More than 500 University of Arizona College of Engineering students connected with three dozen employers -- some from just down the street, others from across the country and globe -- at iExpo 2017, held on the UA campus Feb. 7.

Multinational companies like Microsoft and Intel, Arizona-based firms ACSS and Sundt Construction, and the U.S. Navy and Peace Corps were out in force to fill their pipelines and strengthen campus collaborations. Many of their recruiters were UA alumni.

Not Just for Undergraduates

“iExpo was my first experience with on-campus career fairs,” said Sara Khosravi, a doctoral student in systems and industrial engineering. “I always thought these kinds of career fairs could be helpful for undergraduate students, but not for PhDs. I spoke with recruiters from great companies who were very interested in my research experiences. I heard back from some of them, asking me to take the next step.”

Newcomers to the Engineering Student Council’s job fair, now in it 25th year, included Gore, McCarthy Building Companies, HealthTrio, Speedie and Associates, RevolutionParts, the Peace Corps and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.

“So many of our researchers come from universities in California, and we really want to strengthen the UA’s presence,” said recruiter David Hare, a project manager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories in northern California. Hare and fellow recruiter Nic Yamashita both earned UA bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering.

The alumni promoted several internships and full-time jobs with the labs, including opportunities to work on the National Ignition Facility, the world’s largest, most powerful laser rising 10 stories high and spanning the lengths of three football fields.

Other UA alumni recruited for Gore, Honeywell, ECI Electrical Consultants, the Salt River Project and Texas Instruments.

“It is incredible to see so many alumni return to scout and hire our students,” said Bailey Bellaire, a junior biomedical engineering and Honors College student and director of corporate relations for the Engineering Student Council. “It makes it a higher-quality interaction for students when they can speak to an alumnus.”

Students interested in biomedicine had a second opportunity to go job-seeking later on February 7 when the UA BIO5 Institute held its ninth annual student-industry networking event. Some 300 students in the life sciences, engineering and business met with representatives from such companies as Ventana Medical Systems, Icagen, HTG Molecular Diagnostics and NuvOx Pharma.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 65,000 new engineering jobs in the next seven years, with biomedical, environmental and civil engineering expected to see the fastest growth.