Caltech CMS-EE Partners Program Techfest 2026
Caltech's computing and EE recruiting fair, 500 students and the companies that fund the department.
1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91125
What this event is
The 11th annual Techfest is a two-hour demo and recruiting fair on Thursday, October 15 that brings CMS-EE Partners Program member companies, startups and nonprofits to Moore Walk. Around 500 Caltech students, postdocs and faculty in computing, data science, EE and software attend. Employer participation is limited to program members registering through Next Steps Caltech by October 9.
Roles you will actually see
Who should go
Caltech undergrads, grad students and postdocs in CS, ACM, EE or applied math looking for software, ML and quant roles.
Two hours is short and the employer count is small, so this is about depth, not volume. The companies here pay to be partners of the department, which means they are serious about Caltech hires and usually fine with sponsorship for PhD-level research and quant roles. Talk to the people running demos, not just the recruiters, because those are the engineers who will refer you. Bring a specific research or project story; generic small talk is wasted here.
Show up prepared
- 1Check Next Steps Caltech for the confirmed partner list a few days before
- 2Prepare a two-minute explanation of your thesis or strongest project
- 3Bring a few printed resumes and follow up by email the same day
Sponsorship reality
Sponsorship varies by employer. No organizer publishes sponsorship. Check each employer you plan to meet against H-1B disclosure data before you go, and ask in the first two minutes so neither side wastes the conversation.
Showing up is half of it.
The other half is being first to the roles these employers post, and having something real to show when you get there.
See roles the minute they go live, tailor one resume per employer, and reach the hiring manager directly. Walk into the event as a follow-up, not a stranger.
Start free13 weeks of building real AI agents and automations, so the answer to "what have you built" is a link, not a story.
Explore the program