The Fall 2017 Engineering Expo was a tremendous success, setting new records for attendance by both visiting companies and students. The Office of Engineering Professional Practice hosted the expo on Thursday, Sept 21, in Thompson-Boling Arena. The event offers a day for companies to connect with engineering students for their cooperative education (co-op) and internship education programs.

Ninety companies attended, the largest amount in the Professional Practice program’s 91-year history — up from the 80 that attended in the fall of 2016. The increased number of participating companies helped draw in a record number of 846 engineering students, also, up from last year’s 731.

The Tickle College of Engineering is fortunate to have so many companies from across the country recognize the high quality of engineering students enrolled here and then make their way to Knoxville every fall semester for the expo. Professional Practice also hosts a spring Engineering Expo, with many of these same companies attending.

Most company representatives stayed over for the Interview Day on Friday, September 22. More than 1,200 interviews were conducted. Many of these students will begin deciding within the next few weeks which company, and where, they will perform their co-op or internship rotations starting in 2018.

For engineering students, adding a coop or internship experiences is the No. 1 thing they can do to create a head-start on their future after graduation. This work experience during their undergraduate years provides them first-hand knowledge about what engineering work is really like and offers keen insights on what to focus on in their studies.

Most companies attending the Expo are well-known to students like: Amazon, AT&T, BMW, Garmin, International Paper, ExxonMobil, Nissan, TVA, Pratt & Whitney, and Eastman Chemical.

Other attending companies may be less well known to students, but also provide excellent opportunities: Altec, Asurion, BAE Systems, DENSO, EMJ, OSIsoft, MAHLE, Shaw, Olin, and Chemours.

The Engineering Expo provides all of these industries the same opportunity to compete for UT’s future talent—a big win for all of our engineering students.

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