Pitt-Bradford’s first full cohort of engineering graduates is fully employed

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s first full cohort of engineering technology students graduated May 3, and all of them are currently employed with an average reported starting salary of $88,376.

Gary Anderson, an adjunct professor in the program and retired vice president of engineering at Keystone Powdered Metal in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, surveyed the 13 engineering technology students during a finals week picnic — and quite a few were already hired by companies where they had 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 was certainly in demand. The 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, where his classmate and wrestling teammate D.J. Slovick will be an assistant project engineer.

Kropf coaches students on securing internships, which make the graduates more marketable. That paid off at the career fair held on the Bradford campus a few weeks before graduation, where nearly 1 in 5 of the companies hoped to hire engineers — for internships or permanent positions.

Kyle Knotowicz was there as a staff product engineer for Superior Tire in nearby Warren, Pennsylvania. “We’re looking for people from this area,” he said. “We’ll hire as many interns as we can this summer if they’re local.” Before the end of the semester, Ben Hampson, also of Warren, was hired as a product engineer for Superior, and Tristan Coccaro, a senior from Pittsfield, Pennsylvania, will intern there this summer.

Tara DeLong (UPB ’04) was also at the fair looking for engineers for Napoleon Engineering of Olean, New York, which has already hired two Pitt-Bradford engineering technology graduates to work for founder Chris Napoleon (ENGR ’90), also an alumnus of the Bradford campus. When Napoleon attended from 1986 to 1988, a four-year engineering program didn’t yet exist — it wasn’t added until 2022.

“Until now, we haven’t had to recruit,” DeLong said, but the company is adding a second shift. “We have a lot of departments that need engineers. There are good paying jobs in our area.”

Kropf was hired in 2010 in part to create a four-year engineering major at Pitt-Bradford. After years of preparation, two programs — energy engineering technology and mechanical engineering technology — were added in the fall of 2022. The following January, the campus opened the George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building, a 39,000-square-foot, $24.5 million facility with top-quality engineering labs, makerspace, machine shop and fabrication space. The labs were critical for offering engineering technology degrees, where the teaching and learning is focused on practical applications.

Graduates with engineering technology degrees are prepared to apply for and perform the same jobs as those with engineering degrees as they take similar classes in math and engineering.

“We built it, and they came,” Kropf told campus leaders during a May retreat. The combined enrollment for all engineering students has doubled since 2020 and is now at more than 100. The engineering technology programs have grown steadily each year as new cohorts are added. The program includes students from Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon and Virginia, who are often drawn by a dual interest in playing a sport. Pitt-Bradford also still offers the first two years of engineering in a more personal setting for those who want to go on to pursue chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering or other specialized areas.

As for the hiring outlook for next year’s cohort, they already have summer internships lined up at Ardagh Group in Port Allegany, Pennsylvania; Clarion Sintered in Ridgway, Pennsylvania; W.R. Case & Sons in Bradford; Napoleon Engineering; Elwood Forge in Youngsville, Pennsylvania; Lake Erie Tobacco in Salamanca, New York; and Seneca Resource Co.

“None of it is surprising, but it still feels very rewarding,” Kropf said.

In the top photo, 11 of 13 graduates from Pitt-Bradford’s first full mechanical engineering technology cohort stand with Assistant Professor Beth Rezaie before the campus’ commencement ceremony on May 3.