Laid-off engineers learning new skills
Classes focus on hybrids and electrics
BY MARK PHELAN • FREE PRESS AUTO CRITIC • February 12, 2009
A free class in hybrid and electric vehicle development offered to out-of-work engineers could become a model as Michigan tries to keep its skilled workforce from leaving the state.
About 60 engineers from their 20s to their 50s just began the class, which is a joint effort by Michigan Technological University, the Engineering Society of Detroit and General Motors.
"This is an opportunity to put some new skills in my toolbox," said Kimberly Calloway, 38, of Southfield, a 15-year electrical engineer Ford laid off in August. "I'll add the certificate from the class to my résumé. It will give me an advantage when I'm interviewing."
In addition to lectures, homework and tests, the class includes a final project in which teams of students compete to boost a current GM hybrid's fuel economy by one mile per gallon.
"These are the skills companies are looking for," said Jim Turnquist, Michigan Tech director of career services. "I'm getting more requests for very specific skill sets" from automakers and suppliers hiring engineers. "This is the future."
Terry Woychowski, GM's executive director of engineering staffs, came up with the idea for the class late last year.
GM and other automakers and suppliers were laying off experienced engineers to cut costs, but were desperately looking for other engineers with the new skills required to develop hybrid and electric vehicles.
"This is the growth area" in the auto industry, Woychowski said. "Giving them experience in this makes them more employable. We want to offer engineers who've invested their lives in the auto industry and this community a chance to contribute."
Engineers traditionally specialize in a single system -- anything from brakes and engines to climate control systems.
Those separate systems are then put together to create a vehicle. The complex nature of hybrids and electric vehicles, however, requires all the systems to be developed and optimized together.
"Engineers today need interdisciplinary skills," said Jeff Naber, Michigan Tech associate director of advanced propulsion systems, and the lead instructor for the class. "We looked at the job requirements in this field and built a class to help get them up to speed."
The 14-week class will give the engineers a certificate of completion and three credits toward a master's degree in advanced propulsion systems from Michigan Tech.
It consists of 14 two-hour televised lectures by Michigan Tech faculty -- shown in the Engineering Society of Detroit's Southfield offices -- and three one-day, 10-hour lab sessions at GM facilities where the automaker will provide hybrid vehicles for hands-on experience. Three dozen more students are taking the class at MTU's campus in Houghton in the Upper Peninsula.
"A lot of people are unemployed," said Dwayne Alexander, 27, of Detroit, an engineer GM laid off in July. "This class will take me a step closer to what I want to accomplish: being a hybrid development engineer. I hope this leads to a job."
The Engineering Society of Detroit is talking with every other major university in the state and the Department of Labor and Economic Growth to see about offering similar "compressed learning" courses in other engineering fields, said Ron Smith, ESD director of education and community outreach.
"One of Michigan's best assets is our huge pool of engineers," Smith said. "In the knowledge economy, they're our greatest wealth."
Contact MARK PHELAN at 313-222-6731 or phelan@freepress.com.
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