For the first time in three years, more 2003 ME grads found jobs right out of college than grads in any other engineering field.
Employers that hired the most mechanical engineers last year were aerospace, utilities, chemical, construction and computer companies, according to Camille Luckenbaugh of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE, www.naceweb.org). But MEs can apply their skills in many other places too.
Dana Jacobs: a good start at PSE&G
Dana Jacobs, a performance measurement analyst at PSE&G (Newark, NJ), is just starting her engineering career. And she's enjoying the challenge.
Jacobs graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, NJ) with a BSME in 2002. As an undergrad, she did two different co-ops.
From 2001 to 2002, she co-opped as an HVAC engineer at Atkinson Koven Feinberg Engineers (New York, NY), and discovered that HVAC work was not for her. "Co-ops help you find what you don't like as well as what you enjoy," she says.
So she tried BOC Gasses (Murray Hill, NJ), a supplier of industrial gas products. There she worked as an application development engineer. That experience was more to her liking.
As graduation approached, she explored her options. She met PSE&G recruiters at a SHPE job fair in New Jersey, and PSE&G's Trenton (NJ) gas distribution business hired her as an engineer.
She did installation and repair work for municipalities in the Trenton district, working with the bargaining unit. As a new engineer she went to job sites to oversee the work. "I spent time in the trenches to get a feel for what was involved," she says. "It gives you a respect for what's happening."
Jacobs said she values that experience. "You have to see the gas main, the leak, talk to the customer. You won't understand the scope by only working indoors."
After six months, Jacobs moved to Clifton, NJ as a PSE&G engineer. Here she managed district work loads. She oversaw operations and maintenance projects, gas leaks, corrosion surveys and inspections, and organized plans so repair work was done and "goals and budgets met."
In June 2003, Jacobs moved to Newark as a performance measurement analyst. The job involves collecting financial data for delivering electricity, and preparing financial reports and estimates.
Jacobs is applying to MBA programs to improve her business knowledge. "I felt ME could open many avenues and I could move into different facets," she says. She is doing exactly that as her work moves away from its technical roots.
Jacobs says her co-ops built problem-solving skills. During her co-ops, Jacobs says, "I worked on things I knew little about." She often went to the library to research or read about software programs.
By the time Jacobs reached PSE&G, she knew how to find information. "It's important to ask questions of those with experience," she says. "At PSE&G they know you will need guidance." Though the company offers training seminars, "I also reached out to individuals."
Jacobs says, "The school I went to was technically oriented. Everyone was in engineering, math and science," but the people she now works with have diverse interests. "Their differences contribute to the strength of the team. That's how problems get solved."
Pratt & Whitney's Jovani Price: encouraging education
Jovani Price is an associate aerospace/thermal engineer at Pratt & Whitney (East Hartford, CT). He earned his BSME in 2003 at North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University (Greensboro).
In college he had several internships. During the summer of his junior year, he was a manufacturing engineer for General Electric (Mebane, NC) in the industrial services division. He worked on the plant floor to improve production, but found that kind of job wasn't a good fit for him.
A few weeks before graduation, he met Pratt & Whitney reps at a career fair. They invited him and other MEs for an interview in November 2002. He wasn't too excited about moving to New England. "I'm from Chicago so I knew about winters," he said. But he was intrigued with aerospace.
At Pratt & Whitney, Price works with jet engines in the systems and heat transfer group, where he provides aerodynamic and thermodynamic design support. "Our work follows the life cycle of the engine - from concept through design and development, certification and product support," says Price.
Price's group has eleven people, all MEs. Everyone in the group, he says, "has an MSME except one other person and myself. Management encourages education that will improve my performance."
Price is happy with his progress so far. "Working at Pratt has been a great opportunity for me. My assignments are intellectually challenging and new ideas are welcomed."
Kenneth Waldron: challenging work at Siemens Westinghouse
Kenneth Waldron is a business process engineer at Siemens Westinghouse (Orlando, FL). He says learning to understand people from different cultures and nationalities makes his work more challenging and interesting.
Waldron earned his BSME at North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University (Greensboro) in 1999 and his MSME in 2001, specializing in mechanical vibration.
Waldron spent the summers of 1997 and 1998 at JA Jones Construction Company (Charlotte, NC) estimating and quantifying chemical plant costs. "During the second summer I worked on cost-cutting measures as a junior engineer," he says. In 1998 and 1999, he worked in his school's vibration lab, testing an aerospace structure, a shuttle element and a helicopter propeller. In 2000 he went to Cummings Diesel (Columbus, IN) as an intern in the structural analysis group and analyzed vibrations on truck components.
After completing his masters, Waldron went to Siemens Westinghouse for a two-year engineering rotation program. Three rotations in different parts of the company gave him a chance to explore his options. The business process engineering job he's now doing is his first non-technical position.
He's glad he branched out. "Research seemed kind of narrow. I wanted the opportunity to make myself as versatile as possible." Even though he's in a non-technical job now, his mechanical engineering degree is serving him well. "In a technical company like Siemens, input from the field is helpful. As a mechanical engineer, I can contribute on technical issues."
Waldron thinks Siemens hired him as much for his attitude as his technical skills. "I think I'm open to change," he says. "In this work you have to be."
Waldron is interested in the international aspect of his job. "My current project is global and I work with German counterparts. I find it very intriguing to learn other cultures. Business profits from diversity," he says.
Cortney Guzlas: ME at International Truck & Engine
Cortney Guzlas uses her ME training in truck manufacturing. She is now a product manager in the truck electronics group at International Truck and Engine Corp's technical center (Fort Wayne, IN).
Guzlas earned her BSME at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) in 1995. She had planned to start a masters program, so she didn't do an extensive job search, and she did research projects rather than summer internships. But, she says, "a lot of companies called me because I was female," and she decided to give industry a try. After graduation she joined International as an entry-level mechanical engineer.
She had seen herself working in high-speed manufacturing. "Trucks were a brand new concept for me," she says. But after the interview, trucks intrigued her. "Now I love trucks," she jokes.
Guzlas' first year at International involved mostly engineering support. She helped senior engineers with drawings and 3-D computer design. "Lots of basic stuff," she remembers.
New engineers' experience at International is different now: entry-level engineers work on projects with senior engineers right away. But starting slowly "worked for me," Guzlas says.
In 1997 Guzlas joined a design team working on the new 9900 model. Her team produced a 3-D design. "I worked on powertrain components. I designed radiator piping, fine-tuned the air cleaner designs and did a lot of routing and locating of components," she says. Because she already knew the 3-D system, she could help the team with the new technology.
When she became a configuration analyst in 1999, she learned to identify features that would be appropriate for new models based on older trucks. "We did a lot of research looking backwards, and we interviewed customers to find the best feature offerings." After Guzlas earned her MBA in August 2000, at the Ft Wayne Extension of Indiana University-Purdue-Ft Wayne, she became a configuration manager.
A year later, as a product manager for the Truck Electronics group, she investigated ways to use a new electrical system to differentiate International's trucks from the competition. The product she manages allows a change of truck features without rebuilding the entire vehicle. "We've eliminated the need for third-party modules, and reduced the time and cost of adding features to our vehicles," she explains.
As a result of all this innovation, Guzlas' team has grown. "My team has nine people working directly on the product, and I now have sales and product support teams. There are similar teams in other parts of the company," she says.
"My ME degree has really helped me. I know what it takes to deliver things. I understand the technical details of every new truck concept, not just the business aspects of it," she says. Even though an ME student "may go into business, the best business people are those with technical backgrounds," she believes.
Jebraeil Samo designs toys at Mattel
Jebraeil Samo, a staff engineer, is using his ME skills to make toys. He started in the toy industry right after graduation and worked for both large and small toy makers.
Samo, who was born in Iran, earned an associates degree in engineering at Modesto Junior College in 1983 and completed a BSME at San Jose State University in 1986, with minors in computer science and math.
After graduation, Samo found a position as a quality and safety engineer at Coleco Toys (Carson, CA). When he took a job as a cost engineer at Mattel Toys in 1989, he was surprised at the difference between large and small corporations. "Departments were bigger, there were more resources, the dress code was different, everything was different."
In 1984, Samo moved to Equity Marketing, a New York City toy manufacturer. As a production planning manager, he traveled between New York and California. The company was small, but it designed toys for high-volume clients. Samo was one of only two engineers. He planned pre-production activities, acted as liaison between Asia, where the toys were made, and New York and eventually supervised production and shipping. "It was a real learning process," Samo says. "I had to do most of the work, from design to production."
After Equity he worked at Playmate Toys (Costa Mesa, CA), maker of Ninja Turtles, doing development, and Wham-O Toys (Torrance, CA), an outdoor sports toy company, as its only engineer. When Wham-O moved to San Francisco in 1998, Samo chose not to uproot his family and went back to Mattel's engineering department as a project manager.
This was his dream job. In 2000 he became staff engineer and manager of engineering for collectible car toys. By 2003, he was overseeing track sets and basic toy cars.
When Samo hires engineers, he looks for toy or similar industry experience and ME, CE or EE degrees. Candidates must understand quality and safety issues. Many engineers, Samo says, get MBAs to give them a better understanding of the marketing and financial aspects of the business.
Chrysler's William Winfrey: a changing career
Since William Winfrey, senior manager at Chrysler (Auburn Hills, MI), signed on two decades ago, the automotive industry has changed. Winfrey says mechanical engineers in automotive now need EE or CS backgrounds. "About 40 percent of the vehicle is electrical," he says.
Winfrey graduated with a BSME from Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) in 1980. He also earned a JD in 1988 from Detroit College of Law, and is working on an executive MBA at Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI).
As an undergrad, Winfrey did a co-op at Chrysler. He learned body sealing, wiring, steering and suspension. After graduation he joined the company full time, and worked on financial studies and product development for car climate controls. He became a senior engineer in 1988, working with instrument clusters, message centers and overhead systems. He's also worked on ergonomic switches and wiring and electrical systems for family vehicles.
Today his core responsibilities are power, memory, instrument panel components and switches. He supervises twenty-eight engineers, many with electrical engineering training.
In his group, experience counts. "Most of my engineers have five to eight years experience. Most supervisors have a masters or an MBA." Even new grads are expected to come in with co-op and internship experience, and a resume that shows successful teamwork.
Many earn their masters degrees at Chrysler, Winfrey says. Chrysler offers grad programs through the Chrysler Institute of Engineering, among others. "Getting a masters," he says, "is almost mandatory."
Automotive is a fast-paced industry, he says. "Your assembly plant may move sixty to seventy vehicles per hour. If there's a problem you need a quick solution. That's the excitement of automotive." He adds that a solution that solves one engineer's problem can negatively affect the whole process. "You need to know how each solution affects other areas."
Winfrey says engineers must be sure they are doing something they enjoy. "There are long hours, tough challenges. You can't walk away from a problem without coming up with a solution."
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