Article published Feb 27, 2008[SIZE=12pt]Students mingle with engineers for Industry Day[/SIZE]
By Will Brown
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Students expanded their horizons and formed relationships with professional engineers as part of Tuesday's Industry Day at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.
Aviation firm Pratt-Whitney Rocketdyne Inc. sponsored a design competition where students were asked to create projectiles with 2-liter bottles, party hats, balloons, Styrofoam plates, packing material and other miscellaneous items.
Ruben Nelson and Riley Bennett agreed the competition provided an opportunity to go beyond the math and science that are essential to engineering. The two are electrical engineering students who were teamed up with students from different engineering disciplines for the event, which was intended to simulate actual engineering projects.
Divided into teams that were sponsored by General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Harris Corp., Kimley-Horn & Associates and others, the students were able to interact individually with company representatives.
Nelson, an aspiring programmer for Google, said Tuesday gave him the confidence that he will be successful in the working world when he completes his master's degree in 15 months.
Braketta Ritzenthaler, assistant dean for research and design services, said companies saw the need to formalize relationships with students and faculty, which is why the competition was created.
"That's why engineering is so different. These companies work with us all year long," Ritzenthaler said. "It's not that artificial experience where in many times a company comes to a recruiting fair, collects the resumes and makes the decisions as to who will receive the interview."
Frequently during the competition, companies would speak with students about their design and their general interest in the field.
Julie Beauvais, communication director for Kimley-Horn, said events like Industry Day are important for the company because it hires at least 100 engineering graduates annually. With more than 20 offices in Florida, the North Carolina-based firm focuses on hiring graduates with the hope they will eventually retire from the company.
"We're a design engineering firm, and a lot of the things we work on are cutting edge and universities are the place where they are developing those things," Beauvais said in a telephone interview. "It's through relationships with colleges that we are able to identify the best and brightest."
