The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s first full cohort of engineering technology students graduated May 3, and all have secured employment with an average starting salary of $88,376.
Gary Anderson, adjunct professor and retired vice president of engineering at Keystone Powdered Metal in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, surveyed the 13 graduating students during a finals week picnic. Several had already been hired by companies where they interned last summer.
“This graduation class represents our program getting into its stride,” said Matt Kropf, director of the engineering technologies programs. “One hundred percent of our graduates have accepted offers, and all our students are getting good offers. They’re in high demand.”
Ray Worsen, a mechanical engineering technology graduate from Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, said he went on 15 interviews in the Pittsburgh area this spring and received five job offers before accepting a position as a project engineer at Sargent Electric. His classmate D.J. Slovick will join him there as an assistant project engineer.
Kropf helps students secure internships to improve their marketability. At a recent career fair on campus before graduation, nearly one in five companies were seeking engineers for internships or permanent positions. Kyle Knotowicz attended as staff product engineer for Superior Tire in Warren, Pennsylvania, and said: “We’re looking for people from this area… We’ll hire as many interns as we can this summer if they’re local.” Before semester’s end, Ben Hampson was hired by Superior Tire as a product engineer while Tristan Coccaro will intern there this summer.
Tara DeLong attended the fair recruiting engineers for Napoleon Engineering of Olean, New York—where two Pitt-Bradford graduates already work for founder Chris Napoleon. DeLong said: “Until now we haven’t had to recruit,” but noted the company is adding a second shift and needs more engineers.
Kropf was hired in 2010 to help create Pitt-Bradford’s four-year engineering major; after years of preparation two programs—energy engineering technology and mechanical engineering technology—were added in fall 2022. In January following that launch, the George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building opened with labs essential to offering these degrees focused on practical applications.
“We built it, and they came,” Kropf told campus leaders during a May retreat. Enrollment has doubled since 2020 to over 100 students across all cohorts from several states who are often also interested in athletics.
