DETROIT — Around 30 students from The University of Detroit Mercy gathered Wednesday to kick off the UDM student chapter of The Engineering Society of Detroit.
Dr. Darrell Kleinke, professor of mechanical engineering at UDM, told the students that ESD membership had been “a real advantage in my career,” which included 14 years as a design and release supervisor at Ford Motor Co. before he moved to academia in 2008.
Dean Gary Kulek told the students that their engineering careers will be as much about networking and communication as they are about the technology of engineering — and that organizations like ESD provide great opportunities to learn networking and communication skills.
ESD Executive Director Robert Magee told the students that ESD will help them learn more about the vast array of career opportunities for them — right here in Michigan.
“It doesn’t matter what discipline of engineering you are in, we can expose you to great opportunities here in Michigan,” Magee said. “We have 140 corporate members. We are Michigan-centric. And we are the only society that is multi-disciplinary.”
He added: “Every one of our corporate members has many job openings. Our goal for you, when you go into your senior year, to have four or five job offers that you are trying to decide between. Our goal is to expose you to those opportunities. Help you with some of those 21st century soft skills. Your university will do a great job in educating you on the technical aspects of engineering. We want to expose you to what that is going to look like in the real world.”
The chapter has already elected its leadership — president Shannon Donahue, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, and vice presidents Zachary Arnold, a sophomore electrical engineering major, Melissa Ramirez, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, and Elliott Fernandes, a senior mechanical engineering major.
