EAST LANSING—A first-time event at Michigan State University puts a special focus on hiring opportunities at Michigan companies during this year’s celebration of National Engineers Week, Feb. 16-23.
“Engineered in the Mitten” is the first Michigan-only job fair hosted at the MSU College of Engineering, said Kyle Liechty, co-op and intern coordinator for the college. The career expo is for College of Engineering students on Monday, Feb. 17, from 1-4 p.m. in the MSU Engineering Building, 428 S. Shaw Lane, East Lansing.
“We’ve lined up around 65 companies from around the state to be introduced to Spartan Engineering students who may not even know that these diverse, regional businesses exist,” Liechty explained. “This is a perfect opportunity for students who want to work closer to home and be part of the state’s smaller cities and communities to explore future possibilities with Michigan employers.”
Company representatives—looking for summer and fall co-op/interns and future full-time employees—will head to MSU from small cities including Hillsdale, Jackson, and Owosso, as well as the state’s largest cities of Detroit, Grand Rapids, and others.
“We will welcome a diverse range of companies, including small companies like Cobra Moto and Kalabat Engineering, to those with a number of opportunities around the state, such as Tenneco and Bergmann Associates,” Liechty saidd. “Some of our regular recruiting partners, Rocket Mortgage and General Motors, will be joining us. Materne, manufacturer of GoGo squeeZ snack pouches, will be traveling down from the Grand Traverse Area to recruit Spartan Engineers on campus for the first time. We think ‘Engineered in the Mitten’ will be a cool forum for companies that may not regularly recruit like this, but will have an equal shot at some of the best young engineering and computer science talent in the state.”
Garth Motschenbacher, director of employer relations in the College of Engineering, said larger schools don’t necessarily create connections between small companies and students.
“This is a great crossover event featuring small businesses and start-ups, along with Michigan’s large name-brand organizations,” Motschenbacher said. “It has opportunities on both sides of the equation – opening eyes and ears for students and company representatives alike.”
“Engineered in the Mitten” is just one of many activities during this year’s celebration of National Engineers Week, Feb. 16-23. Check out the full EWeek calendar at the Center for Spartan Engineering. Here are some eWeek highlights:
Sunday, Feb. 16, Noon to 4:30 p.m.: Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing and the College of Engineering will kick off 2020 eWeek with Engineering Day: A Day Engineered for Fun! Volunteers from MSU Engineering clubs will provide fun hands-on challenges. Participants will vote on their favorite club activity at the end of the day.
Monday, Feb. 17, Noon until pizza is gone: Pizza Day. The popular, annual Pizza Day is back. Hundreds of free slices of pizza will be handed out to engineering students in the Engineering Building lobby, starting at noon until the supply is gone.
Monday, Feb. 17, 1 to 4 p.m.: The first “Engineered in the Mitten” Expo will take place in the halls of the Engineering Building. This event highlights summer and fall internship and co-op experiences, as well as full-time job offers following graduation—and features only Michigan companies.
Tuesday, Feb. 18: Start-Up Career Fair will feature 35 start-up companies from various industries and locations. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in MSU’s Minskoff Pavilion.
Networking Event: “We have the Power, Let’s Get Connected” will be hosted in the Kellogg Center’s Riverside Room from 5:30 to 7 p.m., offering students, alumni and company reps to connect during a mix-mingle social opportunity.
Wednesday, Feb. 19: Engineering Expo, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the halls of the Engineering Building, featured employers: civil, construction and environmental industries, along with biomedical, biopharmaceutical, energy, and biochemical.
Engineering Expo, 4 to 7 p.m. in the halls of the Engineering Building, featured employers: beverage and food, consumer packaged goods, textiles, automotive, mobility, and transportation.
Thursday, Feb. 20: Engineering Expo, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the halls of the Engineering Building, featured employers: supply chain, tech sales, packaging and graduate school, along with computing/IT, FinTech, entertainment, and consulting.
Engineering Expo, 4 to 7 p.m. in the halls of the Engineering Building, featured employers: aerospace and aviation, defense, manufacturing and others.
Saturday, Feb. 22: Introduce A Girl To Engineering, for 4th-8th graders, check-in at noon, 1-4 p.m., in the Engineering Building, offering lots of hands-on activities. The event is free, but registration is required.
Sunday, Feb. 23: 2020 Michigan VEX High School State Championship, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Jenison Field House. Five hundred high school students on 80 teams will vie for a trip to VEX World Championships in Kentucky, April 22-25. This year’s game, Tower Takeover, challenges competitors to place 66 colorful cubes in towers or goals. There are two alliances, with two teams each.
National Engineers Week was started in 1951 by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and began in conjunction with the Feb. 22 birthday of President George Washington, who is considered the country’s first engineer. EWeek is a formal coalition of more than 70 engineering, education, and cultural societies, and more than 50 corporations and government agencies.