Why we created a new kind of career event for engineering graduate students

Engineering Graduate and Professional Student Senate senators and Engineering Career Services co-hosted a new Graduate Careers and Networking Event, bringing together 100 graduate students, industry leaders, and recruiters – all to build connections between academic research and practical applications in industry.

Habeeb Odebiyi (above, right) served as a co-organizer of the event. He’s a PhD student in mechanical engineering and chair of the College of Engineering GPSS caucus. Here’s how he described the event:

“The idea for the event emerged from a brainstorming session among the College of Engineering GPSS senators. We recognized a widening gap between advanced research training and the realities of today’s job market, so we identified the need for targeted platforms that support diverse career pathways for graduate students.

With less than 20% of PhD graduates working in tenure-track academic positions, we can see that many graduate students are increasingly pursuing careers in industry, government, and other sectors. So, we championed a clear vision for the Graduate Careers and Networking Event: to create opportunities that prepare graduate students for a wide range of career outcomes.

In addition to career networking and industry panel discussions, a poster competition was held during the event to address another crucial gap in graduate student development: the lack of structured feedback in many poster sessions.

Often, students present their research without receiving meaningful feedback on how to improve their communication, presentation style, or ability to engage both subject-matter experts and general audiences. In contrast, our event provided a valuable platform for thoughtfully assessing students’ work and offering constructive feedback to support their professional growth.

The judging portal ensured an unbiased, trackable, and transparent evaluation process for graduate students who participated in the poster competition.

Most importantly, it provided students with direct access to judges’ feedback, creating a meaningful opportunity to improve their research communication and presentation skills. This feedback-driven approach further strengthened the event’s goal of preparing graduate students for professional interactions.

The success of the event was a testament to the support from the College of Engineering leadership, the dedication of Engineering Career Services, and the collaborative efforts of my fellow GPSS Senators: Damilola Popoola, a PhD student and GPSS senator in electrical and computer engineering, and Onyeka Onyenemezu, a PhD student in chemical and biological engineering and president of GradSWE, Iowa State chapter.”