TechCentury v.25 n.2 - Fall 2020

A PUBLICATION OF THE ENGINEERING SOCIETY OF DETROIT

V.25 | N.2 AUTUMN 2020

DTE Energy Partners for Diversity

Ninth Grade Girls in Engineering at EMU 20

Reopening a Business During COVID-19 24

Creating Better Communicators and Readers

28

UP POWER UP your career

Master’s Degrees | Graduate Certificates | Degree Completion

Architecture and Design | Arts and Sciences | Business and Information Technology | Engineering

ltu.edu/powerup ltu.edu/applyfree

Southfield, Michigan

Possible is everything

ESD’s Girls in Engineering Academy celebrated outdoors with participants who completed the program. See page 21.

Technology Century

®

A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E E N G I N E E R I N G S O C I E T Y O F D E T R O I T

AUTUMN 2020 V.25 | N.2

FEATURES 13

16

Back to School: Pandemic Makes Technology Essential at Michigan Universities

BY SUSAN THWING

Partnering for Diversity—DTE and ESD: Addressing a Complex Problem the STEM World is Having Trouble Solving

20 Detroit Ninth Grade Girls Put STEM to the Test: ESD’s Girls in Engineering Academy at EMU

Cover: Popy Aziz, a former DTE co-op now employee is a FIRST Robotics alumna and mentor—one of several youth programs DTE sponsors to foster diversity within STEM. See article on page 16.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10

ESD CORPORATE MEMBERS PUBLICATION NOTES PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE IN THE NEWS IN MEMORIAM HONORS, SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS UPCOMING EVENTS ESD HAPPENINGS

BY MORGAN MARK

22

It Takes Tenacity: MTU Adjusting Labs, Classes in Response to COVID-19

24

BY KELLEY CHRISTENSEN

Ethics in Engineering: Re-Opening a Business During COVID

BY LARRY SAK

26

Leading Virtual Projects with NO LIMITS

28

Communication in Engineering

31

Right Brain or Left Brain? When Art and Science Combine

BY WILLIAM A. MOYLAN

ARTICLES BY WILLIAM A MOYLAN AND BRUCE J. ANNETT

BY THOMAS M. DORAN

T H E E N G I N E E R I N G S O C I E T Y O F D E T R O I T esd.org | 1

ESD SUSTAINING AND CORPORATE MEMBER COMPANIES

SUSTAINING MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MEMBERS

AKT Peerless Environmental Services Altair Engineering American Axle Manufacturing American Center for Educational and Professional Services American Society of Employers Aristeo Construction AVL North America The Bartech Group Barton Malow Company Brightwing Central Michigan University Chrysan Industries Citizens Insurance Clark Hill, PLC CMS Enterprises Comfort Engineering Solutions, LLC Construction Association of Michigan Cornerstone Environmental Group, LLC CPCII Credit Union ONE CulturecliQ Danlaw, Inc. DASI Solutions DENSO International America, Inc. Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau Detroit Transportation Corporation Dow Chemical Company DTE Energy DTE Energy Gas Operations Dürr Systems, Inc. Eastern Michigan University Education Planning Resources, Inc. Electrical Resources Company Electro-Matic Products, Inc. Energy Sciences Experis Farbman Group Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Financial One, Inc. FirstMerit Bank Fishman Stewart PLLC Fusion Welding Solutions Gala & Associates, Inc. Gates Corporation GHD

General Dynamics General Motors Company Gensler George W. Auch Company Ghafari Associates, LLC Glenn E. Wash & Associates, Inc. Golder Associates Inc. Gonzalez Contingent Workforce Services GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. Harley Ellis Devereaux Hartland Insurance Group, Inc. Hindsight Consulting, Inc. Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc. The Hunter Group LLC IBI Group Ideal Contracting Integrity Staffing Group, Inc. ITT Technical Institute Canton ITT Technical Institute Dearborn IBEW Local 58 & NECA LMCC JNA Partners, Inc. Jozwiak Consulting, Inc. JTL America, Inc. Kettering University Kitch Drutchas Wagner Valitutti and Sherbrook, PC Knovalent, Inc. Kolene Corporation Kostal North America Kugler Maag CIE North America Lake Superior State University Lawrence Technological University LHP Software Limbach Company, Inc. Link Engineering Co. LTI Information Technology Macomb Community College Maner, Costerisan & Ellis, PC Makino McNaughton-McKay Electric Company Meritor MEDA Engineering & Technical Services MICCO Construction Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters Michigan State University Michigan Technological University

Midwest Steel Inc. Mitsubishi Motors R&D of America, Inc. Monroe Environmental Corporation Myron Zucker, Inc. Neumann/Smith Architecture Newman Consulting Group, LLC NORR Architects Engineers Planners Northern Industrial Manufacturing Corp.

NTH Consultants, Ltd. O’Brien and Gere Oakland University Optech LLC Orbitak International, LLC Original Equipment Suppliers Association Pure Eco Environmental Solutions R.L. Coolsaet Construction Co. Rocket Fiber ROWE Professional Services Company Rumford Industrial Group Ruby+Associates, Inc. SEGULA Technologies Saginaw Valley State University Special Multi Services SSI Talascend, LLC Testing Engineers & Consultants Thermal-Netics TRANE Commercial Systems Troy Chamber of Commerce Trialon TRW Automotive Turner Construction Co. UBS Financial Services—Lott Sheth Farber Group Universal Weatherstrip & Bldg. Supply University of Detroit Mercy University of Michigan University of Michigan-Dearborn U.S. Farathane Corporation voxeljet America Inc. Wade-Trim Walbridge Walker-Miller Energy Services, LLC Wayne State University Western Michigan University Whitehall Industries The Whiting Turner Contracting Company WSP ZF

techcentury V.25 I N.2 Autumn 2020

20700 Civic Center Drive, Suite 450 • Southfield, MI 48076 248–353–0735 • 248–353–0736 fax • esd@esd.org • esd.org

Technology Century® Editorial Board

CHAIR: Karyn Stickel, Hubbell, Roth & Clark Sandra Diorka, Delhi Charter Township Utpal Dutta, PhD, FESD, University of Detroit Mercy

Linda Gerhardt, PhD, FESD Richard, Hill, PhD, University of Detroit Mercy William A. Moylan, Jr., PhD, PMP, FESD, Eastern Michigan University Matt Roush, Lawrence Technologicial University

Larry Sak, PE, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (retired)

Rajiv Shah, PE, ACSCM Michael Stewart, Fishman Stewart Intellectual Property Filza H. Walters, FESD, Lawrence Technological University Cyrill Weems, Plante Moran CRESA Yang Zhao, PhD, Wayne State University

ESD Board of Directors PRESIDENT: Daniel E. Nicholson, PE, General Motors Company VICE PRESIDENT: Kirk T. Steudle, PE, FESD, Econolite TREASURER: Alex F. Ivanikiw, AIA, LEED AP, FESD, Barton Malow Company SECRETARY: Robert Magee, The Engineering Society of Detroit PAST PRESIDENT: Douglas E. Patton, FESD, DENSO International America, Inc. (Retired)

Paul C. Ajegba, PE, Michigan Department of Transportation

Larry Alexander, Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau

Carla Bailo, Center for Automotive Research Katherine M. Banicki, FESD, Testing Engineers and Consultants Sean P. Conway, American Axle and Manufacturing Robert A. Ficano, JD, Wayne County Community College District Farshad Fotouhi, PhD, Wayne State University Alec D. Gallimore, PhD, University of Michigan Lori Gatmaitan, SAE Foundation Malik Goodwin, Goodwin Management Group, LLC Kouhaila G. Hammer, CPA, FESD, Ghafari Associates, LLC Ronald R. Henry, AIA, NCARB, Sachse Construction Marc Hudson, Bamboo Detroit Leo C. Kempel, PhD, FESD, Michigan State University

Scott Penrod, Walbridge Robert A. Richard, DTE Energy Bill Rotramel, AVL Powertrain Engineering, Inc. William J. Vander Roest, PE, ZF TRW (Retired) Terry J. Woychowski, FESD, Caresoft Global

Technology Century Staff

PUBLISHER: MANAGING EDITOR:

EDITOR:

Robert Magee, Executive Director Nick Mason, Director of Operations Susan Thwing

Postmaster, please send changes to: ESD, 20700 Civic Center Drive, Suite 450, Southfield, MI 48076. Technology Century® (ISSN 1091-4153 USPS 155-460), also known as TechCentury, is published by The Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD). Periodical postage paid at Southfield, MI, and at additional mailing offices. The authors, editors, and publisher will not accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made in this publication. The publisher makes no warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Advertisements in TechCentury for products, services, courses, and symposia are published with a caveat emptor (buyer beware) understanding. The authors, editors, and publisher do not imply endorsement of products, nor quality, validity or approval of the educational material offered by such advertisements. ©2020 The Engineering Society of Detroit.

Publication

NOTES Karyn Stickel Associate, Hubbell, Roth & Clark

As we continue dealing with the COVID-19 crisis, we have seen the engineering industry adapt to the changes we are facing through work from home models and technology upgrades. We appreciate the efforts of our healthcare professionals and other essential service providers in helping to keep the communities safe and healthy.

Our fall issue this year focuses on education, with a special emphasis on how DTE Energy has partnered with ESD and other organizations to work with young people to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in engineering.

Our education-themed articles focus on the future of education, and how universities and professors are adapting to the times with changing methods, connections and spaces for teaching. One such story is from Michigan Technological University’s MTU Flex program on adapting classrooms from in-person to virtual.

In the younger grades, we highlight ESD’s Girls in Engineering Academy.

As we continue to navigate the pandemic, we also have a feature on how companies are evolving, fostering a more spread out work force, and leading virtual teams.

Finally, please consider helping to support TechCentury—while taking advantage of the industry and business exposure you will receive— by sponsoring or advertising. By doing so you can share your industry expertise with our 22,000 engineers and technical leaders in Michigan.

We hope you enjoy this issue!

3

PRES IDE N T ’S M ESSAGE

Time Flies WHEN YOU'RE ENGINEERING

I

can’t believe it is already time for me to write my last column for TechCentury magazine as the President of The Engineering Society of Detroit.

I was the 113th president in the long history of this important Society, and it has been a great honor. The last two years have been an enlightening, educational and rewarding, yet challenging, experience.

ESD and the engineering profession itself faced many changes. From being highly involved in the challenges of our city pre-COVID to finding a new way to continue our work in this modified pandemic work world, we have adjusted, evolved and continued to make our mark on the future of Detroit.

But that is what makes ESD unique. It is an organization that brings together many different professions to work together to solve problems.

Representing the vast variety of engineering—civil engineering to mechanical to automotive to architectural to environmental and more—ESD articulates the vision of the engineering sciences to inspire others to become engineers, to support young people in STEM, and to create for improvement, change and a strong future.

We work together to adapt, find solutions and solve problems. Just look at technology in education. Online classrooms, virtual programs, and real-time simulations that will add efficiency, quality and effectiveness

to planning our future cities and communities are happening with lightning speed. In this issue, you’ll read about Michigan Tech and other institutions’ ability to quickly adapt classrooms to move forward during COVID. But as engineers, we began that journey to new ways of doing things long ago. Because we are always thinking of tomorrow. And tomorrow’s needs.

When I gave my acceptance speech, becoming the President of ESD two years ago, I said we should look to a future in a world with zero car crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion and make that vision a reality.

We can really do that in transportation and mobility around this city.

Also during my acceptance speech I asked us to imagine leaving a sporting event without the usual traffic jam. This vision was actually accomplished this year. Unfortunately, it was accomplished due to the low attendance imposed by COVID-19. In the future, we can do it for real. We can inspire our next engineers to take the baton and create that future city that is safe, secure and maneuverable with ease.

Because as members of ESD, we make things happen. Someday, the middle schoolers who are now participating in ESD outreach programs will be putting their marks on our Michigan cities. They are our future.

Thank you for allowing me to serve as your president.

I can’t wait to see what ESD engineers accomplish next!

Daniel E. Nicholson, PE President, The Engineering Society of Detroit Vice President, Global Electrification, Controls, Software & Electronics General Motors Company

4

IN THE NEWS DENSO platform connects facilities worldwide

Michelle Atto

Leslie Bonthron

Damon Boone

Ruby+Associates team expands Ruby+Associates, Inc. has added three new employees to their team.

Michelle Atto, PE, joins Ruby as Project Engineer I. Atto has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a minor in Math from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Engineering in Civil and Materials Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Atto is a licensed professional engineer with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Leslie Bonthron joins Ruby as Engineer I, Bonthron joins the firm after spending her 2018 summer internship with Ruby. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Engineering and Management from Purdue University in 2018 and went on to earn her Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering at Purdue.

Damon Boone is a BIM Technician. Boone joins the Ruby team officially, after working with the firm as a contract employee for a year. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Technology Management, magna cum laude, from Eastern Michigan University, as well as an associate’s degree in Architecture/Construction Technology from Henry Ford Community College. He is a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAMP) from the Project Management Institute, Great Lakes Chapter.

Altair Joins Avicenna Alliance Altair has joined the Avicenna Alliance, an international consortium committed to the use of simulation to enable faster and more efficient development of new medicine and healthcare solutions. Altair is a global technology company providing solutions in product development, high-performance computing (HPC), and data analytics.

Established in 2016, the alliance brings together stakeholders in industry, government, and academia to promote the benefits of ‘in silico’ medicine to overcome the prohibitive costs and delays often associated with conventional pharmaceutical trials, testing, and medical device development.

DENSO Corporation has developed a Factory-IoT Platform that connects 130 production factories worldwide with information technology (IT) and internet of things (IoT) technologies, based on the concept of “as if under one roof.”

This is the first in-house development of a cloud-native platform using open-source-software in the automotive supplier industry. The newly developed platform stores data collected from a variety of equipment at various production sites in a single cloud that can be used freely across DENSO’s organization.

By connecting factories around the world in the cloud, it strengthens DENSO’s global production system, enables factories to respond immediately to production changes based on local demand, and allows production teams to conduct real-time analysis of the movement of workers and operation statuses of different facilities. In addition, technical engineers in the field can incorporate digital power using their own software into the physical improvement activities accumulated over many years, which will further accelerate gains in efficiency, quality and cost savings.

ESD Fellow Kouhaila G. Hammer is President and CEO of Ghafari.

Ghafari among “Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” For the 14th consecutive year, Ghafari was named one of “Metro Detroit’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” by the Michigan Business and Professional Association. The annual awards program honors companies that are innovative in motivating their team members, excel at employee relations, and represent best practices in human resources. Ghafari will be honored at a virtual reception on October 27.

T H E E N G I N E E R I N G S O C I E T Y O F D E T R O I T esd.org | 5

IN MEMORI A M

ESD BOARD MEMBER

IN MEMORIAM With deep gratitude for their participation and service, The Engineering Society of Detroit acknowledges the passing of the following members:

MICHAEL CAIRNS Director of Global Design Integrity Fiat Chrysler Automobiles U.S. LLC ESD Board of Directors, 2017-2020 Future City Competition Finals Judge Member since 2016

ROY JERUE Senior Engineer, Fanuc Robotics America, Inc. Member since 1999

JAMES KNOLL Retired, Chrysler Corporation Member since 1965

THOMAS LEVITT CEO/Owner, Levitt & Associates, Inc. Member since 1994

6 | TechCentury A U T U M N

2020

Michael Cairns 1962-2020

Creative, involved, dedicated.

Those are the words that are often used to describe ESD Board of Directors member Michael Cairns, who died on September 7, 2020, at the age of 58.

Cairns served on the Board since 2017.

Cairns, who earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Western Michigan University and completed his education at Wayne State University earning an MBA, was Director of Global Design Integrity at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. As an ESD member and Board of Directors member, he was highly involved in sharing his automotive and engineering expertise with programs for young engineers.

Robert Magee, Executive Director of ESD, said Cairns is remembered as generous with his time and insight, and helping others was his passion. “He was an ideal Board member. You could call him at any time and he never hesitated to help with enthusiasm. He loved what ESD was all about and he enjoyed representing FCA to up-and-coming engineers,” Magee said. Cairns frequently hosted ESD staff and student groups at the FCA facilities.

“Whenever we would bring student groups for a tour of the South Plant, he would arrange the tour himself, and would take time out of his schedule to participate on the tour the whole time, answering questions and providing insight,” Magee said. “The college students really appreciated that. They loved having that connection and the introspection and expertise that he provided.”

Cairns was also highly involved in supporting the ESD’s Girls in Engineering Academy, a program designed to improve academic achievement and increase interest in engineering among girls. His strong belief in the need for GEA led to him being instrumental in securing a $35,000 grant from FCA Foundation to support the program, as well as encouraging department heads and leadership to facilitate and engage in the Academy.

“Michael believed in succession planning, in looking to the future,” said Magee. “His passion, innovation, dedication and forward-thinking will be greatly missed.”

Cairns is survived by his wife Rosemary Jakubiec and their four children. Memorial contributions may be made to Karmanos Cancer Institute in his name.

UP COMING DEADLIN ES

HONORS, SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS ESD Student Writing Contest

ESD Image Award

See article, page 9.

The ESD Image Award recognizes individuals who have promoted, publicized and enhanced the engineering and technical professions to the public-at-large through public engagement, mentoring, public speaking, authoring articles, and other publicly visible activities.

Nominees do not have to be ESD members. Nominators must be ESD Members. Nominations are due by February 28, 2021. The award will be presented at the ESD Annual Dinner held in June.

Nomination requirements and additional information can be found at esd.org or contact Susan Thwing at sthwing@esd.org.

DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 20, 2020

Gold Award Nominations DEADLINE: DECEMBER 11, 2020

At a special reception each March, the ESD Affiliate Council (made up of 94 societies) presents its most prestigious tribute, The Gold Award, to honor an outstanding engineer or scientist. Each society may nominate one individual; all nominations received are then judged by a group comprised of past Affiliate Council presidents.

Nomination forms can be found at esd.org. For more, please contact Elana Shelef at eshelef@esd.org or 248-353-0735, ext. 119.

ENTRY DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 26, 2021

ESD Honor Awards & Scholarships

SUBMISSIONS DUE: FEB. 19, 2021

Outstanding Young Engineer of the Year

This award recognizes a young professional under the age of 35 who has best distinguished him/herself in the engineering and scientific communities.

Criteria include education, work experience, and professional and community activities. Applicants must be members of ESD.

Outstanding College Student of the Year

This award recognizes an undergraduate student who has best distinguished him/ herself in the engineering and scientific communities.

Criteria include academic background, extracurricular activities, and employment experience. The winner(s) will receive a $2,000 scholarship.

Outstanding High School Student of the Year

ESD College of Fellows Nominations NOMINATION DEADLINE: FEB. 26, 2021

Help us recognize leaders by nominating a Fellow, one of the highest recognitions that ESD can bestow its members.

Candidates are selected based on outstanding professional accomplishments, leadership and service. They must be members in good standing for at least five years at time of application deadline. Full details and instructions are at esd. org. For questions, contact Heather Lilley at hlilley@esd.org or 248-353-0735, ext. 120.

This award recognizes a graduating high school senior.

To be considered, applicants must have a least a 3.0 GPA, plan on pursuing a career in the field of engineering or the life sciences, and participate in volunteer activities. The winner(s) will receive a $2,000 scholarship.

Applications and additional criteria can be found at esd.org.

For more information, contact Sue Ruffner at sruffner@esd. org or 248-353-0735, ext. 117.

T H E E N G I N E E R I N G S O C I E T Y O F D E T R O I T esd.org | 7

UP COM IN G EV E N TS

Online “Earning Your PE License” Information Session

NOVEMBER 2 & DECEMBER 7, 2020 Are you ready to set yourself apart? Attend a complimentary session and find out how you can earn your PE license.

Engineering professionals will be on hand to answer your questions and provide you with the information you’ll need to get started on your path to licensure.

The session will be held from 7–8 p.m. via the Zoom platform. The session is complimentary, but preregistration is required.

For more details or to register, please visit esd. org or contact Elana Shelef at 248-353-0735, ext. 119, or eshelef@esd.org.

ONLINE Live-Instructor FE/PE Exam Review Courses Holding a PE license sets you apart from other engineers. Licensed engineers also enjoy higher salaries and faster career advancement, and become qualified to work independently as a consultant or business owner.

For over 75 years, ESD has been preparing engineers to pass the PE exam required for licensure in the State of Michigan. Let our experience help you prepare for and pass the exam on your first try.

You’ll learn in a small online setting from expert instructors who have first-hand knowledge of the course material.

For details or to register for the review courses, visit esd.org or contact Elana Shelef at eshelef@esd.org or 248-353-0735, ext. 119.

Online Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) for Civil, Electrical and Mechanical TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS, FEBRUARY 2–APRIL 29, 2021

This course is for candidates planning to take the computer-based FE Exam. Classes are held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6–9 p.m. Contact Elana Shelef at eshelef@esd.org or 248-353-0735, ext. 119, for more information.

Online Principles & Practice of Engineering (PE) for Civil, Electrical Power, Environmental and Mechanical SATURDAYS, FEBRUARY 6 – MARCH 27, 2021

The PE review course focuses on problem-solving techniques to help candidates prepare for and pass their specific PE exam. Courses are taught by academic and industry professionals. Civil and Environmental classes meet 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Mechanical and Electrical Power classes meet 1–5 p.m.

Online FE/PE Fast-Track Review Course

TUESDAYS & THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2 – APRIL 29, 2021 SATURDAYS, FEBRUARY 6 – MARCH 27, 2021 This new course is for those ready to take both the Civil FE and PE NEW! exams. This fast-track course for will prepare candidates for Civil both exams and includes a test-taking strategy session.

Classes are held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6–9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

8 | TechCentury A U T U M N

2020

UP COMING EVENTS

SAVE THE DATE 2021 Events

EARLY 2021: Future City Competition MARCH 17: Gold Award Reception & Recognition APRIL 14: Solid Waste Technical Conference APRIL 26: Engineers Get Hired MAY 4: DTE/ESD Michigan Energy Efficiency Conference and Exhibition JUNE TBD: ESD Annual Dinner celebrating ESD’s 125th Anniversary JUNE 7: ESD Annual Golf Outing JULY 23–25: Campus Party USA Techfest

Visit esd.org for more on upcoming programs.

Attention Students:

We Want to Hear from You!

ESD ANNUAL WRITING CONTEST In an effort to promote and engage student voices and ideas about the profession of engineering, the TechCentury magazine will hold its 3rd Annual Engineering Student Writing Contest.

The contest is now open to all students attending Michigan universities and studying within any of the engineering disciplines or related fields. The top three entries will be published in the spring issue of TechCentury. The top awardwinning essay author will receive recognition at the 2021 Gold Award Reception and a $1,000 scholarship sponsored by Fishman Stewart, LLC.

Contest details

% The student will write a 750-word essay on one of three topics listed below. % The student must be studying an engineering or related discipline at an accredited Michigan university. % Entries must be received by close of business, Friday, November 20, 2020 via email to sthwing@esd.org. % The TechCentury Editorial Board will review entries and the top three essays (along with a student profile) will be published in the spring issue of TechCentury, both print and online. % The top essayist will be recognized at the 2021 ESD Gold Award Reception as well as receive a $1,000 scholarship.

Topics

Essayists should choose to write on one of the following topics: % How do you feel the COVID-19 pandemic has affected your engineering education, and how have you academically met the challenges it brings? % Why did you decide to pursue engineering (and your particular field) and how do you anticipate the work to evolve over the course of your career? % What do you consider the most amazing feat of engineering over the last 100 years, and why? How did it change the world of engineering?

Please send writing contest entries to sthwing@esd.org by Friday, November 20, 2020.

T H E E N G I N E E R I N G S O C I E T Y O F D E T R O I T esd.org | 9

ES D HA P P E NI NGS

ESD Golf Outing

THANK YOU TO OUR GOLF SPONSORS! PRESENTING SPONSOR:

Thank you to all those who supported or participated in our ninth annual ESD Golf Outing, held in memory of David A. Skiven on August 31 at Oak Pointe Country Club.

Proceeds from this event help to support ESD’s scholarship program for high school and college students, as well as ESD’s highly successful student outreach efforts, including the Future City program for middle school students, and our intensive Girls in Engineering Academy.

The team from Barton Malow took first place on the Honors Course, with the MarxModa team coming in second. On the Championship (Champs) Course, the Tri-Tec team came in first, while the Franklin Energy/ DTE Energy team placed second.

The Closest-to-the-Pin winners were Connie DeBord and Marcus Chandrapal on Honors and Maria Sedki and Frank Ray on Champs. Longest Drive prizes went to Alexis Cardoza and Thom Kubeshesky on Honors and Kelli Herman and Ross Preston on Champs.

For more coverage of the event, including photos of all winners, please visit esd.org.

DIAMOND SPONSOR:

PLATINUM SPONSORS:

GOLD SPONSORS:

SILVER SPONSORS:

The Barton Malow team took first place on the Honors Course. ESD Executive Director Robert Magee (center) presented the trophies.

®

COMMERCIAL CONTRACTING CORPORATION

SGCS

success through partnership

The Tri-Tec team finished first on the Championship Course.

10 | TechCentury A U T U M N

2020

ES D HAP P ENINGS

2020 Gold Award and Ann O. Fletcher Award for Distinguished Service Other Society Awards Presented During the Online Celebration: Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers % Bill Kearney, Outstanding Member Award % Samuel Wolfe, Distinguished Service Award American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) % Oscar Cobb, Distinguished Service Award

Dr. Arup Gangopadhyay received the Gold Award at his home, prior to the virtual event, where he delivered his acceptance.

William Moylan also accepted the Ann O. Fletcher Award for Distinguished Service at home prior to the online celebration.

The ESD Affiliate Council hosted its 49th Annual Gold Award Reception & Recognition program virtually on September 16, 2020. The Council represents affiliated technical societies in Michigan.

Arup Gangopadhyay, PhD, was presented with the Affiliate Council’s highest award, the ESD Gold Award, honoring an outstanding engineer or scientist.

Gangopadhyay is a technical leader in powertrain tribology in energy, propulsion and sustainability organization with Research and Advanced Engineering at Ford Motor Company. With Ford for more than 30 years, his research focuses on improving fuel economy by reducing frictional losses in powertrain and also improving powertrain durability through modifying surfaces of materials, efficient lubrication, and understanding the interaction between lubricant additives and

materials. He has published over 80 technical papers and has nine patents. A Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) member for more than 30 years, he is a STLE Fellow and has served as a Director on STLE’s board.

William J. Moylan, PE, received the 2020 Ann O. Fletcher Award for Distinguished Service. Moylan is the President of Moylan Engineering Associates Inc. and a 45-year member of IEEE. He has served as a member of IEEE’s Fellow Committee from 2007 through 2009 and was Chairperson of the Industrial and Commercial Power Systems department during 2003 and 2004.

He also chaired the group that rewrote IEEE’s Standard 143-1993, “Recommended Practice for Electric Power Distribution for Industrial Plants” and served on many of that department’s working groups. He has been an ESD member since 1969.

ASM International – Detroit Chapter % David Masha, Volunteer Award % James Boileau, President’s Award American Society for Quality – Greater Detroit Section 1000 % Monique Olivier Getzinger, Distinguished Service Award Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Southeastern Michigan Section % Candace Suriano, Robert Neff Memorial Award National Society of Black Engineers – Detroit Professional Section % Crystal Watkins, Exceptional Service Award % Cleophas Jackson, Exceptional Service Award % Kirsten Jordan, Leadership Impact Award % Adara Williams, Member of the Year Award International Council on Systems Engineering Michigan Chapter % Bob Bordley, Lifetime Achievement Award % Nathan Vinarcik, Student Achievement Award

T H E E N G I N E E R I N G S O C I E T Y O F D E T R O I T esd.org | 11

ES D HA P P E NI NGS ESD TREATS LSSU CHAPTER TO DINNER AND SUPPLIES

ESD Executive Director Robert Magee (not pictured) visited the ESD Student Chapter at Lake Superior State University in August to deliver them some welcome back gift cards for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and supplies at Meijer. The group briefly removed their masks to capture the memory in this photo.

SCHOLARSHIP PRESENTATION

ESD STAFF TRANSITIONS

On August 27, ESD presented Civil Engineering student Grace Zalubas, with a $1,000 scholarship for her winning essay entitled “Make It Work,” which she submitted to ESD’s annual writing contest. Zalubas was at Lawrence Tech when she submitted the essay and is now attending the University of Michigan. The presentation took place on the zoom platform with TechCentury editorial board members, ESD staff and Michael Stewart, of Fishman Stewart, the company that sponsored the award.

At a special online ESD staff meeting on September 3, staff gathered to say goodbye to Membership Assistant Ryan Ruffner (top left), to welcome Alexandra Lofton (bottom center), ESD’s new Program Coordinator for the ESD Girls in Engineering Academy, and to honor Fran Mahoney (second row, center) for 31 years of service to The Engineering Society of Detroit.

This year, Mahoney opted to go from full-time to part-time, working from home during the pandemic.

12 | TechCentury A U T U M N

2020

Back to School

BY SUSAN THWING

PANDEMIC MAKES TECHNOLOGY ESSENTIAL AT MICHIGAN UNIVERSITIES

I

t was no ordinary “return to campus” fall semester at colleges and universities across Michigan this year. Due to health and safety precautions associated with the coronavirus pandemic, leaders had to delve into creativity and technology to balance online and in-person teaching in order to begin the academic year.

Here’s a look at how ESD’s member universities used the latest in technology and “went back to school.”

Lawrence Technological University

Lawrence Technological University switched to all-online instruction when the pandemic exploded in March, moving nearly 700 courses online within a two-week extended spring break. Classes continued online during the summer semester, but students returned to campus for fall semester in August and in-person courses resumed Aug. 24. Students can choose from online, hybrid or classroom instruction.

Tarek Sobh, LTU’s provost and chief academic officer, said that 13 percent of LTU’s classes are offered online only, 34 percent are a hybrid of online and in-person, and 53 percent are in-person only.

But in terms of students, just 6 percent of LTU students are taking classes online only, while 4 percent are taking only hybrid courses, 22 percent are taking a mixture of online, hybrid, and in-person, and 68 percent are taking in-person classes and nothing else.

“Students are choosing what’s best for them, and as you can see from the numbers, there’s a strong preference among students for in-person classes,” Sobh said.

Sobh praised LTU’s IT and eLearning Services offices for “providing support for faculty members and students so this is seamless. I have not heard any significant complaints from students or faculty, and I think we are

Above: Students at Kettering University are required to take a health check and answer questions when they arrive. A green screen on their phone, along with their student ID, allows them to enter.

Top: Lissa MacVean, a lecturer in civil and environmental engineering at U of M, teaches her graduate course outside.

Photo courtesy U of M School of Engineering; Credit: Joseph Xu

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With a fall semester like no other in history, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, classes at the University of Michigan are being delivered in a mix of remote, in-person and hybrid formats. Herek Clack, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, teaches his hybrid Thermodynamics and the Environment course. Photo courtesy U of M School of Engineering; Credit: Joseph Xu

settling into a very nice rhythm of a mixture of online, hybrid, or in-person courses. This mixture, I think, is here to stay. Students and faculty are becoming much more comfortable with all these modalities.”

% Students were allowed to opt for all virtual if they wanted—the live-streaming of each class allowed for that.

About 8 percent of Wayne State University’s classes were in-person this semester. The rest were a mix between on-line and a hybrid model, with the virtual classes being either asynchronous or synchronous.

Officials said there were the expected hiccups along the way, but all in all, “it’s been a pretty seamless transition.”

“Our president, M. Roy Wilson, is a Harvard educated physician and an epidemiologist, so he understands new viruses perhaps a little more than others who aren’t physicians. All along, the decisions he and his administrative team have made together have been informed by science. His number one priority has always been the health and safety of the campus community,” said Ted Montgomery, Associate Director of Communications.

As with all campuses, stringent safety practices and guidelines were in place. For lab work, specialty computer labs were set up as virtual computer labs that can be accessed remotely. These computer rooms provide specialty software packages that are used for specialty courses. In addition, each live classroom was equipped with a webcam capable of capturing class details and a microphone providing sufficient clarity to capture audio signals.

Said Melanie Bass, Director of Communications, “As for the technology to make these hybrid offerings, we had a huge advantage in that we were able to leverage our state-of-the-art and award-winning Kettering University online expertise and experience to provide solutions in coordination with our IT department, faculty and other staff. The most significant being putting cameras and equipment in every class to be able to live-stream to students each one.”

Kettering University

Lake Superior State University

Wayne State University

Kettering University is unique in that it offers 11-week terms rather than semesters. Fall Term began on October 5 with a structure of hybrid offerings to students and continued remote work option for most employees.

Two modalities were used: % Face-to-face (with live video streaming) and virtual.

In some cases, students attend face-to-face sessions on an alternating basis to limit class size. The video live-streaming of classes enable all students to actively engage and participate in face-to-face courses and with their in-class peers.

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At Lake Superior State University, Fred Pierce III, dean of admissions and marketing, explained that “Lake Superior State University is grateful but not surprised that positive COVID-19 cases for us remain relatively low for the fall 2020 semester. Based on overwhelming preference from students and their parents, we decided to offer the fall 2020 semester as face-to-face instruction, after having switched to remote/virtual classes midway the previous spring.”

LSSU’s Return to Campus Plan for the fall term included the Four Pillars of Laker Safety to keep campus as safe as possible: wear a face covering/mask, practice

Lake Superior State University provides free masks to everyone who comes on campus. For students, the university created extracurricular activities and social-life options so they could adhere to the school’s Four Pillars of Laker Safety and Get Here, Stay Here tactic.

social distancing, enhance sanitization, and embrace personal social responsibility. The university’s Get Here, Stay Here tactic included regular testing, at no cost to students, faculty, or staff.

“Too, the Upper Peninsula is fairly remote and LSSU is fairly small, and so far, these additional factors also have resulted in significantly fewer cases than at more populous schools and in denser cities,” Pierce said. “Eighty-five percent of our fall 2020 catalog is face-to-face instruction. Prior to the pandemic, we averaged 88 percent. Any faculty member, student, or staffer who has underlying health concerns, who tests positive, or who goes into isolation or quarantine has been accommodated—has been given the tools needed to teach, learn, and work remotely. This has meant enhancing virtual capacities by purchasing additional laptops, adding online bandwidth, buying video software, and providing training on how to teach remotely, among other efforts.”

enrollment was down just about 1.5 percent with 18,651 students enrolled and more than 240,000 credit hours scheduled.

Fall classes reopened with a mixture of teaching methods, including online (54.54%), hybrid (10.74%) and in person (32.21%). About 2.51% students are working in a specialized interaction for limited students in specific majors.

As an added bonus, Oakland University’s School of Engineering’s ongoing work with Ford Motor Company led to a donation of 50,000 disposable masks to the OU campus that Ford created during their work with the federal government during the pandemic.

Oakland University

Oakland University ended its 2019-20 academic year by celebrating graduates at drive-in commencement ceremonies in late August. Combining traditional elements of commencement with adaptations to protect the health and safety of attendees, photos of graduates were shown on a big screen, along with videos of speeches from Oakland University leaders. Grads also had the opportunity to walk across the commencement stage in cap and gown, and receive their diploma covers at the conclusion of the ceremony.

As the new academic year began in September such safety precautions remained as part of the university’s ongoing safety and health plan due to the pandemic.

But students were not deterred. Representatives said

Oakland University’s School of Engineering’s ongoing work with Ford Motor Company led to a donation of 50,000 disposable face coverings to the OU campus that Ford created during their work with the federal government during the pandemic.

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PARTNERSHIP FOR DIVERSITY

DTE ESD and

Addressing a complex problem the STEM world is having trouble solving

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he science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields are known for being innovative, rapidly advancing and able to solve complex problems, with at least one exception. They can’t seem to solve the lack of diversity in their own space.

The STEM workforce is not much more diverse now than it was in 2001, according to data from Change the Equation—a coalition of Fortune 500 companies focused on increasing STEM education.

Although the demographics of the workforce throughout the nation are changing—particularly with a higher representation of younger and minority individuals—the demographics of STEM fields have remained largely unchanged.

The lack of diversity in STEM fields was validated by the Pew Research Center’s Social and Demographic Trends project, which found the majority of STEM workers in the U.S. are white (69%), followed by Asians (13%), blacks (9%) and Hispanics (7%).

DTE Energy and the Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD) have long been committed to the growth and enrichment of engineering. Their partnership dates to the early days of ESD when a DTE executive served as president of the organization. Since then, DTE personnel at various levels have been involved with ESD and many have served on the ESD board, including Bob Richard,

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senior vice president at DTE. More recently, this partnership has been focused on diversity in STEM to help bring about future diverse, well-educated contributors to the STEM workforce and ESD. “I was optimistic that we’d see more progress over the years, but the needle needs to move more visibly,” said Elvana Hammoud, an engineer and manager with the Major Enterprise Projects Group at DTE Energy.

“The picture isn’t as bleak as it appears because we are intensifying our efforts among youth. In addition, figures aren’t specifically available for some other groups, for example Arab Americans because they are classified as Caucasian. However, there remains ample room for improvement.”

Hammoud and her employer are actively trying to help bring diversity to the STEM fields to better reflect the changing demographics of the United States.

Among their tactics is engaging with aspiring STEM professionals through student workforce development programs managed in conjunction with Detroit area high schools, and through sponsoring events that foster interest in STEM careers. In addition, DTE recruits from southeast Michigan-area universities, which are rich with diversity.

Following is a variety of initiatives DTE supports to foster diversity within the company and the STEM world and the up and coming workforce.

DTE Supports Girls in Engineering Academy Girls in Engineering Academy

ESD launched the Girls in Engineering Academy (GEA) in 2017 with the goal of supporting girls’ continued pursuit of STEM-related study. The summer program hosts 6th to 9th grade girls from area schools and provides immersive programming including engineering career awareness.

DTE Energy is an original and ongoing GEA sponsor providing onsite facility and lab tours and meet-and-greet sessions with the company’s female engineers. This year, GEA’s traditionally onsite, in-person program moved online to ensure the program continued to shepherd 80 returning students and welcome 22 new participants, while doing so safely in the face of the ongoing pandemic.

Over the course of three days, DTE provided more than several hours of virtual learning that illustrated the breadth of DTE careers available to those holding engineering degrees. A diverse group of women engineers led the immersive programming, which virtually “toured” DTE’s wind and solar parks and highlighted DTE’s wildlife conservation and communitybased sustainability initiatives. In between, the GEA participants enjoyed hands-on activities and actively engaged in Q&A sessions.

“The picture isn’t as bleak as it appears because we are intensifying our efforts among youth.”

DTE’s Elvana Hammoud (lower left) welcomes ESD Girls in Engineering participants to the July 17 and July 24 sessions.

DTE Engineers Nisha Patel (lower left) and Kelly Johnson (upper right) offer real-world career experience to GEA participants.

The girls in the GEA program learned about DTE’s solar parks and then were given solar kits for them to continue their learning.

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Nisha Patel, a DTE engineer, mentors a FIRST Robotics team in southwest Detroit.

FIRST Robotics

One of the most well-known programs DTE supports is FIRST Robotics. Students work in teams—through schools or community groups—to plan and build a robot during their competition season. Robots are expected to perform certain tasks and teams compete in large competitions through their region and state. Not only is this a great program for fostering STEM careers, but students also learn about business, marketing, programming, teamwork and professionalism—skills that will prepare them for their future careers.

The DTE Foundation sponsored 25 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) high school teams and 25 FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) middle school teams during the 2019-20 season. These teams typically have barriers to funding including all-girl teams, as well as many teams in Detroit which have a diverse population of students, and rural teams that may have limited access to funding and travel.

Not only does DTE support FIRST through funding teams, it also sponsors district, regional, state, and world competitions. Funding can help teams get to these

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competitions where they meet other teams from across the state and beyond.

More than 100 DTE employees support FIRST through volunteering or mentoring. This work includes volunteering at events to make sure they run smoothly and spending time each week with students to support and guide them as they learn different mechanisms and plan and present their work.

Nisha Patel, an engineer with Renewable Energy at DTE, spent her first season mentoring a team in 2019.

“Our team worked out of a build site in southwest Detroit with other teams,” she says. “We see students from different backgrounds and areas. When they begin working on the robots, one can feel the energy that is created in the room. Building robots is not only helping Detroit students get exposure to STEM but unveiling career paths they didn’t know existed. As an engineer, it’s exciting to help them gain technical skills and watch them explore their interests in an encouraging environment.”

Juan Sandoval, a student on the DTE Foundationsponsored Cougar Pack team from Voyageur Prep High School in Detroit, says joining FIRST has sparked an

“Building robots is not only helping Detroit students get exposure to STEM but unveiling career paths they didn’t know existed. ” interest in engineering in his future. “Mentors in the field help and relate it to what they do in their work.

When I get to be hands-on it’s the best because I get to put things together and problem solve. When we were young, we started off building with Legos and making objects and the more we grow our Legos get bigger and heavier. FIRST stresses on it being a student-built robot which is awesome.”

Sandoval spent the summer working with DTE as part of the Summer Youth Internship Program. DTE regularly recruits students for its internship programs from FIRST teams it sponsors.

COVID-19 stopped Michigan’s FIRST season in its third week of competition in March. And although teams couldn’t keep building robots, they found ways to stay connected and work, including assembling PPE for the community. That kind of ingenuity is what DTE looks for in its workforce, and in future engineers.

Outreach to Historically Black Colleges and Universities

In the past, most of DTE’s recruiting efforts in engineering for colleges and universities had been locally-focused—Wayne State University, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, among other institutions. DTE leaders realized that in order to improve diversity in their Distribution Operations (DO) department, establish relationships with schools outside of DTE’s local footprint, and fulfill open engineering requisitions that are currently difficult to fulfill, they needed to do more strategic outreach.

With executive support, the DTE team developed a pilot program for outreach to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) for industrial and electrical engineers. Not only was DTE looking to diversify race and gender, but also skillset and curriculum. In these programs, DTE was looking for specific curriculum in power systems, power generation, and energy conversion

in order to set the students on a path to success in DTE’s talent pipeline.

DTE originally received funding for five students from HBCUs for internships. They’d house the students at Wayne State University while they spent their summer working for the DO department. Because of COVID-19, some students were not able to commit to the internship and DTE hosted two students virtually this summer—one from Morgan State University and one from North Carolina A&T University.

These students were given assignments where they could learn and complete projects during their time at DTE. They were paired with mentors within the department and held regular check-ins to stay on track. With a few weeks left in their internships, they presented to DTE executives, who were very impressed with their work. DTE is hopeful it can continue these outreach efforts to increase their talent pool and diversity within DO.

Engineering Organization Outreach

DTE recruits through various groups and events in order to seek out and provide career opportunities to highly qualified and diverse candidates in the engineering field.

Some of these professional development organizations include Women of Color (WOC), the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the Society of Hispanic Engineering Professionals (SHEP), and the National Society for Black Engineers (NSBE). NSBE holds several large-scale recruiting events that help DTE reach more than 10,000 candidates nationally. This year’s national conference, taking place virtually, enables outreach and engagement with conference goers, unencumbered by the need for in-person attendance.

Summary

Increasing diversity can help prevent a potential occupational issue for the STEM world. The Change the Equation research also found that the STEM workforce is aging. About half of the workforce in engineering and advanced manufacturing is approaching retirement.

More diversity in STEM fields leads to better problemsolving and expands the talent pool, which are important for long-term economic growth and prosperity.

DTE will continue in its commitment and actions to foster diversity and inclusion within the STEM fields through fruitful partnerships like with ESD and other organizations that want to join them in this mission.

DTE Energy is a Sustaining Member of The Engineering Society of Detroit. DTE engineers were founders of the Society in 1895.

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Detroit Ninth Grade Girls Put STEM to the Test ESD’S GIRLS IN EN GIN EERIN G ACAD EM Y AT EMU

BY MORGAN MARK

I

n July, 23 rising ninthgraders from Detroit schools took part in rich STEM-related coursework as part of The Engineering Society of Detroit’s Girls in Engineering Academy (GEA), hosted in partnership with Eastern Michigan University’s College of Engineering and Technology.

The academy was hosted virtually and emerged the girls into two courses, Introduction to Engineering and Smart Robot Cars.

GEA is a project-based, hands-on STEM/pre-engineering initiative program designed to start students as they enter the sixth grade and advance them through three years of summer instructional classes, academic year programs, and industrial experiences as preparation for entering high school, according to GEA program manager Dr. Gerald Thompkins.

“If we are going to ameliorate the gender and achievement gaps in STEM education and within engineering in particular, these types of programs are going to become increasingly critical for young underrepresented minority girls in our urban communities, like Detroit,” said Thompkins.

During the Introduction to Engineering course, attendees participated in brainstorming design concepts and observed 3-D CAD modeling of the engineering design and assembly. They were introduced to activities that

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Participants in the Girls in Engineering Academy at EMU gathered outside at ESD on September 18 to celebrate and receive certificates and awards for completing the program.

From left are: Dr. Emad Tanbour, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, EMU College of Engineering and Technology; a GEA participant and her mother; Dr. Gerald Thompkins, GEA Program Manager at ESD; and Bia Hamed, Director of K-12 STEM Outreach, EMU College of Engineering and Technology.

challenged their critical thinking and creativity, and their 3-D CAD models, which were developed by the virtual instructor with students’ help, were printed on a 3-D printer and given to the girls at the conclusion of the academy.

The Smart Robot Cars course required math, programming skills, and device design concepts. The girls used an Elegoo Uno R3 Smart Car for the hands-on project with their virtual professor. Throughout the course, the students were able to experience and learn to program Arduino Uno microcontroller using simple C language and how sensors receive, collect, store, and process

information from the environment.

EMU’s Emad Tanbour, Program Coordinator of Mechanical Engineering, and Qin Hu, Program Coordinator of Electrical and Computer Engineering, both played critical roles in making the event a success.

“On average, only 20% of engineering degrees are awarded to women—and only 3% are awarded to minorities,” said Bia Hamed, Eastern Michigan University director of K-12 STEM outreach.

“We want to help change that statistic, and in addition to our own STEM opportunities, programs like this offer us the perfect opportunity

to connect with like-minded organizations to bring these hands-on experiences to young girls in Detroit.”

The academy was created for the purpose of improving academic achievement and increase interest in engineering topics and careers among young girls. In past years, GEA has been hosted on EMU’s campus, with the girls living and dining in an EMU residence hall for the four-week academy. During their stay, they are able to participate in life skills development, mentoring, pre-college experiences, and engineering career exploration. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the academy was hosted virtually this year.

The academy is just one of EMU’s efforts to interest young women in STEM-based careers.

Digital Divas and Digital Dudes, bi-annual science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) career conferences for young women and men, are held in the fall for middle schoolers and in the spring for area high school students.

The one-day conferences give young adults the chance to connect with and learn from individuals in STEM careers.

The events consist of guest speakers and breakout sessions for hands-on learning.

Sessions feature STEM learning activities as well as networking with professional women and EMU students who lead hands-on workshops.

Both events draw hundreds of students from schools all over Southeast Michigan.

Morgan Mark is a Media Relations Specialist at Eastern Michigan University.

Girls in Engineering Academy participates gathered on September 18 to receive certificates in 3-D CAD Design and Advanced Coding for the two college-level courses that they took online at EMU this summer.

Presenting certificates and awards were, from left, Bia Hamed, Director of K-12 STEM Outreach, and Dr. Emad Tanbour, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, both from EMU’s College of Engineering and Technology; ESD Executive Director Robert Magee; Randall Tallerico, Chief Marketing Officer at Urban Science, a major sponsor of GEA; and Dr. Gerald Thompkins, Program Manager of ESD’s Girls in Engineering Academy.

Because of COVID-19, the celebration was held outdoors, with participants wearing masks. Beans & Cornbread: A Soulful Food Truck provided to-go meals for all the families of the girls who participated in the program. The girls attending completed their first year of ESD’s high school link program.

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IT TAKES TENACITY

MTU Adjusting Labs, Classes in Response to COVID-19

BY KELLEY CHRISTENSEN

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tarting immediately after spring break, all instruction at Michigan Technological University went remote, as it did at all 15 public universities in Michigan and hundreds more in the nation in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Though Michigan Tech prepared for face-to-face instruction this fall, university faculty and staff also prepared for a hybrid or fully remote semester. This hybrid model is known as MTU Flex, which allows the university to keep delivering the same high-quality course materials regardless of future action the public health situation may require to keep students and staff safe. If it means the university will need to pivot between face-to-face and remote instruction at some point during the fall semester, Michigan Tech is prepared to ensure that student educational experiences stay as seamless as possible.

Brave New World

When Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a stay-at-home order in March, Michigan Tech’s faculty and staff rose to the challenge of rapidly reworking classes and labs to a remote instruction experience.

And they performed admirably, with 55% of instructors later receiving teaching evaluations rating their pivot to remote learning as “excellent.”

In mid-March, a third of Michigan Tech faculty were certified to teach online; that number now stands at nearly 100%. About 400 instructors have taken a six- to eight-week course in online (asynchronous) teaching, and almost all other instructors completed training in remote (synchronous) instruction.

“The goal was (and is) for every instructor on campus to be ready,” said Michael Meyer, director of the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) on the Michigan Tech campus.

“Since there’s a good chance that every instructor on campus will need to teach remotely to at least some students for a portion of the fall semester, that means we are trying to get to 100% having taken one or the other instruction courses. We’re close. I expect that percentage will close to very nearly 100% by the start of fall semester.”

CTL played an enormous role throughout the spring semester in helping instructors transition to remote, but even before the pandemic began, the university had numerous online courses and programs,

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especially during the summer tracks. Students are well equipped with the tools for online success.

Additionally, CTL provides faculty and staff with resources, support and workshops to make virtual, online and remote instruction go smoothly (pushing the boundaries of online STEM instruction is nothing new to this crew).

Preparing for the Return to Campus

CTL has shifted its focus to helping faculty prepare for the fall semester. Because of restrictions to class and lab sizes designed to prevent the spread of the virus, many classes have been divided into socially distanced sections that attend class face-to-face on certain days, and participate remotely (even if it’s just from a residence hall room) otherwise. “This campus-wide effort is still very much ongoing,” Meyer said. Adjustments to campus include: % IT tested and selected technology to enable simultaneous remote instruction to reach students who could not be seated in rooms with reduced capacities. % The registrar’s office and academic departments determined the best modes for each course, and then shuffled rooms to seat as many students as possible. A number of faculty chose to teach online or remotely, and CTL has been helping them rebuild courses, consider models for testing and identify alternative tools for things like classroom discussions. % CTL is working to help faculty still teaching face to face learn about in-class remote technology and the teaching methods needed to use it best.

“For instance, having students get into groups is pretty tough in a socially distanced classroom, but pairing an in-class student with one or more remote students through Zoom can result in great breakout conversations,” Meyer notes. “Similarly, getting a camera to record and/or transmit through a Zoom session is tough, but a document camera can be a good substitute.” In a few cases, CTL has helped departments consider models for labs, from reducing/ splitting/alternating seat time to recording videos students can watch before or as an alternative to portions of labs.

“We’ve also been very involved in providing resources and models for all of the new conversations instructors may need to have around encouraging students to wear masks, maintain social distancing and

Shortly after the pandemic began, Michigan Tech created its MTU Flex website to provide a hub for all information related to campus reopening, how instruction would be presented in the fall (a hybrid model of face-to-face and remote instruction to comply with social distancing requirements), safety practices and other relevant issues including financial aid, counseling and tutoring services. It’s also where students found Michigan Tech’s Top 10 Tips for Fall as they prepared to return to campus.

especially for graduate teaching assistants who are needing to learn a new set of technologies to do their jobs,” Meyer said.

Lessons Learned

But what did the shift to remote instruction actually look like? And what lessons have been learned that can be applied to the fall semester?

Jaclyn Johnson, senior instructor in mechanical engineering, was one of six people featured in a Michigan Tech IDEA Hub/CTL Teaching Showcase Interview over the summer. Johnson was selected because of her ability to transition her large 2000- and 3000-level classes to remote.

Johnson said one secret to her success was asking for feedback on how the course was going early and often. Some of the feedback was obtained through Canvas, the platform Michigan Tech uses to supplement instruction.

“In the first week that we transitioned to remote learning, I did a survey in Canvas—What’s going well? What’s not going well?—so that we could make changes,” she said. “Asking for their feedback helped because then [the students] had a voice. They could give their insights about what does or doesn’t work.”

Johnson said the students had great ideas she hadn’t thought of—and wouldn’t have, if she had not

asked for feedback. Changes she implemented allowed students to take quizzes in groups ( just as they would have in the classroom) and implemented review sessions prior to exams (which she didn’t originally have planned for the classroom). Johnson said creating mini milestones for the course helped prevent students from falling behind. For example, students had to score 80% or higher on a mastery quiz following a lecture before they were able to download the data to do a practice session (similar to a lab) assignment.

Johnson also used the discussion board feature in Canvas. She said the discussion boards helped to create a sense of community.

“The discussion boards were highly utilized by students and helped answer questions quickly and efficiently,” Johnson said. “The pandemic pushed us to use tools we perhaps haven’t been using that we discovered actually have utility. And it was nice to just talk to each other.”

Finally, there were three key aspects to Johnson’s instruction that made the courses go as smoothly as possible: flexibility, communication and timely feedback. Some students had internet issues (Johnson herself had to sit in parking lots around campus to upload lecture videos) or illnesses, and Johnson quickly found it was better to empathize with students and the personal situations that impacted their learning. “This was a totally new environment for everyone,” she said. “It helped to realize not everything was going to be perfect. And that’s OK.” Johnson reached out to students who didn’t turn in assignments to find out what was wrong. “Taking the initiative to reach out to students who are noticeably struggling builds the relationship and helps them moving forward,” she said. “Being proactive in reaching out to students—I think even in face-to-face, that’s a good practice to have.”

Finally, providing timely feedback on coursework and exams and sticking to a consistent structure and schedule helped students manage their time, a skill that will help them after they finish college and move into careers.

“They learned about time management, motivation and how to stay on track,” Johnson said. “Even though it was not ideal, there was a lot of learning that came out of it that wasn’t academic learning. Students are learning how to stay on task, set up a schedule, keep some sort of structure even in an online class when there’s a lack of structure. I think the students learned a lot about themselves in this experience.”

Kelley Christensen is a science writer at Michigan Technological University.

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ETHICS IN ENGINEERING

Re-Opening a Business During COVID

BY LARRY SAK

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he National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Code of Ethics puts forth in its Fundamental Canons that engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. For many matters that present themselves to an engineer achieving this objective is straightforward, e.g., engineers shall undertake assignments only when qualified by education or experience in the specific technical fields involved.

Yet in these unprecedented times with the COVID-19 driven pandemic significantly affecting nearly everyone’s collective way of life, many decisions potentially affecting the public’s safety, health and welfare are anything but straightforward. Take for example the decision of when a business should re-open.

When I retired from FCA’s Product Development organization at the end of 2017, working from home was the exception rather than the norm. Fast forward to early 2020 when many businesses swiftly closed their offices and mandated that employees work from home. For those business that could utilize this operational model things appeared good and collaboration via virtual teamwork platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams quickly became the new normal. Data showed that early in this

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transformational period many businesses were able to maintain existing levels of effectiveness and productivity, while doing their part to minimize the opportunity for the spread of COVID-19 and subsequently protecting their workforce. For some, it even appeared working from home could become permanent.

However, as the Wall Street Journal reported in late July, a less favorable scenario is emerging four months later—with data showing projects taking longer, collaboration being more difficult, and training new workers a struggle—and even questioned if working from home is sustainable in the long term. What about those industries and businesses that could not switch to the work from home model such as manufacturing facilities, construction job sites, laboratory services, and retail operations? Pressure intensified on many fronts to re-open those type of businesses quickly, and many have, albeit with substantial modifications to operating procedures for the health and safety of employees and customers. Yet many businesses considered less essential—such as health clubs, theaters, and other dining and entertainment establishments—remained closed until recently.

As David DeCosse from the Markkala Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University has noted, the

question of when any business should re-open should not be answered without addressing the dual issues of risk and safety, and an understanding of engineering ethics can assist in working through these issues.

In an ideal scenario, an engineering project is considered safe if the risks are fully known and those risks are deemed acceptable. While there is not a completely safe and risk-free path to emerge and fully restart all businesses without a proven and effective COVID-19 vaccine available, there are still smart, scientific-based ways to approach this. Such scientific facts include how the virus is transmitted and how properly utilizing personal protective equipment together with social distancing can help offset the risks.

When clearly communicated in a reasonable, transparent, and empathetic manner that can be understood by everyone involved – employees, customers, shareholders—this can help them feel informed, more in control of their situation, and ultimately safer.

Yet as businesses continue to re-open this will almost certainly lead to some level of greater public health risks, up to and including deaths from COVID-19. At the same time keeping society closed indefinitely has its own massive cost burden, economical—as evidenced by the worst-ever second quarter US GDP plunge of over 32%, and also the physical and psychological offsets, so supporting a position of waiting until vaccines are developed, trialed and approved comes with its own significant downside. Ultimately, the choice of when to re-open business becomes less a scientific question, but more so an ethical one backed ideally by science—and specifically how much risk people are willing to accept?

As a new engineer at FCA, I still recall one of my first supervisors informing me that engineering decision making was easy if you had all the data needed to make said decision. In the current scenario, not only is one hundred percent of the data unavailable, but whatever path ends up being pursued will involve certain trade-offs when assessed against different value sets. After four-plus months of restrictions some individuals indicate they would accept a greater level of risk and associated health concerns (or even the potential of death) for the chance to return to their pre-COVID-19 life scenario.

Putting themselves at risk like this means putting others at risk as well—and based on solid scientific data with that decision more people are likely to die.

Robust scientific study and development will educate everyone further regarding infection and death rates and increase the understanding about how the disease is spread, how much immunity people retain after infection, and which treatment options work best for the severely ill. But people will get infected no matter when businesses re-open, and some of those people

“WITHOUT A DOUBT THIS TOPIC HAS BECOME VERY POLARIZING FOR MANY INDIVIDUALS, BUT TOO OFTEN DISCUSSIONS ARE BASED ON EMOTION OR UNVERIFIED DATA. THAT SHOULD BE UNACCEPTABLE TO AN ENGINEER.” will likely die. And even if we fully restart the economy, it will not be as simple as resetting the clock to the pre-pandemic situation. There will remain significant changes to how businesses and the public go about their everyday rituals, and life as we knew it will have changed.

In addition, during the Spring and heading into the Fall of 2020 the circumstances surrounding our K–12 learning institutions, those that are so important for providing a needed solid educational foundation, are perceived by many as critical. It is universally accepted that all children are being harmed by school closures, but particularly children of poverty and those with less opportunity for virtual learning. As someone who understands and values immensely the importance of education, this point remains particularly troublesome, and still without anything close to a universally accepted solution.

As I pull these thoughts together in late summer, I realize that the situation may likely be much different by the time you are reading this. New data, peer reviews refuting or reinforcing prior data, vaccine development and trials, and even election posturing and related decision making will accelerate.

Without a doubt this topic has become very polarizing for many individuals, but too often discussions are based on emotion or unverified data. That should be unacceptable to an engineer. Hopefully, this piece will provide some thoughts to consider that allow everyone, not just engineers, to keep the health and safety of the public—employees, consumers, and business owners—paramount.

Larry Sak, PE, was the Head of Materials Engineering for FCA US LLC prior to retiring in December of 2017 after almost 35 years with the company. He holds a BSME from MSU, MSME from Oakland University, and MBA from University of Detroit Mercy, and can be reached at ljsak@comcast.net.

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Leading Virtual Projects with NO LIMITS

BY WILLIAM A. MOYLAN

T

here is little difference in outcomes when comparing virtual project teams to co-located. Both follow a similar project lifecycle to create a product or service to successfully satisfy the needs of the customer. Additionally, the role of the project manager remains the same - leader, manager, facilitator and mentor/coach. In both, much of the project success relies on the leadership abilities of the project manager.

However, there are special challenges in executing a project through a virtual team. Differences include organizing the project plan, team communications using Information and Communication Technologies, and leading a team that is spread around the globe.

This article addresses these challenges in leading the virtual team and suggests ways to be successful on virtual projects. Leading projects virtually requires the NO LIMITS approach to effectively manage the virtual project and properly lead the team.

The NO LIMITS Approach

% Nurturing the project team to bring the members up to speed and encouraging excellence. The difference between virtual versus the traditional team is mainly in the interaction of the project manager with their team members. The lack of face-to-face contact makes interpersonal relationships, building trust and team cohesiveness more problematic. Since a virtual team is spread across time and space, the project manager will spend more time in building relational capital to harness the knowledge diversity of their virtual teams.

This may involve going beyond the immediate project and affect the culture of the whole organization. The upper management of the organization will need to understand the challenges and opportunities of a virtual environment and support it accordingly.

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% Out of Sight, Out of Mind syndrome requires keeping team members well engaged. Motivating any team requires developing a positive environment, properly recognizing and rewarding teammates, fostering trust and teamwork, and open communications. However, virtual teams contend with the phenomenon of an “ON-OFF Switch”; one deft click of a mouse button and the virtual world can be ignored. In order to address this syndrome, the project manager and team need to jointly build a team code of conduct addressing goal setting, task structures, and reward systems. Regular and structured project status meetings and team member performance reviews help solidify team engagement and morale. % Leadership appropriate to share responsibility while keeping control. The project manager, to lead effectively in a virtual project team environment, needs to build in early “wins” into the project plan, be self-aware, and empower team members. Effective leadership overrides the constraints of no face-to-face communication and virtual information processing.

A project manager who is ethical, charismatic and demonstrates effective leadership will yield solid goal setting, task interdependence and ultimately higher quality project deliverables.

Empowering virtual team members may be a substitute for having face-to-face meetings.

Delegating leadership helps with covering work while the project manager is absent, recognizes the abilities of team members, helps to avoid ego-bruising of team members, and may help team members mentor others.

Such member empowerment leads to improvement in team flexibility and satisfaction. Building a history of trust between members of virtual teams is a sure way of ensuring virtual project success.

“LEADING THE VIRTUAL TEAM IS DAUNTING YET DOABLE. THERE IS A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF CHANGE AND ADAPTATION TO MAKE THE VIRTUAL PROJECT WORK.” % Interests of team members need to be understood by the project manager to properly align their expertise with the project. Building community and understanding team member’s interests assists in project success. Running a virtual project adds new dimensions to a project manager’s skill set.

The project manager needs to expand her/his use of communication technologies as well as be able to work with team members from different cultures (both the professional as well as the regional culture) and languages. % Mind Reading, which requires laying out everything ahead of time. The project manager needs to put themselves into their team member’s shoes to understand their virtual work environment.

Understanding what information needs to be supplied up front for the virtual project to move forward is critical. This requires the project manager to ensure that all documents and artifacts are ready and available at the start of the project. Access to virtual software to assist in sharing and versioning project documents is essential. Checklists specific to virtual teams are helpful to make sure startup procedures are covered.

The project manager and team must be able to adapt to changing conditions during the project’s execution. Virtual teams must be as agile as the project market conditions that they face are dynamic.

Learning while doing by integrating new knowledge in real time. % Individualized Attention and Recognition of team members, paying close attention to team members on a timely basis. The project manager who hones their communication skills, can build trust and team member satisfaction within a virtual environment. Team member recognition is normally

transmitted via email in virtual settings. The project manager must use appropriate email etiquette when electronically communicating. % Tools including Internet and Intranet sites, enterprise and commercial tools on a free/low cost basis. There are many ICT tools available in the marketplace to support a virtual team project; such as, a dedicated team website, instant messaging, asynchronous discussion areas, video conferencing, and knowledge repository. The success of a virtual project depends on the communication channels established between the project team and the client; best to set up and implement early and then use continuously throughout. % Subject Matter Experts (SME) requires understanding their role and their value. Using SMEs can help fill gaps in the project manager’s and team’s knowledge and skill sets. SMEs can be accessible through a ‘yellow pages’ on the groupware web site, and/or open discussion forums.

Conclusion

Leading the virtual team is daunting yet doable. There is a considerable amount of change and adaptation to make the virtual project work. The critical success factors to virtual teams are information/knowledge sharing, participatory culture, acceptance of change, and training. The savvy project manager will use the NO LIMITS approach to empower their virtual team as they lead, surfing on the edge of chaos, into an unknown, exciting new future.

William A Moylan, Jr., PhD, PMP, FESD is a professor emeritus at Eastern Michigan University and instructs in Construction Management. Dr. Moylan also serves as a consultant, trainer, educator, expert witness and practitioner in professional Project Management and Construction Engineering.

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Communication in Engineering Toastmasters for Engineers

BY WILLIAM A MOYLAN

Question: How do you tell the difference between an introverted engineer and an extroverted engineer? The extroverted engineer will look at your shoes when they talk to you. Yes, a joke, but true.

Personal communications and human interaction are not, unfortunately, a strong suit of many engineers.

Although the engineer may be highly knowledgeable in their field and very good at interacting with their peers on highly technical subjects, many engineers tend to fail at being able to explain their ideas in simple terms to a non-technical audience. Engineers are great at talking amongst themselves; many are rather pathetic at communicating with the non-techies.

As Albert Einstein quipped, “If you cannot explain it simply, you don’t understand it.”

If the crux to gaining support for one’s technical ideas and potential award-winning innovations is through personable and persuasive communication with a predominately non-technical audience, then why don’t more engineers work at improving their communication and leadership skills as much if not more than expanding their engineering and technical knowledge? Moreover, would not it be great to be able to practice one’s public speaking on a regular basis? Better yet, what if this speaking practice space offered a supportive, non-threating environment that was focused on helping and encouraging the engineer to improve and succeed? And best of all, let us make it fun learning. Participation in Toastmasters International offers the engineer all this and more.

What is Toastmasters?

Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs.

Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., the organization’s membership exceeds 364,000 in more than 16,200 clubs

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in 145 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators, and leaders.

Everything in Toastmasters revolves around the member participating in a local Club. With a network of 16,800 clubs across 143 countries, the interested engineer is sure to find one near you! Most clubs have around 20 members and meet once a week for an hour.

Clubs many be sponsored by a company or organization with Club membership “closed” to their employees/ constituents, or, a community club with membership “open” to anyone interested.

Locally, the 107 Clubs of Toastmasters District 28 serve Southeastern Michigan, Northwest Ohio, and Southwest Ontario. Many ESD Corporate Members sponsor Toastmasters Clubs including DTE Energy, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors Company, Lawrence Technological University, Meritor, and University of Michigan-Dearborn.

The Engineering Society of Detroit itself has been involved in Toastmasters, leveraging its public speaking and leadership development programs for our members.

For 10 years, ESD hosted a Toastmasters Club for its staff, ESD members and friends at the Southfield headquarters locations. On several occasions, ESD members have presented the Toastmasters SPEECHCRAFT program, which covers the basics of public speaking, as a continuing education offering for Society members and guests. Many ESD members are also members of a Toastmasters Club.

Why Good-to-Great Engineers Are Involved in Toastmasters

Good Engineers need to be good communicators; Toastmasters Club meetings are great places to learn and practice communication skills. In Toastmasters, one

learns that the purpose of any public presentation is intended to meet one of four goals: % To inform % To entertain % To persuade % To inspire Engineers aspiring to higher technical, management and leadership positions will be faced with presenting in these various scenarios.

For example, presenting project status reports [inform], thanking their team for work well done [entertain], requesting approval of their project proposal [persuade], or, presenting the project kick-off [inspire]. The Toastmasters Club meeting provides the Engineer the lab / workshop venue for testing and practicing their presentation. Moreover, a hallmark of the Toastmasters education program is the oral and written evaluations of one’s prepared speeches. This feedback on the good, the not so good, and with suggestions to improve is invaluable.

Great Engineers need to be great leaders; Toastmasters offer many opportunities to develop leadership skills, from the Club level all the way up to Internationally. The Toastmasters tagline is Where Leaders Are Made. Learning to lead volunteers successfully requires tact, diplomacy, and skill. Leading in business situations (where people are paid for their services) pales in comparison with leading volunteers.

The Toastmasters PATHWAYS education program, comprised of 11 learning paths to choose, fits many common engineering leadership challenges.

These learning paths help the engineer develop five core competencies: % Public speaking % Interpersonal communication % Strategic leadership % Management % Confidence Confidence is unique because it cannot be taught, but it is gained in every learning path. The complete list of the 10 paths, with detailed descriptions, can be found at www.toastmasters.org

Getting to the Point

The astute engineer will be well served in their professional development and career advancement by active participation in Toastmasters.

William A Moylan, Jr., PhD, PMP, FESD is a professor emeritus at Eastern Michigan University and instructs in Construction Management. Dr. Moylan also serves as a consultant, trainer, educator, expert witness and practitioner in professional Project Management and Construction Engineering.

Henry Horldt, PE and LTU President Virinder Moudgil prepare to unveil and dedicate the Horldt Family Writing Center.

LTU’s Horldt Family Writing Center Helps Engineering, Tech Inventors Henry Horldt, PE, is a longtime benefactor of Lawrence Technological University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering in 1955. His latest gift: funding the establishment of the Horldt Family Writing Center, which opened on LTU’s Southfield campus in January.

“Many a good idea has been lost or forgotten because the inventor has been unable to write a descriptive article of the work,” Horldt said. “The exceptional professors at Lawrence Tech understand the critical importance of written communication, and because of this, responded by recommending a new writing center for students.

When I heard of this recommendation, I immediately wanted to help make their vision a reality. This writing center will give professors the opportunity to personally assist students with improving their writing skills, which in turn will build their confidence and support their career success.”

Horldt also made a significant gift toward the establishment of the Siemens Electro-Matic Industrial Engineering Laboratory at LTU, which opened in November 2019 and features a pilot assembly line and industrial robots.

After working for several engineering firms and as an adjunct professor at LTU, Horldt founded Leader Machine Products in 1972. By the time he sold the company in 1992, it had 75 employees and took up 33,000 square feet in an industrial park in Westland.

More about the Horldt Writing Center can be found at www.ltu.edu/onestop/hwc.asp.

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Creating Better Readers and Communicators

BY BRUCE J. ANNETT

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from Bruce Annett’s forthcoming book, Tomorrow in the Making, a treatise on Lawrence Technological University’s history.

Former ESD President Richard E. Marburger, now president emeritus of Lawrence Tech, had a goal of creating better readers and communicators.

In 1982, Marburger initiated a special alliance in the form of the statewide Lawrence Technological University/Detroit News Spelling Bee. Marburger had long advocated the winning combination of technical mastery coupled with strong communication skills. He, himself, took care in his writing, and as a 14-year-old in 1942, he had won the state bee. The News had been the statewide sponsor since the 1920s, but in 1981 cancelled the bee due to budget considerations and the formidable administrative burden.

Marburger proposed that Lawrence Tech serve as co-sponsor and take most of the burden off the News.

The partnership became an 11-year success story that ultimately ended only when additional regional media sponsors made a statewide competition unnecessary.

Marburger was not a fan of rote memorization of word lists but rather of building familiarity with words through voracious reading.

Former LTU President Richard E. Marburger wearing his ESD Fellow medallion in 2018.

“Our sponsorship emphasizes my belief that executive success requires executives not only to be technically superb but also to be articulate with an excellent command of the English language,” Marburger said in 1982. “By encouraging young students to start extensive reading as early as the second grade, youngsters learn how to write and how to speak. They learn both connotation and denotation of words by the context. Success in spelling contests is one indication of success in literary studies.”

Each annual bee involved students at nearly 2,000 public and private schools throughout Michigan. The logistics of distributing and collecting the contest paperwork and planning the succession of yearly competitions fell to Rosemary Hodges, Marburger’s administrative assistant.

To help build and sustain public interest during the three months of school, district, and regional bees leading to the statewide contest, the News agreed to run a daily newspaper column, BeeSmart, developed and written by Lawrence Tech’s Office of Marketing and Public Affairs.

The column, about words, their origins, and use, was popular from the start, but preparing 90 columns was a huge project to research and write each year.

With the work of preparing the columns already done for the News, and not unmindful that each one was branded with Lawrence Tech’s name, Bruce Annett, now LTU vice president for marketing and public affairs, soon extended BeeSmart nationwide by syndicating it to as many as 100 other newspapers and newspaper chains that were regional or state sponsors of bees in their area.

Annett wrote columns himself but wrangled many more from LTU staff with English training, including Eugenie Beall, director of placement, Patty Blenkle, media relations manager, and others too slow to say “no.”

As a result, from Alaska to Mexico and Guam to Maine, each year, millions of daily readers, including thousands of elementary and middle school teachers, used the columns to learn more about word use, definition, and evolution. As a wide-reaching public service BeeSmart received universally favorable reaction as measured by annual surveys of the participating newspapers, most of which renewed the service year after year.

Bruce J. Annett, Jr. is vice president of marketing and public affairs at Lawrence Technological University.

He is the 2017 recipient of The Engineering Society of Detroit’s Image Award for his promotion of the engineering profession.

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RIGHT or LEFT ?

BRAIN BRAIN WHEN ART AND SCIENCE COMBINE

BY THOMAS M. DORAN

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ight brain or left brain? Constructive or creative? At the extremes, artists consider those in the technical professions to be uninspired plodders while technical people see artists as undisciplined and frivolous, but the truth is, when human curiosity is cultivated and nurtured, creativity ensues in both the technical professions and the arts. Conversely, when creativity is subordinated to the strictly functional or to politicallydriven agendas both technical professionals and artists are apt to produce mediocre/uninspiring work.

Musician-scholar, Eugenia Cheng, a senior lecturer in mathematics and a concert pianist, suggests music took a different course when a mathematical breakthrough (involving the calculation of the 12th root of two) enabled Johann Sebastian Bach to compose preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys. Though Bach wasn’t a mathematician, he took full advantage of mathematical innovations to advance his music.

History is rife with people who pursued the theoretical and applied sciences and the arts. Leonardo da Vinci is considered a Renaissance man par excellence for his paintings as well as his many scientific investigations. In addition to Michelangelo’s great art, including the Sistine Chapel and the statues of The Pieta and David, in his 70s Michelangelo took on what we would today call construction management of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Beatrix Potter was a privately educated and well-respected natural scientist, with special expertise in mycology (fungi/mushrooms) and an author and illustrator of children’s books. Frank Lloyd Wright combined design, art, and natural features in the buildings he conceived. Right here in Michigan and the Midwest, we have many examples of Wright’s architecture/art, including Tom Monaghan’s spectacular example of Wright’s prairie style displayed in Domino’s Farms’ exterior, interior, and surrounding environment.

When talking about the arts, we are likely to think of paintings and sculpture, and perhaps music, literature, and poetry, but the arts encompass a broad range of endeavors: dance, model building, leaded glass, custom furniture, and many other creative enterprises. I’m amazed at the number of colleagues and clients who have pursued artistic endeavors while working on engineering, science, and architectural projects.

Developing creative skills in areas much different than one’s primary area of expertise (say project management) may enhance effectiveness as a project manager more than taking yet another course in PM. For instance, creative writing can improve communication skills, an area where many otherwise proficient project managers fall short. One of my colleagues used his drawing skills to present marketing products and project management processes in an entirely different and creative manner. In retirement, he’s producing beautiful pen and ink work.

The meticulous work another colleague applied to his custom-built model ships—I’m looking at one of these works of art as I write—made him especially meticulous about his wastewater treatment plant design work. And even if an artistic endeavor doesn’t enhance technical performance, engaging in very different activities can refresh, renew, and bring delight.

To bridge such diverse interests requires a lifelong interest in learning—education. Training in the technical professions encompasses many skills that can enhance artistic endeavors, among them, planning, organization, precision, and attention to detail, as well as the technical knowledge that makes one more comfortable weaving technical subjects into artistic endeavors—environmental science, physics, and archaeology in my own novels. Even abstract art can be grounded in something substantial, though it may not appear so at first glance. Picasso’s visual art and John Coltrane’s jazz may seem a hodgepodge T H E E N G I N E E R I N G S O C I E T Y O F D E T R O I T esd.org | 31

Our Environment in Verse

“CREATIVE ENDEAVORS CAN ASSIST US IN TAKING A BIGGER PICTURE VIEW OF THE TECHNICAL PROJECTS WE ENGAGE IN…”

A nineteen-hundred city The smell it wasn’t pretty Rivers filled with turds Too foul and rank for words And typhus had no pity.

In the twenties our waters still dirty For flora and fauna unworthy Coal soot in the air The air wasn’t fair And the same in the year nineteen-thirty.

World War in the forties concluded But water and air were polluted The sound and the fury Five years of worry The whole world convoluted.

until you look/listen closer. Technical training instills attention to detail, a valuable skill when a work of art pushes the limits—requiring three or four hearings of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme before I recognized the structure he’d embedded in his seemingly structure-less music.

Creative endeavors can assist us in taking a bigger picture view of the technical projects we engage in, asking more questions about why and how, and considering the higher purposes of the work, namely, good outcomes and beauty that enhance lives and communities. Yes, I’m aware that an emphasis on mere functionality and low dollar has taken over many endeavors in the technical professions, and even in the arts, but the greatest scientists, engineers, and architects didn’t believe this, nor did the artists who most inspire us.

Notwithstanding strictly functional or politicallyboxed-in approaches to technical and artistic projects, we can readily discover products of human endeavor where beauty and the good go hand-in-hand with functionality, such as Domino’s Farms, The University of Michigan’s new Biological Sciences Building, and Ford’s renovation of the old train station rather than pursuing the lowestdollar site and building.

In these days when discouragement and fear are rampant, taking up—or doubling down on—a creative activity can be a healthy and rewarding option. The better answer is right brain and left brain.

Tom Doran, PE, FESD, is an ESD Fellow and the author (as T.M. Doran) of Terrapin, Iota, Toward the Gleam, and The Lucifer Ego. His forthcoming novel is Kataklusmós. He was a principal at Hubbell, Roth & Clark, president of Tetra Tech/ MPS, and an adjunct professor at Lawrence Technological University.

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In the sixties water was treated But habitats they still retreated Lake Erie aflame L.A. smog a gray shame And many who loudly pleaded.

In the eighties yes we improved Industrial wastes were removed We had less smog And a few more frogs Toward progress America had moved.

By two-thousand water was purer Those Superfund sites were fewer Fish and animals anew Air better too And even the skies were bluer.

In the environment we’re still investing On our laurels we shouldn’t be resting Climate change a concern As forest fires burn But science is always questing.

Detection levels so low That we might think progress is slow But less chemicals and sludge Are Earth-friendly we judge And there’s more today that we know.

Eagles are on Detroit’s River And water has rarely been cleaner If we think things are iffy When we view history Our country is certainly greener.

—T.M. Doran

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DIVERSITY POWERS INNOVATION

When it comes to solving complex engineering problems, the more perspectives and backgrounds, the better. DTE can help.

We sponsor the Girls in Engineering Academy, connecting 6th to 9th grade girls to women engineers, as well as FIRST Robotics teams and district, regional, state and world competitions. And for internships and positions, we recruit through HBCUs, the Society of Hispanic Engineering and more. Because a more diverse field is a more innovative one.