New Program Highlights National Trend to Startup-Specific Career Events

PITTSBURGH, Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 20 startup companies from across the U.S. will attend Carnegie Mellon University's TechSpark, a new recruiting event that brings together emerging businesses and students and alumni interested in working for such companies.

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Scheduled for 5 to 9 p.m., Monday, Feb. 13 in the University Center's Rangos Ballroom, TechSpark will feature 25 companies from places such as Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, Chicago and Washington, D.C. The companies represent a variety of industries, ranging from financial services, mobile solutions and software development to household technology, marketing and college search. Startup accelerator programs also will be recruiting at the event.

TechSpark signals a national trend among universities that are looking to help entrepreneurs create and grow their businesses. With many companies reporting trouble finding workers with the right skill sets, TechSpark serves as a targeted method to help entrepreneurs discover students with the interest and desire to work for a startup, according to Wahab Owolabi, assistant director for employer development at CMU's Career and Professional Development Center.

"The idea for TechSpark began when we considered feedback from our alumni, students and employers across the country. A common theme was they wanted access to one another to ignite innovation, but in a more targeted forum than a general career fair," Owolabi said. "TechSpark was designed to create that environment, which is why we have been able to generate so much interest. Opportunities abound for our students and alums looking to join an emerging company or to start their own."

TechSpark is a natural offshoot of CMU's entrepreneurial culture. The university's Greenlighting Startups initiative, a portfolio of five business incubators, is designed to speed company creation at CMU. In the past 15 years, Carnegie Mellon faculty and students have helped to create more than 300 companies and 9,000 jobs, and the university averages 15 to 20 new startups each year.

About Carnegie Mellon University: Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 11,000 students in the university's seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A global university, Carnegie Mellon's main campus in the United States is in Pittsburgh, Pa. It has campuses in California's Silicon Valley and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia, Europe and Mexico. The university is in the midst of a $1 billion fundraising campaign, titled "Inspire Innovation: The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University," which aims to build its endowment, support faculty, students and innovative research, and enhance the physical campus with equipment and facility improvements.

SOURCE Carnegie Mellon University

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