Engineering the Future Workforce

How do you know what you’re supposed to do outside of college? 

When students prepare to graduate from college, entering the workforce can be daunting. Sometimes it feels like you know it all, and other times you might not even know where to start. That’s why CAPSTONE classes, SAE groups, and Formula SAE competition groups are so important. These competitive design series involves designing building a formula-style, open-wheel concept vehicle to perform in a competition. 

In this episode, John Kittleman gives us insight into how these competitions go and what students have to learn. John is a GTA at Oregon State. His role is to help lead 25 students in developing the suspension system. 

Tune in to learn more about SAE competition groups and how they help develop future engineers. 

Some Questions I Ask: 

In This Episode, You Will Learn: 

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Everyone starts their engineering career at different places in life. 

Levi Zima, for example, got started at a very young age. His childhood was surrounded by technology. He even used Siemens’ CAD software Solid Edge at the age of seven. As he continued to grow up, he was given more and more opportunities to work in the engineering and wireless industries. Today, he’s a student at the University of Central Florida, currently studying RF and Microwave engineering. 

Throughout our conversation, Levi talks about his experiences with KidVenture, innovating new technologies for kids, and how his coursework connects with his internship at RF Laboratories. 

Tune in to hear how Levi combines his unique experience both inside and outside of academia to design new technology with RF Laboratories. 

Some Questions I Ask: 

In This Episode, You Will Learn: 

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Oftentimes, engineering classes focus solely on the hard skills of manufacturing. 

But what about the soft skills? 

More and more often, employers and professors are finding that students need to sharpen their soft skills to be successful in the workplace, such as having tough conversations, learning to be collaborative, and how to redirect behaviors that are not productive on collaborative teams. 

In this episode, Dr. Mary Pilotte of Purdue University explains this need for soft skills and shares some of Purdue’s strategy to stop the soft skills shortage in the workplace. It all comes down to multidisciplinary engineering, such as theater engineering. What makes theater engineering different is that it incorporates statistics, dynamics, and other hands-on practical design experiences—including creating engineering structures or systems to support live performing arts and entertainment. 

So, tune in to hear how some of the best and brightest in academia are finding new ways to teach students the soft skills they need to create a more productive and positive environment in the workplace. 

Some Questions I Ask: 

In This Episode, You Will Learn: 

Connect with Dr. Mary Pilotte: 

LinkedIn

Resources: 

Millennial Reset by Dr. Mary Pilotte

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800 years ago, the purpose of getting a university-level education was vastly different from what it’s become today. Back then, everybody was seen as a generalist. Now, everyone is hyper-specialized in one or two areas, yet many are not able to recover from the inevitabilities of disruption. 

The only way to offset disruption in employability is by helping students understand humans. To make real change, it’s crucial to leverage the real disciplinary competencies that we have in the humanities, arts, professional disciplines like business and engineering, social sciences, and sciences.  

Ishwar Puri is the Dean of Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University. Together, we discuss how the school is disrupting curricula to improve engineering education, and how he’s helping lead academic institutions to develop robot-proof graduates through disruptive innovation, closing skill gaps, and strengthening graduate employability. 

So, tune in to hear some of the brightest minds in engineering education share insights and best practices to empower the next generation of digital talent. 

Some Questions I Ask: 

In This Episode, You Will Learn: 

Connect with Ishwar Puri:

LinkedIn

Resources: 

“How the university can save itself – from itself” by Ishwar Puri and Leonard Waverman

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Most engineering students learn from hands-on experiences, but more often than not the only “experiences” they get are classroom lectures. 

This is why Parikshit Borgowda, a graduate student engineer, is driving changes in the engineering curriculum at a top university. He integrates practical examples and real-world applications to drive change on campus. He developed an entire crash course for students to use in order to learn Siemens software. 

So, listen to this crash course in Siemens software to learn how Parikshit Borgowda is exponentially helping engineering students get a leg up in their studies and work. 

Questions I Ask: 

In This Episode, You Will Learn: 

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As a student, you want to get as much knowledge as you can, before actually going into the workforce, but not many Universities offer you this chance.

The University of Cincinnati is one of the only colleges in the United States that has co-op programs and gives the students the possibility of graduating with two and a half years of work experience. Through the Academic Partnership Program, Siemens is collaborating with UC, offering students summer internships, thus giving them the chance to apply the information they learn in school.

Greg Barker and Chase Ashby are third-year Computers Science students at the University of Cincinnati and they are benefitting the co-op program inside Siemens, doing software development. They will share with us, today, what it’s like to have this opportunity and what are the benefits they see, as interns.

So, listen to Episode 02 of Innovation In The Classroom, to learn directly from the source about the experience of actually working in your field, before graduating college.

Questions I ask:

In this episode, you will learn:

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The college world is filled with organizations that try to provide development opportunities for the students, and BEST is no exception. They try to provide complimentary education through different courses, they have competitions that connect students with real-world challenges, and every year, they hold events to raise awareness on the importance of learning.

Antonia Nanau is the former president of BEST, which is a European Student Organization that represents nearly 96 technical Universities in 34 countries. She is currently in her final year as a student at the Politehnica University of Bucharest, following an engineering degree in Information Engineering.

Listen to the First Episode of Innovation In The Classroom, to learn about this innovation-driven organization that helps engineering students to develop their skills.

Questions I ask:

In this episode you will learn:

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