YSU helps students move from college to careers

YOUNGSTOWN

About 60 Youngstown State University alumni and local employers set up tables around the Chestnut Room in Kilcawley Center on Thursday for the university’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics semi-annual Spring 2017 STEM Expo.

Peter Dihn, YSU civil engineering alumnus, discussed how the expo provided him with a career at the Ohio Department of Transportation.

“I started as an intern doing full-time in the summer and part-time during the school year,” he said.

Now, Dihn works in planning and engineering.

The bulk of what he does, he said, is roadway design – namely the widening project of state Route 46 in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Dihn said even if students don’t utilize the expo in the same way he did, it is great for networking.

ODOT employee Greg Bikis agreed.

“[ODOT] gets all of its interns from two schools, YSU and the University of Akron,” he said.

Simon Roofing also reaps the benefits of scouting out interns at the expo.

Ann Bennett, Simon Roofing human resource generalist, said growth is an opportunity for both her company and for students.

“We get a lot of our interns from YSU and hire quite a few on from there,” she said. “Our company is growing every year and we have multiple different opportunities we offer for students and for people seeking employment – from being an apprentice to being an operations manager. There is room for growth within the company.”