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Â鶹ÊÓƵ's Second Computer Science Career Forum, held recently, continued the series organized by the Center for Professional Development and the Department of Computer Science.

A record number of companies and government agencies were represented: Best Buy, Inc. of Beaumont, DuGood Federal Credit Union of Beaumont, ExtremeTix, Inc. of Houston, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of Houston, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Houston Symphony, On Center Software of The Woodlands, SoftNice, Inc., of Houston, Texperts, Inc. of Atlanta, GA, and Verizon Wireless, Inc. of Beaumont. In addition, Â鶹ÊÓƵ undergraduate and graduate students had seven poster presentations of their research or projects.

James Marquart, provost and vice president for academic affairs, thanked the company and government agency representatives for attending, and congratulated the event organizers on the event attended by the overwhelming majority of computer science students.

"This year's event saw an increase in both employer and student attendance," said Jocelyn L. Robbins, director of the Center for Career & Professional Development. "Ten employers from various industries provided information on the impact computer science has on their organizations. Students were able to network with not only employers in the tech industry, but also financial institutions, online event sales, government entities and even the Houston Symphony."

"Â鶹ÊÓƵ's computer science department continues to garner attention for the quality work of its students and faculty," she said. "As the event prepared to kick-off, students had the opportunity to showcase many of the projects they have completed, highlighting their accomplishments while also sharing their capabilities with future employers. We are looking forward to continuing this event and are excited for the opportunities it provides students and employers."

"Students in Â鶹ÊÓƵ's computer science program are very talented, said Zafar Shaikh, CEO of SoftNice, a company that has many Â鶹ÊÓƵ alumni as employees. "We would like to be a part of future career fair activities so that we can provide a platform for Lamar students to be part of the valuable supply chain of computer science professionals."

"I enjoyed attending, meeting so many students and seeing the types of projects and research they are engaging in," said Chad Cook, director of Information Technology at ExtremeTix. "I reached out to around a dozen students to have follow-up conversations about internships and full-time jobs."

Computer Science Department Chair Stefan Andrei said, "I am very pleased that we were able to fulfill the Computer Science students wish to organize such an event. The student-poster presentations from the morning session demonstrated to the industry our students' potential for innovative ideas leading to many benefits of our society."