Engineering Trends, October 2012

An article from Hispanic Business discusses a national push to increase the number of engineers in the U.S. through increasing minority involvement and changing the engineering curriculum to produce more well-rounded engineers. Dean Richard T. Schoephoerster, Ph.D., of the University of Texas at El Paso is among the leaders of this movement.

Dr. Schoephoerster, IA B ’85, summarized the impending crisis, “I was at a meeting (recently) that included the overall vice president for human resources for Boeing, that has 30,000-plus engineers around the world. He said that a third of his engineering workforce is going to retire in the next five years. He is desperate for engineers.”

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A recent project that included crashing a full-sized passenger airplane into the U.S.-Mexico desert is receiving lots of media attention. Cynthia A. Bir, Ph.D. (MI E 2000), is an engineering professor at Wayne State University and part of the team of researchers conducting the experiment, “so the researchers could watch every step of the crash and see how each passenger was affected.”

The project has been featured on the Discovery Channel and Dr. Bir has appeared on “Good Morning America” and “Nightline.” Click here to learn more about the survival lessons to be learned from the airplane crash-test experience

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General Motors continues a push to in-source 90 percent of its IT work, according to the Detroit Free Press. “GM has confirmed that it would open an Information Technology Innovation Center in Warren, MI, to streamline the automaker’s numerous software applications and data management systems.” A similar center was opened recently in Austin, TX. Read the full article

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