Employer evaluations show what happens when CU Denver engineering and computing students take their skills from the classroom into the workplace.
Your GPA tells an employer how you performed in your courses. It does not tell them how you will handle a failed prototype, explain a complex idea, work through an unfamiliar problem or contribute to a team under pressure. Those are skills you build by doing.
At the University of Colorado Denver’s College of Engineering, Design and Computing, students have plenty of opportunities to develop those hands-on skills before they graduate, be it research, industry projects, capstone, student organizations or internships.
Recent employer evaluations of CEDC interns offer a look at what that preparation looks like in the workplace. Across energy, aerospace, software, data and information technology, supervisors described students who could apply technical knowledge, tackle unfamiliar problems, communicate with professional teams and take increasing ownership of their work.
Here are five skills employers are noticing — and how CEDC students are building them.
1. They can put technical knowledge to work
If you’ve read CEDC News recently, you know our students aren’t waiting until graduation to begin applying what they learn. Employer evaluations show why that matters: Students are entering the workplace already accustomed to tackling problems that do not come with an answer key.
Electrical engineering master’s student Jongho Kim worked in transmission planning at Xcel Energy, where he analyzed complex planning problems, worked with large data sets and applied power systems engineering principles. His supervisor identified technical analysis and engineering rigor as significant areas of development during the internship.
At Sierra Nevada Corp., computer science junior Dylan Hoang gained experience with user access administration, server maintenance, API calls, automation scripting, database work and software upgrades.
Those experiences reflect a broader CEDC approach to career-connected learning. Through industry-advised curriculum and applied experiences, students have opportunities to practice what they are learning in settings that resemble the work they will eventually do as professionals.
In CEDC’s Capstone Engineering Design Program, for example, multidisciplinary student teams work with industry partners to solve sponsor-defined technical challenges, moving from engineering analysis and design concepts to testing, validation and functional prototypes.
By the time students enter an internship, applying what they know is not an entirely new expectation. It is something they have been practicing.
2. They take ownership of the work
Knowing your stuff is an asset, but what also stands out to employers is what students do when no one is standing over their shoulder.
At QB Energy, computer science junior Taruni Sabhavat’s supervisor described her as a self-starter who organized her own interactions and incorporated requirements and feedback from colleagues.
Biomedical engineering student Najma Asghari experienced that kind of independence during an 11-week research internship in Kristyn Masters’ lab. She was trusted to figure things out while knowing she had support when she needed it. When unexpected results and an overwhelming amount of data made the work more difficult, she learned to step back, find the story in the research and determine how to move forward.
That is the difference between participating in an experience and taking ownership of it.
Employers are not just seeing students who can complete assigned tasks. They are seeing students who seek information, respond to feedback, take responsibility and increasingly operate without being told every next step.
3. They know what to do when they don’t know the answer
Engineering and computing careers rarely come with an answer key. Employers need people who can encounter an unfamiliar problem, determine what they need to learn and keep moving.
CEDC interns are showing they know how to do exactly that.
At Nagrastar LLC, computer science senior Killian Bertsch’s supervisor highlighted his problem-solving ability, collaborative skills and ability to work through complex problems as standout characteristics.
Kim’s supervisor at Xcel Energy similarly noted his learning agility and adaptability, including his ability to pick up new concepts, tools and planning methodologies in a relatively short period. He also embraced challenging assignments that expanded his understanding of transmission planning and utility operations.
Hoang’s experience at Sierra Nevada Corp. shows what that learning process can look like in practice. When he encountered something he didn’t know how to solve, he learned to find information, seek expertise, ask questions and document what he discovered.
The point is not that CEDC students graduate knowing everything. It is that they learn how to approach an unfamiliar problem, find the information or expertise they need, test what they learn and keep moving when the first answer is not the right one.
In engineering and computing, career readiness means being ready for that next unfamiliar challenge. CEDC students will graduate into industries that will continue changing around them, including news jobs that don’t yet exist. New software will emerge. Technologies will be replaced. Problems nobody has anticipated will be solved by CEDC graduates.
4. They can make their technical skills useful to other people
The stereotype of the engineer working alone on a technical problem does not hold up particularly well in the workplace. Professional engineering and computing are team sports.
CEDC students practice that well before entering an internship through student organizations, research and Capstone projects.
In Lynx Robotics, for example, students from mechanical, electrical and computer engineering work together to design, build and program competitive robots.
Electrical engineering student Sam Post saw the importance of that dynamic on an international research project involving students from CU Denver, CU Colorado Springs and universities in Sweden. The team designed an autonomous experimental system for a microgravity research mission. Post handled electrical systems while another CEDC student focused on temperature regulation.
That kind of collaboration requires more than knowing your piece. Students have toexplain their thinking, understand what teammates need from them and recognize how their work affects everyone else’s.
Employers are seeing those skills transfer into the workplace.
Bertsch’s supervisor at Nagrastar identified teamwork and collaboration among the qualities that stood out during his software engineering internship. At QB Energy, Sabhavat received top marks for written and verbal communication, collaboration, receiving feedback and acting on it.
Technical ability makes someone capable of solving a problem. Communication and collaboration make that ability useful to a team.
5. They turn internships into relationships
An internship has an end date. A professional relationship does not necessarily have one. For several CEDC interns, the connection with their employer continued after the initial experience.
Sabhavat will continue working with QB Energy as an intern. Hoang finished his experience at Sierra Nevada Corp. with a network of colleagues who considered him a mentee, along with a deeper understanding of how an aerospace and technology organization operates. Hamu was offered and accepted a paid part-time position.
Employers were interested in continuing their relationship with CU Denver, too.
Employers represented in the evaluations indicated interest in being contacted about future interns, including Xcel Energy, QB Energy, Nagrastar LLC and Sierra Nevada Corp. Those relationships are part of a broader experiential learning ecosystem connecting CEDC students with organizations looking for emerging engineering, computing and technology talent. For students, that can mean more than a line on a résumé. It can mean a mentor, a professional network, another opportunity or a path into the workforce.
The workplace doesn’t have to wait until graduation
Look across the evaluations and a pattern emerges. CEDC students analyzed power systems. Worked with APIs and databases. Solved software problems. Communicated with end users. Learned unfamiliar technologies. Responded to feedback. Asked for help. Took ownership.
Together, those experiences shorten the distance between studying a profession and practicing one.
For CEDC students, the first day of a career does not have to be the first time they have worked on a consequential problem, collaborated with professionals or been trusted to deliver. They can begin building those skills — and the professional relationships that come with them — while they are still students. The upcoming CEDC Career Fair is one place to start.
Employers will be on campus looking to meet engineering, computing and technology talent. Bring your résumé, ask about the problems their teams are working on, learn what they look for in interns and make the connection.
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