SOE Enters the Academic Year with Strengthened Career Resources

As the 2026-2027 academic year begins, the School of Engineering (SOE) is developing additional career resources to ensure undergraduate students are equipped to achieve their career goals upon graduation.  

SOE is excited to welcome Mark Almeida, who recently began his role as the inaugural Associate Director for Experiential Learning Partnership Development. In this newly created position, Almeida will build partnerships bridging higher education and industry, expanding opportunities to help students develop the skills, confidence, and professional connections they’ll carry throughout their engineering careers. His expertise in connecting academia and industry, leadership development, and applied learning aligned with workforce needs will help identify avenues for collaboration.

Almeida was previously the Director of the Executive MBA Program and Employer Partnerships at Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School, where he led the academic strategy, curriculum design, and faculty coordination for the EMBA portfolio. He also developed and managed employer partnerships that supported experiential learning, executive education offerings, and customized professional development programs. As a Senior Lecturer at Suffolk, he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in leadership, change management, and consulting-based capstones, integrating real-world client projects to enhance professional readiness and applied problem-solving. 

Earlier this year, Tufts introduced a new role in the Career Center dedicated to shaping the future of career services and continuing to strengthen the professional development of students. Alayna Hayes, Ed.D., MBA, who was appointed as the inaugural Associate Dean of Career Services in January, brings more than 15 years of senior leadership experience spanning elite R1 universities and Fortune 500 organizations. The creation of her role–which is shared between the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering–reflects Tufts’ commitment to strengthening connections between academic learning, experiential opportunities, and meaningful post-graduate outcomes. Her expertise will help to shape students’ experiences both inside and outside of the classroom and enhance their experiential learning, career readiness, and more. 

A new required course, Foundations of Engineering Success (EN3) is also launching in fall 2026. Designed to help SOE students learn how to proactively develop ownership of their Tufts and career experiences, the seminar is required for all engineering students at the start of their academic career. The course covers university structures and resources, academic advising, decision-making, working on teams, accountability and responsibility, professionalism, networking, and interviewing. 

All of these updates support the school’s student experiential learning initiative, a bold new endeavor to create high-quality experiential learning opportunities for all engineering undergraduates within their first two years at Tufts.  

Learn more about the Career Center resources.