Review of the 2nd Career Day of the ECE Department
The ECE Department’s Career Day was successfully held on Friday 9th of June. The event, which was organized for second consecutive year with the aim to be institutionalized on the Department, turned out to be an event of significant outreach contributing to the interconnection of ECE and other Departments’ students with the labor market; with companies and entities of the technology ecosystem in Patras, Athens, Thessaloniki, as well as with representatives of international groups of technology and consulting.
The event, which took place at the Large Auditorium of the campus in Koukouli (Patras), included a full program of presentations and panel discussions, an exhibition with booths ran by 17 companies and other entities and meetings among students and graduates with companies representatives, who offered information about job and internship openings, gathering CVs of potential future employees. Almost 100 students and graduates and more than 50 exhibitors gathered at the Large Auditorium.
SPEECHES-PRESENTATIONS
The program of presentations opened with a welcome speech by the president of the Department, prof. Nikolaos Voros, and the floor was afterwards given to the Rector of the University of Peloponnese, prof. Athanassios Katsis, and to the vice-rector for finance and e-government management, prof. Efstratios Tzirtzilakis, who both honored with their presence the Career Day as an activity that contributes to giving prominence to the ECE Department and to the University of Peloponnese.
On the first session with the topic “Interconnection with the labor market: Opportunities and steps”, the speakers Michael Paraskevas (Computer Technology Institute and Press “Diophantus”), John Kikidis (HETiA), Kostas Svoukas & Katerina Athanassiou (Netcompany – Intrasoft), Antonela Kotsoni (InterMediaKT) and Apostolos Rafailidis (Technology Transfer Office of Patras University and the University of Peloponnese) gave interesting and useful information on innovation development and the digital transformation in the industrial sector, on the increasing demand in the fields of new technologies, on the business models at specific corporate environments, on the steps for technology transfer and on the significance of developing soft skills.
The second session was devoted to the entrepreneurship prospects for electrical and computer engineering graduates. Speeches and presentations on this topic were offered by the Director & Chairman of NCSR Demokritos , Mr. Georgios Nounesis, as well as by the start-up founders, engineers and developers: Mr. Megaklis Vasilakis, co-founder of SquareDev and Mr. Ioannis Kosmadakis & Mr. Themistoklis Voutsis , co-founders of Fisea, who emphasized on the elements that a computer science student or graduate needs to pay attention in order to build and grow a company.
The skills and practices for career development in the fields of new technologies were analyzed in the context of the third session, by representatives of international groups with which the ECE Department keeps a close collaboration. More specifically, presentations were made by Mrs. Eleana Throuvala & Maria Athanasiadou, from Deloitte, Mrs. Eleni Tsipa from Oracle Hellas, Mrs. Dionysia Lazari from PwC, as well as by Mr. Argyris Vlantis from the Hellenic Aerospace Hub, who made a more dedicated presentation on the job of the aircraft electrical engineer.
The speeches part ended with a discussion panel among graduates of the previous departments of electrical engineering and computer engineering. The panel was moderated by the PhD candidate Mr. Christos Tselios.. The graduates Mrs. Ismini Skoutari, Mr. Filippos Pirpilidis and Mr. Ioannis Christodoulopoulos, who currently work at Novibet, Space Horizon and CTI “Diofantus” respectively, answered to questions regarding their experience as university students, regarding the transition career advancement and their future plans and gave advice to the students that attended the discussion.
BOOTHS – INTERCONNECTION WITH COMPANIES
Companies’ participation with booths on the Career Day was significantly increased, more than double compared to Career Day 2022, proving their trust on the Department, their interest for the event and for finding employees with expertise on the field of studies treated by the ECE Department. 17 companies and other entities in total were hosted on booths, exhibiting communication material and holding discussions with students regarding the fields and prospects of recruitment.
Namely, companies that participated as exhibitors were (in alphabetical order) were: Advisable, Deloitte, HDL Design House, Hellenic Aerospace Hub, InterMediaKT, Netcompany-Intrasoft, Oracle, Power Factors, PwC, Renesas, SquareDev, Sunlight, Think Silicon, CTI Diofantus, π-ΝΕΤ Competence Center, Spyropoulos SA.
The Career Office of the University of Peloponnese participated also in the event and the career consultant Mrs. Angeliki Thoma, provided advice on CV and job interview preparation. It is worth noting that, few days before the event, the Department in collaboration with the Career Office, organized a webinar on the above topics and the material presented during the webinar is available on the Department’s website here.
From the first moment of the event announcement and during the preparation, companies were invited to send to the organizing committee information about job openings, so that the students could be updated through the Department’s website. 155 job openings are still uploaded on the website.
VOLUNTEER & SPONSOR’S SUPPORT – THANKS
A team of 18 students – volunteers that acted with kindness, willingness and offered their organizational skills, under their coordination by the event organizing committee, played a significant role in a smooth and successful event.
The event was sponsored by the project SMART4ALL H2020, which is coordinated by the ECE Department and its Head, prof. Nikolaos Voros, while the biggest part of the equipment used for the booths was offered by courtesy of the Department of Tourism Management of the University of Patras.
On behalf of the ECE Department, our warm thanks to the companies and other entities that participated in the Career Day as exhibitors and speakers, to the graduates of the former departments, to all the students that participated, to the volunteers who supported the event in every possible way, to the Department of Tourism Management of the University of Patras and personally to the Head of the Department, prof. Alkiviadis Panagopoulos for kindly offering equipment (tables and chairs) and, of course, to the Rector and vice-rector of the University of Peloponnese, who honored us with their presence at the event.