A record-breaking 48 companies registered and more than 400 students attended TechConnect on September 13 in the Fitzpatrick Center.

“We lost count when we ran out of the 400 name badges we printed out, and the students kept coming in,” said Kirsten Shaw, assistant director of Corporate and Industry Relations in the Pratt School of Engineering and co-organizer of the biannual networking event.

New businesses to the event — which connects Duke computer science and engineering students with technology businesses — included Allscripts, Nike, PwC, Sapient and Siemens. A wider variety of companies also participated this fall, Shaw said.

The evening started in the Schiciano Auditorium with a panel discussion featuring representatives from five companies: Edwards Lifesciences, Gilbane Building Company, Lutron Electronics, Microsoft and MPR Associates. The panelists — all Duke alums — discussed tips for getting a job or internship, while students asked questions of their own. The event then moved to the Fitzpatrick Center’s atrium, where students mingled with company recruiters on three floors from 7 to 10 p.m.

“We had to kick them out this year,” said Richard Lucic, associate chairman of the Department of Computer Science and co-organizer of TechConnect, which was scheduled to end at 9:30 p.m. “Things have been kind of down for several years. Companies were not interested in hiring because of the economy, but this year there seemed to be a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm. We had to cut off the company attendance because we maxed out on space.”

The event, which falls the night before Duke’s career fair, gives technology students and businesses the chance to interact on a more personal basis. The companies also appreciate having a more selective audience in their interest area.

“The companies were just thrilled with the quality of the students and the interest that they showed,” Lucic said. He noted that one company representative told him how impressed he was by the number of sophomores who spent time asking him questions. “He thought that was fantastic. That just can’t happen in the career fair. There’s so much going on, there isn’t time to just have a conversation.”

The next TechConnect takes place January 24. It is co-sponsored by the Department of Computer Science, the Pratt School of Engineering and the Duke Career Center.

Visit the TechConnect 2011 website