University Ranked in Aero-Defense Workforce Study

Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine has ranked the University of Maryland third among 64 schools in its Aerospace and Defense Workforce Study. The university was ranked at 5th in 2007.

The Workforce Study asked companies to list the top five institutions from which they recruit. According to the article in the August 18/25 issue, this is a preferred list of schools that meet established criteria and from which companies recruit the best and brightest. Criteria include:

Capacity: the courses and innovative methodologies offered the research and development projects underway and diversity.

Success: the measure of how well past graduates within the specific company performed, retention of past graduates, acceptance of offers from the company by graduates of that school.

Diversity: demographic diversity and diversity in how a person thinks, approaches problems or reacts to challenges.

Also considered are the relationships between employees and the university (advisory boards, for instance) and the location or ability of the university to "feed" the organization. Upon the rankings’ release, aerospace engineering department Chair Darryll Pines thanked Heidi Sauber, director of the Engineering Co-op and Career Services Center, and her staff for their tireless efforts in finding job opportunities for Clark School students.

The 2008 Rankings were as follows:

(1) Purdue University; (2) Penn State University; (tied for 3) University of Maryland, University of Illinois, and Virginia Tech; (4) Georgia Tech; and (tied for 5) Arizona State, Ohio State, UCLA, UC Davis, and University of Washington.

Published August 28, 2008