The Office of Engineering Professional Practice recently held its seventeenth annual welcome back cookout, its largest yet with more than 1,400 participants.
Office director Todd Reeves kicked off the event with the help of College of Engineering Dean Wayne Davis and UT quarterback and aerospace engineering student Joshua Dobbs.
According to Reeves, the idea behind the cookout is threefold: to welcome students back to campus in a fun way, to introduce them to his office, and to offer companies and students a chance to visit with one another.
“Our annual cookout is sort of the unofficial start of company recruiting activities here during the fall semester,” said Reeves. “Having multiple companies support and attend this event gives our engineering students an opportunity to get a head start on learning about co-op and internship opportunities that can be available to them during their career at UT.”
This year’s event was sponsored and attended by nine companies: Altec, DENSO, Duke Energy, Eastman, Garmin, International Paper, MAHLE, Shaw Industries, and Southern Company.
While it was hosted with engineering students in mind, faculty, staff, and students from any discipline were welcomed to a Buddy’s spread of sandwiches, sides, and desserts.
In addition to thanking sponsors, Reeves made a special point to single out the efforts of UT’s Facility Services, as well as others within the college and the university, for setting up the event.
Their main challenge was working through the constraints of the newly constructed and not-yet-finished courtyard on Middle Drive. The cookout was the first event to be held in the location.
“This wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of Dennis Lee and his team,” said Reeves. “Also, we’re grateful to College of Engineering Associate Dean Bill Dunne and Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Jeff Maples for ensuring the venue was ready to go for the cookout.”
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CONTACT:
Todd Reeves (865-974-5323, treeves@utk.edu)
The Office of Engineering Professional Practice is dedicated to helping engineering students find educationally relevant paid co-op or internship positions with one of our hundreds of employers. Our program has been in existence helping students add experience to their education since 1926 making it the second oldest program in the south and one of oldest cooperative education programs anywhere.