The Office of Career Advancement (OCA) recently announced a new pre-professional development program called Careers in Engineering. The program features various research opportunities and engineering-specific advising to help students immerse themselves in the field. 

With the 10th anniversary of the Institute for Molecular Engineering’s founding (now the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME)) coming to a close, the program continues to focus on increasing the number of engineering opportunities available to students by connecting them with firms and professionals in the world of engineering. 

“We’re excited about building off the existing infrastructure at PME, and when it comes to providing world-class opportunities for our students, we always have the ambition to bring in more and more employers,” Matt Hebron, the assistant director of STEM Careers, said. 

“[Engineering] is one of the areas of most potential in terms of the impact that the University of Chicago can have on the nation and worldwide. Our role in molecular engineering is forward-looking as opposed to being rigid in historical curriculums or previously established disciplines” says Paul Nealey, Brady W. Dougan Professor of Molecular Engineering and Vice Dean for Education and Outreach at PME.  

The goal of both the Careers in Engineering and the molecular engineering programs, according to Nealey, is to prepare students for careers in many different areas and not to limit them to the technologically oriented roles that many think of when they hear the word engineering. 

“At UChicago, that's one of the reasons why there's such great potential [for this program] and why we think we can establish a preeminent engineering program here—because of the strength in other areas at the University. This creation of Careers in Engineering is a natural progression of the development of engineering at the University of Chicago.” 

The addition of this program follows a multiyear effort by the University to increase the number of opportunities available to students interested in engineering. 

In 2015, the University announced molecular engineering as the first program in engineering available to undergraduate students in the College. Undergraduate students can choose between one of three tracks: bioengineering, chemical engineering, or quantum engineering.