Electrical Engineering Student Leaders Host Pre-STEM Virtual Mixer

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) student leaders hosted several companies online for the Career pre-STEM mixer. This event helped companies connect with electrical engineering students prior to the career fair.

Companies including Phillips 66, L3Harris, Core States Group, Burns and McDonnell, SPP, and others, interviewed several students for full-time and internship positions.

Johndavid Lancaster, president of the University of Arkansas chapter of IEEE, said the main purpose of the event was to help students in the department connect with employers. In the current environment, any event to maximize the learning and professional opportunities for students is important, he said.

"For students that have never participated in a virtual career fair, it gave them a taste of how one would work, so they could be successful," he said. "This event also allowed students to make deeper connections with representatives than they would at a normal career fair."

Craig Carpenter, recruiter and engineering manager for L3Harris, said the students who organized the mixer for the university seemed determined to conquer all obstacles to make it a success. 

"Being the first event and the virtual platform, I would say the event was successful from an employer's point of view, and hopefully the students were all able to have a good dialog with multiple companies in their search for future employment," he said. 

Robert Saunders, IEEE student advisor, also said the student took ownership of the event.

"I was excited to see students devoting the time and effort necessary to make this a successful event, Sunders said. "And, I am extremely impressed that during a time when everyone is trying to cope with the reality of life, how they set aside time to help the other students in the department."

For more information on how to get involved, reach out to Johndavid Lancaster at jl053@uark.edu