The America’s Talent Strategy: Building the Workforce for the Golden Age report, published last year by the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Education, and Labor, identified a significant engineering and skills gap. The 27-page report concluded that the shortage of talent in essential areas—including advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and cybersecurity—poses significant risks to U.S. economic and technological leadership.
To help attract talent in those fields, the Labor Department last month introduced incentives for apprenticeships, including a US $145 million “pay for performance” grant program. The funding aims to develop registered apprenticeships in high-demand fields including artificial intelligence and information technology.
Reacting to the urgent national need for targeted workforce development were members of IEEE Young Professionals, led by Alok Tibrewala, an IEEE senior member. He is a cochair of the IEEE North Jersey Section’s Young Professionals group.
“As a software engineer, this impending shortage concerns me because I believe that the U.S. AI and cybersecurity skills gap would show up first in the early-career pipeline,” Tibrewala says. “Students will be entering the U.S. workforce without enough hands-on experience building secure AI-enabled enterprise and cloud systems, and this gap will persist without practical, mentor-led training before graduation.”
Tibrewala led a strategic planning session with representatives from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, IEEE Member and Geographic Activities, and IEEE Young Professionals to discuss holding an event that would provide practical, industry-relevant training by experts and IEEE leaders.
“I was able to establish a partnership with NJIT, recruit speakers, design the event’s agenda, and promote the event to ensure it was aligned with the strategy outlined in the workforce report,” he says. “This effort aligns with broader U.S. workforce development priorities focused on industry-driven skills training in critical technology areas.”
The IEEE Buildathon event was held on 1 November at NJIT’s Newark campus. More than 30 students and early-career engineers heard from 11 speakers. Through interactive workshops, live demonstrations, and networking opportunities, they left with practical, employer-aligned skills and clearer career pathways for AI-era skills-building.
Tibrewala chaired the event and also serves as chair of the IEEE Buildathon program.
Session takeaways
Region 1 Director Bala S. Prasanna, a life senior member, gave the keynote address. He emphasized the need for universities, industry practitioners, and IEEE volunteer leaders to collaborate on programs to enhance technical skills.
IEEE Member Kalyani Matey, cochair of the IEEE North Jersey Section’s Young Professionals, conducted a workshop on how to build one’s personal brand and a responsive network. Participants received valuable insights about résumé building, effective communication strategies, and enhancing their visibility and employability.
“Over time, this kind of structured, employer-aligned training will help increase confidence, employability, and technical readiness across the country. With sustained support, programs like the IEEE Buildathon can become a practical bridge from education to industry in the AI era.” —Alok Tibrewala
Tibrewala led the Unlocking AI’s Potential: Solving Big Challenges With Smart Data and IEEE DataPort session. The web-based DataPort platform allows researchers to store, share, access, and manage their research datasets in a single, trusted location. He discussed needed skills including AI literacy, strong data handling and dataset stewardship, and turning data into actionable insights.
Chaitali Ladikkar, a senior software engineer, delivered the insightful Brains Behind the Game seminar. Ladikkar, an IEEE member, highlighted the transformative impact AI is having on gaming and game engine technologies. She explained how AI is reshaping game development. She also covered how machine learning is being used for animation, faster content generation and testing of new titles. Her seminar received enthusiastic feedback from participants.
The Building Better Business Relationships DiSC workshop provided insights into enhancing professional relationships and communication within an engineering workforce. DiSC is a behavioral self-assessment used to understand an individual’s communication style and to adapt to others.
Participant experience and testimonials
The event received high praise from participants for its practical and industry-relevant content, according to Tibrewala.
“This training significantly enhanced my understanding and readiness for industry roles, filling gaps my regular academic coursework did not fully address,” said Humna Sultan, an IEEE student member who is a senior studying computer science at Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken, N.J.
“The Buildathon was structured around real engineering challenge scenarios that deepened my understanding of AI and cloud technologies,” said Carlos Figueredo, an IEEE graduate student member who is studying data science at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. “It boosted my confidence and practical skills essential for the industry.”
Bavani Karthikeyan Janaki said “it was incredible to see how technology and sustainability came together to drive real-world impact, thanks to the dedicated efforts of the organizers including Tibrewala, Matey, and the IEEE North Jersey Young Professionals.” Janaki is pursuing a master’s degree in computer and information science at Long Island University, in New York.
Funding and collaborative efforts
The Buildathon was made possible through grants from the IEEE Young Professionals group and funding from the IEEE North Jersey Section and IEEE Member and Geographic Activities. Their support shows how IEEE’s professional organizations can collaborate to address workforce needs by supporting the delivery of technical sessions that strengthen early-career pipelines.
Future plans and a call to action
Building on the event’s success, Tibrewala and Matey plan to make the IEEE Buildathon an ongoing initiative. They are exploring ways to expand it to additional university campuses and IEEE communities.
Tibrewala says they plan to refine the format based on participant feedback and lessons learned. To support consistent quality, he and Matey say, they are working on a playbook for organizers that will include a repeatable agenda, a workshop template, speaker guidelines, and post-event feedback forms.
The approach depends on continued coordination among host universities, local IEEE sections, and Young Professional volunteers, Tibrewala says.
“Enabling other groups to run similar events,” he says, “can help more students and early-career engineers gain practical exposure to AI, data, cloud, cybersecurity, and other key emerging technologies in a structured setting.
“Efforts like this help translate national workforce priorities into real training that students and early-career engineers can apply immediately to their projects. This also helps close the gap between classroom learning and the realities of building secure, reliable systems in production environments. Over time, this kind of structured, employer-aligned training will help increase confidence, employability, and technical readiness across the country.
“With sustained support, programs like the IEEE Buildathon can become a practical bridge from education to industry in the AI era.”
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