Flanked by Carly Carmosino (far left), executive director of the Mechanical Contractors Association of Eastern Missouri, and Brian C. Hughes (far right), immediate past president of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, UMSL engineering students (from left) Summer Cartwright, Moses Prakash, Sohum Tokekar, Hannah Richardson, Tanaya Turner, Daniel Rose and Joseph Lewis pose on stage during the 2026 MCAA Annual Convention, which was held March 15-19 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photos by Paris Thompson)
Paris Thompson would go to great lengths to support the growth of a new engineering program at any college or university in the bi-state region. As director of education and workforce development for the eastern Missouri chapter of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, Thompson is committed to bridging the gap between students and industry professionals, creating opportunities for the next generation of the workforce to build meaningful connections with accomplished leaders both locally and nationwide.
But as a graduate of the University of Missouri–St. Louis, doing all of that for the university’s new School of Engineering tugs at Thompson’s heart a little bit more.
“I have a different level of investment here,” Thompson said. “I guess you could say it’s personal in wanting to see the university do well.”
Thompson recently chaperoned a group of seven UMSL engineering students – freshmen Hannah Richardson, Tanaya Turner, Joseph Lewis, Daniel Rose, Summer Cartwright, Sohum Tokekar and Moses Prakash – to the 2026 MCAA Annual Convention. Held March 15-19 in Phoenix, Arizona, the event gave the students a chance to meet and connect with contractors, vendors and manufacturers in the mechanical contracting industry.
“I wanted them to just be enmeshed in the space, to be surrounded by people who are going to be their professional peers in four years,” Thompson said. “That was more important to me.”
George Nnanna, the founding director of the School of Engineering, spoke glowingly about the impact that MCAA has already had on his students, even before a chapter is officially launched at UMSL. Nnanna, who first heard of the organization when Thompson and other members of the regional chapter attended a welcome event for the new engineering program in May 2025, cited the importance of MCAA helping students make early connections with people in the industry that will lead to internship opportunities, and he also touted MCA-EMO establishing scholarships for engineering students totaling $53,000.
“I really commend Paris and her team for all they are doing for UMSL’s School of Engineering,” Nnanna said. “I have been particularly impressed with their commitment, continuously engaging us and providing support on how the students can engage with the industry.”
For the UMSL students, the week spent in Phoenix gave them an up-close-and-personal view of the career options that lay before them.
“It was amazing,” Lewis said. “There were so many opportunities to network with contractors. There were over 20 student chapters there, so we got to network with other students. I couldn’t believe we got to meet so many people.”
It was a great way to introduce the UMSL students to the mechanical contracting industry, and Thompson said she could not have envisioned the week going any better. It also solidified the students’ desire to launch an MCA chapter at UMSL.
Thompson has been hoping for that since the moment she heard that her alma mater would be opening a school of engineering.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for our students to see what the mechanical contracting industry looks like and to have access to it and explore it, to determine how they want to use their degrees,” she said. “And it’s an opportunity for contractors in the area to see who’s rising locally in the field and building relationships and potentially recruiting those students to come and work for their companies.”
Prakash said the convention gave the students just a glimpse at the many careers available in the mechanical contracting industry for individuals with an engineering degree.
UMSL engineering student Tanaya Turner makes connections with a professional in the mechanical contracting industry during the 2026 MCAA Annual Convention.
“I won’t say that I know what I want to do for a career, if I’m being honest,” he said, “but after going to that event, I know the options I have, and that’s, I think, more beneficial than knowing exactly what I want to do.”
Richardson agreed, noting how surprised she was to talk with so many contractors who perform vastly different tasks within the same industry.
“Especially as engineers, there’s just so many paths you can go,” Richardson said. “Even in one company, there are just so many different things to do, and I think that’s a really unique, really cool thing about this industry.”
Thompson said a big part of the convention is the competition that takes place among the MCA student chapters. During the fall, students learn about a project selected from among several recently completed by contractors who are members of the organization. That serves as the basis for the competition.
The student chapters then go through the bidding process, each developing its own proposal for the job, which gets submitted for consideration. The final four teams go on stage at the convention to present their project before a panel of judges, and the winning chapter is awarded $10,000 that can be put toward attending other events.
“The judges ask tough questions, and it’s not about how close the bid is to the actual number,” Thompson said. “It’s about why you came to that number. What’s your thought process? What data or assumptions are you using? That’s where the real learning happens. Students are building confidence in how they communicate, how they think critically, and how they engage with the industry in a meaningful way.”
As a new engineering school, UMSL did not participate in the competition, which this year involved an indoor-outdoor water park at the Great Wolf Lodge in Naples, Florida.
However, the UMSL students, who Prakash said “all have such a competitive nature,” are already anxious to learn about the project for next year’s convention. It will be revealed during the 2026 MCAA GreatFutures Forum, held Sept. 24-26 in St. Louis.
“Watching the teams that were on stage, watching them compete, I know that we can be on that stage next year,” Prakash said.
It may seem like pretty big talk for a bunch of freshmen, but as Richardson said, UMSL’s engineering program is just getting started.
“That we get to experience this from the beginning, it’s mind blowing,” Richardson said. “It’s such a unique opportunity. I’m really glad that we’re able to experience it.”
