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By Matt Czach, Senior Lead Industrial Designer
For the last three years, Tekna has participated in University of Cincinnati’s Co-Op program, hiring ID interns to work with us for a semester. This year, the U of C DAAP School explored a new networking format, Engaging Emerging Creatives, where Ben Purrenhage and I talked with students, giving them a feel for who we are and the work we do.
The first day was a quick presentation followed by Design Blitz, a four-hour activity where 300+ students and 100+ professionals co-developed solutions for Cincinnati non-profit organizations. Our team helped design holiday thank you cards for St. Vincent DePaul, as well as a collaborative workspace for United Way. By the end of the blitz, the local non-profit community was gifted 1,000 hours of creative time.
The second day was filled with professional round table discussions on topics such as entrepreneurship and innovation, along with 30-minute interviews of second- and fourth-year students looking for Co-Ops. I sat on the Entrepreneurial Spirit panel discussion with Casey Dougherty from Generac and Valerie Green from Tier 1 Performance Solutions.
Throughout the day, Ben and I interviewed seven students and hired a second-year student as our spring intern. It’s inspiring to attract great, young talent and show them what it’s like to work at Tekna!
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