US News: His Internship Led to Employment 'Before' Graduation
Luke Shumaker鈥檚 dynamic approach to his Pitt-Johnstown听engineering听technology studies and opportunities resulted in a job offer before graduation. His expression of that situation to a Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers questionnaire was so impressive that it propelled Shumaker and his alma mater into the national spotlight.
Shumaker, a 2012 graduate and an engineer at HF Lenz Company in Johnstown, is the lead subject in a story about post-graduate job prospects featured in the听US News & World Report鈥檚 2013 Best Colleges听edition.听
鈥淭hey were asking for engineers who recently graduated and entered the engineering field based on job prospects available after college,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ased on my response, they put me in touch with Chris Gearon, who was writing the article for听US News.鈥�
The unplanned notoriety was the result of a carefully formulated university program and an internship experience that led to his immediate employment.
鈥淚 did have an internship with HF Lenz while I was attending UPJ,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 worked full-time in the summer. Then, during the school year, I was able to work part-time. Because of my internship experience and doing my senior project through HF Lenz, I was able to secure a full-time job offer from them before I graduated.鈥�
Shumaker sees Pitt-Johnstown as a university that is well-suited to engineering technology majors among many others.
鈥淚 would definitely recommend Pitt-Johnstown to any student looking into the engineering profession,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he professors have a great basis of real-world engineering experience, and the program itself is well respected among many engineering firms. I knew the engineering technology program was well-respected across the whole state of Pennsylvania, and even on a national level thanks to the Concrete Canoe team.
鈥淎s far as other fields of study, I know lots of my friends outside of the engineering technology program are seeing success as well. They all had degrees across the spectrum at UPJ from Education to Computer Science.鈥�
Shumaker enrolled at Pitt-Johnstown in 2008 after having graduated from Forest Hills High School in nearby Sidman, which is about 10 miles from campus.
鈥淯PJ was close enough for me to commute, which I did my freshman and senior years in order to save money,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was a pretty easy decision for me.鈥� He also cited factors such as the financial aspect, former high school classmates attending Pitt-Johnstown, and the status of the engineering technology program. 鈥淯PJ combines the notoriety and pride of a large university like Pitt with the familiarity and comfort of a small campus.鈥�
Shumaker has many fond and lasting memories of Pitt-Johnstown that continue to shape his life.
鈥淲ell, meeting my wife was my best experience at UPJ, but as far as academics, I would have to say my senior graduation project was very rewarding,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y group, and I participated in the ASHRAE Senior Design Competition, which required us to design a full HVAC system for the University of Chicago's Mansueto Library.
鈥淚 became more involved (with ASHRAE) after my senior project, and I am now the Johnstown Chapter Student Activities Co-Chair, along with one of my other senior project group members (Kaitlyn Stoltz) who is now working for HF Lenz as well.鈥澨�