching my peers ignited my passion for engineering education, and the opportunity to hone my communication and technical skills through this program provided invaluable preparation for my later industry and academic research positions. This position showed me my potential as an engineer and the impact that multidisciplinary engineering and design can have on society.

Lenworth (TJ) Thomas

Being a peer mentor has helped me understand microcontrollers and the design process on a much deeper level. This knowledge directly enhanced my internship and research positions. It’s never felt like a job or a chore to do, it’s always a fun and enriching opportunity and I hope more students get to experience it. Seeing students go from novices to experienced makers in just a few weeks as a result of our mentorship and the course material is really inspiring to see.

Camila Ziadi

Being a peer mentor allowed me to see the other side of education by giving me the opportunity to be the teacher instead of the student. Through this experience, I learned to express myself clearly, demonstrate authority effectively, listen intently, and foster positive interactions among my students. I feel that I was able to not only help other students develop their engineering skills, but also develop transferable skills that I apply as an engineer in the real world

Rachel Blaydes

Being a peer mentor means stepping up as a leader and fostering critical thinking and teamwork among students. As a peer mentor, I had to not only have a strong knowledge base for my own understanding, but also had to think outside the box and convey that understanding to students learning the material for the first time. This level of communication is essential in any professional environment and will be critical as I move into a Supply Chain Operations Manager role with Frito-Lay. This is the best class I have been able to be a part of at the University of Florida, and I look forward to watching it grow and evolve.

Olivia Brandel

Even with three years of student organization leadership experience, I landed my first internship mainly by discussing my role as a peer mentor in Engineering Design and Society. That internship (which became a full-time role) centered around being able to break down technical topics and market them on a more basic level. I believe that helping students to understand engineering design concepts – and guiding them through debugging and troubleshooting – gave me the skills I needed to get the job. I also learned so much about 3D modeling that I never would’ve been exposed to as an electrical engineering major. Since starting as a peer mentor in this program, I am truly a more well-rounded engineer.