The opportunities you don’t expect

When prospective students imagine what comes after the MEL or MHLP, they often picture a single, linear career path. But the reality is more complex – and rewarding.  

These are transformative degrees that introduce new ways of thinking, promote a deeper understanding of specific industry sectors and empower graduates to lead and innovate. For students who approach the program with curiosity and openness, these degrees can reveal career options far beyond their current professional sphere of practice or preconceived plan.  

More pathways than expected

“Students often come into the program with a clear idea of where they want to go in their career,” says Ashley Scott, Program Director of the MHLP in Clinical Education. “But when I meet with them a few weeks into the program, their focus has often shifted and they are more open to different pathways because they have come to understand the huge breadth of opportunities available to them.”

As MEL and MHLP leaders discussed in the 2026 Directors’ Panel session, it’s a similar story in the other programs. Vladan Prodanovic, Program Director of the MEL in Clean Energy Engineering, says that students in his program move into roles across the entire energy landscape, in areas from clean energy technologies to policy, regulations and sustainability leadership.

For students in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, the program often becomes the bridge from ship-based roles to shore-based leadership. Program Director Jon Mikkelsen describes how graduates transition into areas that include operations, fleet management, marine technologies and technical leadership.

Broadening the sense of what’s possible

The MEL and MHLP programs are intentionally designed to expand students’ understanding of what’s possible in their industry sector. That comes through the curriculum itself, as well as through capstone projects, practicums, guest speakers, alumni events, conferences and industry networking sessions that all provide opportunities for those pivotal experiences that can lead to new career directions.  

Broadening your experience through practicums and capstone

These hands-on experiences enable students to explore new areas, gain experience in an adjacent field and grow their professional networks. Approached with the right mindset, this process of experimentation can help students build the relevant experience needed to test out new paths that they hadn’t considered before.  

“Projects are an important way for students to explore new directions,” says Mikkelsen. “If you’re working on something, reach out to local organizations and start a conversation if it relates to your project. People in industry are often very willing to engage with students, and those connections can later become professional relationships or even future clients and collaborators.”  

An open mind can lead to new passions

A spirit of open-mindedness led Clean Energy Engineering alum Daniel Stauft to an unexpected shift in his career direction. “There are so many career paths available in this field, from energy storage, renewable energy systems and carbon capture to energy policy and low carbon buildings,” he says. He chose the MEL because “it fit my professional goals of wanting to learn about these different areas of practice before deciding which I wanted to pursue in my career.”

Daniel stayed curious about curriculum content that was new to him and discovered that he had a passion for energy policy. “This was a surprise to me as I had thought of myself more as a technical engineer, mainly because I hadn’t had exposure to policy before,” he says. He’s now working in the public sector in a role he “would not have envisioned for myself before my MEL experience” but that provides “a lot of job satisfaction.”

Your path will expand, not narrow

Students enter the MEL and MHLP with a sense of where they want to go. They leave with a broader and deeper understanding of the many opportunities available — and the confidence, network and experience to pursue them.

Whether you’re shifting sectors, advancing into leadership or discovering a new passion entirely, the programs are designed to help you advance with confidence on both expected and unexpected career paths.