In honor of a $1.5 million gift from Lockheed Martin to enhance the university’s strategic approach to career development for high demand fields, including engineering, University of Texas Arlington officials March 20 announced the naming of the Lockheed Martin Career Development Center on campus.
“This center represents a new way we engage with students from day one, ensuring we help them explore careers, learn about opportunities, and more importantly, meet recruiters and personnel from the corporate world,” UTA President Vistasp Karbhari said.
“The Lockheed Martin name is synonymous with innovation, growth and success in North Texas and beyond, and we are extremely grateful to the company for this generous donation. Lockheed Martin relies on UTA to provide a highly skilled pool of talented employees, and the renaming of our center marks a significant strengthening of this valuable partnership.”
The newly named facility is a 6,000-square foot facility that employs the Career Continuum Model helping students prepare for careers immediately upon reaching campus. Students are engaged both while in school and even after entering the workforce. They can access valuable professional guidance and mentoring, starting in their freshman year.
Alumni also return as mentors, recruiters and potential employers, also benefiting from the center’s networking and job placement services.
“I was fortunate enough to be selected for an internship with Lockheed Martin during my senior year of high school and the following summer. It was an invaluable experience because of the hands-on learning I gained and the professional experiences I had,” UTA freshman engineering student Cameron McBride said. “I can’t wait to return as an intern this summer. Having the Lockheed Martin Career Development Center on campus will help Mavericks like me achieve our career goals.”
Karbhari said the need for the facility comes because it is not enough to teach students in classrooms and laboratories. He said succeeding in life and business requires real-world experience. He said the goal is for every student to successfully compete an internship while studying at UTA.
UTA’s College of Engineering is the third largest in Texas. Lockheed Martin is one of the largest employers of UTA graduates in North Texas, with 1,380 UTA alumni currently working at two of the company’s dominant regional facilities, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth and Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Grand Prairie.
“There will be no lack of opportunity for engineering graduates,” Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Executive Vice President Rick Edwards said. “We look forward to hiring many, many more graduates and for great things to come out of this center.”