Opportunity knocks.

West Virginia University is hosting a career fair for students and graduates specializing in safety management, industrial engineering, industrial hygiene and civil engineering Friday (Feb. 29).

The fair, from 9 a.m.-noon at the National Research Center for Coal and Energy building on the Evansdale Campus, will allow students and graduates to meet potential employers. On-site interviews will take place from 1-4:30 p.m.

Many of our graduates live in the local area,said Gary Winn, a professor of safety management in WVU s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources,and we want to invite them to attend this fair along with our current students.

The event is sponsored by the WVU chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers. Companies attending include American Woodmark Corp., ChemRisk, Consol Energy, Intercontinental Hotels Group, JenMar, Kiewit Corp., Parsons Construction, Sargent Safety Services/Sargent Electric, Suffolk Construction, The Landin Cos., United States Steel Corp., Zenith Insurance Cos., Amerisafe Consulting&Safety Services, The Washington Group and Jacob Construction.

The WVU Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in industrial engineering and industrial hygiene, safety management and occupational safety and health. Graduates take a wide variety of positions in construction, insurance, industry, energy and government.

The demand for safety and industrial hygiene graduates is especially large and growing, Winn said.

Graduates of these masters degree programs are receiving offers of $60,000 a year,he said.With professional certification, the upper range is well into six figures. Despite the slowdown in the U.S. economy, safety management career options are actually growing, not shrinking.

For details about the career fair or the safety management program, contact Winn at 304-293-2742 ext. 3744 or Zach Lemasters at 304-293-4821 ext. 3715.