MEs are needed to build infrastructure around the world

“Tomorrow’s engineers need to be systems thinkers to be successful at global community development.” – Cathy Leslie, EWB-USA

MEs find careers in areas from transportation to communications

By Claire Swedberg
Contributing Editor

Engineering is going global, says Cathy Leslie, executive director of Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA). Technology is increasingly required for building infrastructure around the world, and problem solvers with ME degrees can expect to be in demand. That includes women as well as men of various ethnicities and backgrounds.

According to Leslie, United Nations development goals will require huge investments in projects like clean water, renewable energy systems and utility structures. All these will need MEs. And demand will continue, since the projects will need continuing maintenance.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has partnered with EWB-USA to extend the reach of the organization and its mission by linking students and engineers with projects around the globe.

“The engineers of tomorrow will need to be systems thinkers,” says Leslie. “People who believe in holistic community development and who can work with local partners in various parts of the world will be the most desirable.”

Leslie cautions MEs to examine their personal values before making career decisions. “It’s important to find an employer who shares your core values,” she says. You’re going to spend a lot of time at work, so you need to believe in what you are doing there.”

Yuridia Robeson designs RFF sites at GD C4 Systems
Yuridia Robeson has found work that’s valuable to many communities. As an ME at General Dynamics C4 Systems (Scottsdale, AZ), she is helping build the U.S. Coast Guard’s Rescue 21 command and control system for coastal search, rescue and homeland security missions.

Robeson has a 2008 BSME from the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ). She started in computer engineering but soon discovered that mechanical engineering interested her more.

As a student, Robeson sent NASA a proposal for a collaborative space experiment project between the University of Arizona and the University of Florida. When the project was accepted, she served as UA’s reduced gravity project lead, found fellow students to participate and enlisted the help of a faculty advisor.

The experiment was to analyze applications and limitations of ionic polymer metal composites (IPMC) in microgravity environments. The location was the NASA Ellington Field facility in Houston, TX. Robeson also analyzed the C-9 flight environment and determined the best setup for IPMC strips, circuit boards, cameras and power sources. Then she designed and built experimental test housings to meet reduced gravity requirements.

In another project, she worked at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center robotics academy in Greenbelt, MD as a team lead. She says she waited until she had experience before taking on the assignment, because students get only one chance to participate in the program. Her role was to optimize the VEX robotics design system for intelligent tasks and complete white papers for sensors related to the systems.

In her last semester, Robeson took a co-op at the Tucson, AZ location of IBM Corporation (Armonk, NY) doing baseline testing for the acquisition and updating of firmware for the DS/8000 storage system. She also ran tests using the variation execution platform.

In her current job at General Dynamics, Robeson is designing remote fixed facility (RFF) communications sites along the U.S. coast for Rescue 21. She creates interconnect diagrams and parts lists for the RF-based communications system.

Her job involves meeting with vendors to design and analyze mechanical aspects of RF equipment shelters and backup power supplies for the RFF sites and stations. She reviews site plans and construction drawings for compliance with Rescue 21 and government regulations, and environmental codes. She also conducts trade studies on commercial off-the-shelf products to develop new and modified designs for Coast Guard stations.

Robeson believes that being new to the company sometimes helps her solve problems. “Looking over construction drawings, I’m able to find details others might not notice. I need to ask detailed questions about everything,” she says. “This is ultimately an advantage for the entire team.”

Robeson didn’t even know what engineering was until she was finishing high school, yet she was able to earn scholarships and develop a program that got her experience at NASA. She credits her mother for being a role model for self sufficiency: “My mom raised six children as a single parent!”

General Dynamics C4 Systems fosters inclusion
Robeson has the kind of self sufficiency the company seeks and finds with a diverse crew, says Bernadette Phillips-Garcia, senior manager of global mobility and diversity at General Dynamics C4 Systems. “We have a goal to foster and maintain an inclusive culture where every one of our employees is valued by management and each other,” she says.

“We are an employer of choice for exceptional and above-average science and technology professionals and we are recognized in diverse technology circles.”

GD C4 Systems strives to retain the best and the brightest through management programs that reward and recognize high performers. “We approach projects by forming work groups that support inclusion and give technical people performance and self-recognition opportunities,” notes Phillips-Garcia. “Our work groups and our culture offer a challenging and rewarding work environment where diverse ideas are valued and encouraged.”

Aerospace’s Portia Peters works in vibro-acoustics
Portia Peters works in the environments, test and assessment department of the vehicle system division at the Aerospace Corp (El Segundo, CA).

She earned her 2004 BSME at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) and her 2007 MS and 2009 PhD in material science at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA).

“I initially wanted to go into the biomedical field to work with prosthetics,” she says. “I had done volunteer work at LaRabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago with children who needed such devices.” That interest led her to study the mechanics of materials.

An eight-month co-op at GE during her junior year sparked her interest in aerospace. She did product testing for aircraft engines, which involved working with turbine fan blades and studying how materials affect the rotation performance. She worked in supply chain using Six Sigma, then went into testing at the Evendale, OH facility. She also did work on vibro-acoustics engineering, determining what part composite materials played in aircraft vibration.

As a grad student, she went to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in Sagamihara for three months to research the structural dynamics of composites. There, she got to see how grad students from around the world approached engineering. “Work was more team-oriented,” she observes. “I got experience working with people who speak a different language and come from a different culture.”

When Peters began her job search, she met Aerospace’s CEO, Dr Wanda Austin, at a campus event. After hearing about Peters’ work in Japan, Austin encouraged her to apply. Peters joined the company in March 2009.

Today Peters works in vibro-acoustics and shock testing with co-workers in fields like physics, ME or EE. She is the youngest person and only female engineer in her department. “I see everyone in my department as a mentor,” she says.

Diverse workforce keeps Aerospace on the cutting edge
At Aerospace, diversity “includes men and women from different countries, cultures, ethnic/racial groups, religions, sexual orientation, generations, backgrounds, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that make them who they are,” says diversity and EEO director Benjamina Millado.

To capitalize on the skills, experience and unique perspectives each employee brings to the company, she says, employers must ensure that the workplace provides each employee an opportunity to develop his or her potential. “Because we have a diverse workforce, our employees bring us a diversity of opinion and approach, which keeps us at the cutting edge of a business that depends on creativity, innovation, and imagination,” says Millado.

There are eight affinity groups at Aerospace, serving Asian Pacific Americans, African Americans, GLBT employees, women, military veterans, people with disabilities, Hispanics and American Indians/Alaskan Natives. Each one is intended to increase cultural awareness, enhance career development opportunities, and promote diversity in the workplace.

Aerospace seeks engineers with strong interests in their fields and solid training in basic engineering. Because the company does classified work for the government, engineers need to be U.S. citizens. “For recent graduates, we look at internships and other job experience,” says Millado. “Good communications skills are a plus, as well as some general knowledge and interests that go beyond engineering. For more advanced positions, we look for previous relevant job experience.”

Olumide Odegbami does product validation at Cummins
Olumide Odegbami is a mechanical/ product validation engineer at Cummins Inc (Columbus, IN). The company manufactures and markets diesel and natural gas-powered engines for on-highway and off-highway use.

Odegbami earned his 2009 BSME, summa cum laude, at Alabama A&M University (Normal, AL). He’s currently on track to start his MSME in August 2010 at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN).

Always interested in motor vehicles and airplanes, Odegbami set his sights on automotive or aerospace engineering. He got to test the waters as a summer intern at Cummins, working on emission solutions for after-treatment exhaust systems. His duties included mechanical development, system testing and failure analysis.

“This experience was tough and challenging,” he says, “but my dedication and hard work allowed me to succeed.” Odegbami also found out that he enjoyed the work, and he gladly accepted an offer of a fulltime job after graduation.

Odegbami’s major duties now are to complete standard engineering work tasks on various components and sub-components. He also does failure analysis and problem-solving projects.

Odegbami learned early in life that “Hard work, dedication and consistency are the keys to success.” He moved to the U.S. from Nigeria in 2005 and had to learn a new culture. “It also helps to do the right thing at the right time, effectively and efficiently,” he says.

John Deere’s Mark McKinley: internships lead to a job
Mark McKinley is using his ME skills in the agriculture equipment industry. He’d been aiming for the aerospace industry until he interned at John Deere Des Moines Works (Des Moines, IA) and got hooked. “I discovered just how complex this machinery is,” he says.

During his first summer internship, McKinley was a manufacturing engineer on tillage equipment. He worked on assembly layouts for non-motorized equipment pulled by tractors. “I got to go through different departments, see different aspects of the work and meet other interns,” he says.

He was so intrigued by the work that he came back for two more internships. During the second, he worked as a quality engineer on cotton strippers, motorized machines for cotton harvesting. “I found out that I was interested in design work,” he says.

So for his third internship, McKinley did design work on the air system for the cotton strippers, which included projecting the related ISO requirements. “It was a group effort,” he says. “I learned a lot from the other engineers.”

McKinley earned his 2008 BSME at North Carolina A&T State University, (Greensboro, NC). New he’s in the engineering development program at John Deere (Moline, IL).

In his first rotation, McKinley worked as a test engineer running lab tests on some of the components related to a project developing a new cylinder. He then moved to the seeding group to work as a design engineer on the frame structure of seed planting products.

McKinley enjoys getting into the field with the equipment and driving it for himself. “Farm equipment was totally new to me,” he explains. “I like seeing equipment I helped create in use on farms.

“Internships are always a good way to go,” he says. “The only way you can know what you like is to try it.”

Erica Dorfman works in quality engineering at Toyota
Like McKinley, Erica Dorfman enjoys seeing a practical application of her efforts. Dorfman is a powertrain quality engineer at Toyota Motor Manufacturing (Georgetown, KY).

As a sophomore, Dorfman had already set her sights on Toyota. “It’s known as a strong company and I knew I would be challenged there,” she says.

As an undergrad, she tested her skills at a small engineering design company where she worked with HVAC software. From that experience she learned that she wanted a hands-on job that would allow her to see and touch what she made.

Dorfman earned her 2009 BSME at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA). After graduation, she joined Toyota as a trainee in its new college graduate program and spent several months learning about the company’s history and manufacturing processes.

She is now in the first of several rotations, working with the support of a supervisor and mentor. She’s in quality engineering for hub machining on the brakes and suspension assembly line.

Dorfman finds her work really challenging, but very hands on, which is exactly what she wants. “I can investigate a part myself, get out the magnifying glass, scrape off the paint and really get a look at something and how it works,” she says. Her job involves frequent meetings with supplier sales reps and engineers. And she’s responsible for the quality of her Toyota-manufactured parts.

As one of the youngest engineers in her group, Dorfman says she brings a unique perspective to solving problems. “The other engineers will make connections to problems they’ve seen before,” she explains, “but since I don’t have that background, I can sometimes come up with a solution they wouldn’t have considered.”

D/C

Claire Swedberg is a freelance writer who lives in La Conner, WA.

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