Dewberry, a nationwide engineering, planning, design, and construction firm, visited UF on September 19 and held an exclusive information session at the J. Wayne Reitz to connect with and inspire future transportation engineers and planners to work for them.
The visit drew a little more than 30 graduate and undergraduate students who were more than eager to attend this event to learn more about one of the nation’s leading engineering firms. R. Keith Jackson, PE, (BSCE ‘87) an associate vice president and program manager with Dewberry, was pleased with the turnout and enthusiasm from students for career options within the consulting firm.
“The meeting went great,” Jackson said. “Attendance met our expectations, and the students were engaged and showed a lot of interest.”
Jackson was accompanied by eight colleagues who enthusiastically shared their career journeys and experiences with the students about working at Dewberry. The team included Heba Atia, EI; Robert Beltran, PE; Juan Benavides, PE; Jonathan Gibson, PLS; Kristy Hall, Hannah Hart (BS, ‘03); Courtney Orlando, PE (BSCE ‘17); and Cliff Wilson, PE.
Campus visits are a win-win for consulting firms such as Dewberry, for students, and for universities. These visits grow out of connections between university professors and departments, cultivated through research collaborations, internships, and more, creating a pipeline of top engineering and planning talent for consulting firms.
“These relationships are important to us so we can hire the best and brightest as we grow our company in Florida,” Jackson said.
Cliff Wilson, PE, senior vice president of operations at Dewberry, echoed Jackson’s sentiments about the campus visit. He said firms must connect with students and speak to them about the various career options available after graduation. He was equally impressed with the student turnout and enthusiasm.
“It was great meeting with the students to discuss one-on-one their interests in the various areas of the engineering field as well as wanting to know more about our locations and internship opportunities,” Wilson said.
The visit left a lasting impression on Dewberry that they plan to return to UF for another event sometime in February 2025.
See more images below from the event.
Dewberry is a member of the UFTI’s I-STREET Industry Partnership Program (IPP), which offers partners access to top engineering talent at UF, support for job and internship postings, opportunities for campus visits, collaboration on intellectual property, access to UF facilities through research collaboration, partner in proposals for national, state, and locally funded projects, access to the HiPerGator Artificial Intelligence Supercomputer and the I-STREET Living lab, and more. For additional information about the IPP program, visit https://istreet.ce.ufl.edu/work-with-us/industry-council/
