Quotes
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Minor: Enterprise Concentration
Student Status: Junior
Q: How does the Enterprise experience differ from going to class?
A: Enterprise is fun and challenging, and if you picked the one that works
for you, you get excited about it and you want to go to Enterprise. This
differs with the classroom experience because in class, you are obligated to
go and are obligated to do work and turn it in.
If you guys want more from her than just this quote or would like me to ask
her more questions, let me know.
Also -- if you need anything else, shoot me an e-mail.
--Cassandra Brabon
Sarah Schneider
4th year Mechanical Engineer
Clean Snowmobile Challenge and SAE
Some valuable skills I leaned from my enterprise are:
-Teamwork: we have team building activities 2-3 times a semester, there
are 4 different sub teams on CSC
-Communication skills: between member of my subgroup, with other
subgroups, with our advisor, with sponsors
-Creativity: we design and build parts that matter on the snowmobile, we
innovate parts that bigger corporations never think of
I am both a member of CSC and president of SAE. This gives me a mixed
experience of both teamwork (50+ members on CSC) and leadership experience
(over 140 members of SAE).
Being on CSC you get to design and manufacture quality parts. It is an
extension of your course education.
As a member of CPM, I have been involved with the Production team and the Basis for Interest team. I was the production team leader for Fall 2002/Spring 2003. As team leader, I was in charge of about 8-20 students. I was able to interact with several different majors and help provide feedback. It was a learning experience for me. The production team also worked with the business plan team to create financial statements. I was able to put my chemical engineering experience to work without having the worries of exams. If I made a mistake, I had several other students and the advisor to help me out. It was definitely a more realistic setting and gave me a chance to work in a team and also with KC's mentors.
This year I am the BFI team leader. I have one other member on the team that collects biweekly memos from all class members of CPM. Being a team leader allows me to interact with the Executive committee and give my input on how to better the class and make our project a success.
CPM offers many opportunities to students to have leadership opportunities and to hold an executive position. They can run the class, move around to different teams, and interact with people of different majors, which is how it works in the real world.
--Brandee Walline, Chemical Engineering senior
Being on the production team gives you a chance to be involved in a lot of hands on experiences. This team is one of many very versatile parts of the Consumer Product Manufacturing enterprise. The Production team works hand in hand with the Prototype-Testing team, and also many others. Once a product is developed, you have to opportunity to find the most profitable way to produce the product both quickly and safely. This experience is not only profitable to the enterprise and Kimberly-Clark, but it is also very profitable to your own education and a very strong resume builder. If you are looking to go into any sort of manufacturing position sometime in the future, being on the production team is important and will further both your understanding of the manufacturing/ production world and your career.
--Brooke Adams, Mechanical Engineering sophomore
One of the biggest concerns I had in my first few year of school was the fact that I was getting little to no hands on training. I was tried of getting the same old lecture that told me why things worked, but never showed me how they worked. One of the most important attributes we are taught as engineers is to challenge everything, and try and make things better in any way. How are we as engineers supposed to accomplish this when we get hardly any work outside of the classroom until our senior design projects?
Until I became part of the CPM course at Michigan Tech, I felt that same way about all of my classes. And being part of the prototype/testing team has given me the hands on, real world engineering training that so many companies are looking for. One of the biggest areas that seemed to gain valuable knowledge from was the entire process sessions. I have learned that everyone has their own ideas and thoughts when creating a project, and wants those idea incorporated into a project that is being worked on. Every time a new idea comes into existence, more than one person has an idea on how to make that initial thought better, or work more efficiently. Since this is what really happens in real life in a corporate setting, this has shown me how to not only communicate your ideas to be heard, but also listen to what others have to say since they could improve a thought you are working on.
Since no one wants to feel "stupid" at their first big meeting with the company chairs, CPM gives you the chance to experience this in a team of only your peers when your job isn�t on the line each time you open your mouth. I feel that this class, as well as its team setting, has given me a ton of real world experience that is going to make me an asset to a company upon being hired, not a shot in the dark on a person who has no experience.
--Ryan Camps, Biomedical Engineering senior
For the past two semesters I have been apart of the Production Team. Over this past year, my duties have included
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Finding a startup location somewhere in the Midwest for our baby bib grassroots plant
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Finding the break even sales point and unit bib cost
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Working on fastener application with other team members
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Researching possible machines for production of baby bib, and disposable blood pressure cuff
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Helping type a business plan/proposal
Working with the Enterprise has helped me become a better listener and shaped me into a stronger leader. The responsibility bestowed to each student has made me use my time management skills more efficiently so I can get my work done to help out other team members.
The Enterprise program helps you see how real life, business oriented brainstorming happens. The whole class is run by students, so everyone has a say in how the class should and will be run.
--Mike Baker, Chemical Engineering junior
Aerospace Enterprise
Students to Build Satellite with NASA Grant
“This [nanosat program] pulls us into another realm; it exposes us to technologies we’ve never seen before.
“I’m sure there are grad students who haven’t had access to this caliber of technology.”
“The program requires outreach, and the way I decided to involve high school students was to have them participate in the project. I didn’t want to do something artificial like a classroom demonstration. The inspiration gained by actually building a spacecraft will surpass anything I could give them in a classroom."
“Developing more energy-efficient and ‘greener’ automotive technologies has become a global priority,” said John F. Mizroch, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, U. S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. “Students competing in Challenge X are on a quest to deliver environmentally friendly, functional and fuel efficient vehicles that consumers want to buy.”
Larry Burns, vice president of GM Research and Development and Strategic Planning, said advanced powertrain technologies and alternative fuels play a key role in GM’s overall strategy to help decrease the nation’s dependence on petroleum and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “The vehicles developed by the Challenge X teams are right in line with GM’s strategy and thinking,” said Burns. “The real-world training you have gained though this program has given you invaluable engineering experience that has made you very marketable to the industry. In fact, GM has already hired 40 students from the first two years of the competition, and we intend to extend several offers at the conclusion of this year’s program.”
