The Triangle

Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Evan Rosen Over 90 employers gathered in the Bossone Research Enterprise Center Feb. 22 to recruit Drexel engineering students. Over 700 students were expected to attend.

Engineering students searching for employment found plenty of opportunities in the Bossone Research Center Feb. 22, as an engineering career fair was held as part of National Engineers Week at Drexel.

This is the second year the College of Engineering and the Steinbright Career Development Center have co-sponsored the event.

The career fair only featured engineering firms, and 93 companies attended this year's fair, according to Kristen Johnson, a CoE employee who helped to organize the event.

Rashed Miam, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, said that he found 43 employers looking to hire mechanical engineers who were at the fair.

"I'm looking for a job that's interesting - something that I want to do, something that's not just a job," he said.

Other students, like Ankita Mishre, a first year graduate student majoring in biomedical engineering, were looking for co-op opportunities at the fair.

"Some companies took my resume, some want me to go online and fill out an application," she said.

Pete Flecknoe, a Drexel alumnus and structural engineering manager at Boeing, thought the event was a great fit for both employers and students.

"The students are very professional and very energetic. They're well prepared, looking out for their futures," he said.

According to Flecknoe, Boeing's goal was to attract "young, bright talent."

Lisa Pearlman, a representative from Johnson & Johnson, told The Triangle that her company has been recruiting at Drexel for 10 years and strives to recruit Drexel students for a variety of reasons.

"We get great, well-prepared students with a well-rounded education," she said. "We've had great success over the years of hiring engineering students from Drexel."

Johnson & Johnson hires between 40 and 50 co-ops each year, and hopes to boost up full time hires from Drexel. In 2006, the company hired 15 Drexel graduates, according to Pearlman.

Six companies held interviews on campus during the career fair and most employers were looking to recruit both students for co-ops and graduates looking for full time work, according to Rebecca Stoneberger, the events coordinator for SCDC who was part of the team that organized the event.

700 students were expected to attend and about 115 companies had expressed interest in attending, but only 93 could be accommodated.

Due to popular demand, SCDC will be looking for a larger space to hold the fair next year, according to Stoneberger.

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