President Rebecca brought the meeting to order with the usual ringing of the Rotary bell and all rose to recite the four-way test. Next, Bilky Joda-Miller gave her self-written reflection which centered on the path one takes to kindness, well done. John Dale Smith led us in the singing of the National Anthem, President Rebecca remarked how good we sounded this week, I am sure it had nothing to do with the DeWitt High School students being so close to the open microphones!
Linda Sarnelli circulated the giant microphone for introduction of visiting Rotarians and guests.
President Rebecca asked if anyone had any news on the health of the club. Met with crickets must mean all is well, which is always a good thing.
Special music was introduced by Meghan Eldred-Woolsey the director of the DeWitt High School Choir and Musical Theatre. Meghan introduced a half dozen of her students starring in their theatrical production of Footloose. The students were all impressive with their vocals as they sang two numbers “Almost Paradise” and “Heaven Help Me”.
President Rebbecca moved to club announcements with the first request for someone to take over the club’s Treasurer role due to the term limit of current Treasurer Jennifer Marsh. President Rebbecca announced that the club’s board of directors had recently approved corporate memberships with policies and procedures to come. Finally, International Grants are now open a link can be found in the Rotagram for projects to be submitted.
Bob Hoffman introduced our speaker Dr. John Papapolymerou, currently he serves as the interim Dean of Michigan State University’s College of Engineering. Dr. Papapolymerou spoke to us on insights of business industry and higher education collaborating for workforce and economic development.
Dr. Papapolymerou started with some facts about the current enrollment of the College of Engineering, with approximately 7,100 students, of which 6,200 are pursuing undergraduate degrees and approximately 900 graduate students. The college offers 12 bachelor of science degrees and 11 graduate degrees. In addition, the college currently has $71 million in research funding.Statistically 60% of graduates remain in Michigan, which creates a significant economic impact in our state. The college has a 93% placement rate for graduates entering the full time workforce. The majority of graduates stay in the Midwest after obtaining their degrees. MSU College of Engineering prides itself on students who graduate with strong technical skills, but just as important strong communication skills which assists in bringing employers to campus knowing these graduates possess the skills they are in need of hiring.
One of the current initiatives in the college is focusing on the development of artificial intelligence (AI) with an ethical emphasis on the implementation of this new technology. This is new degree offering at MSU that has been developed with input from leaders in the industry in order to bring the skillsets desired by the industry.
In addition to offering bachelor and graduate of science degree programs, MSU also provides continuing education to those already in industry. This enhances MSU’s corporate engagement, cooperation and collaboration efforts with industry leaders though out the country.
Other initiatives are aimed at current students as well as recruiting high school students gain more interest in what a degree in engineering, especially at Michigan State University. Some examples include competitions in solar powered vehicle competitions, a race car team and Star X team (think Ironman exoskeleton suits) to introduction to engineering days to recruit the next pipeline of students. This past year students competed in a competition for AI Indy race cars, which doesn’t sound like a big deal in today’s AI world with self-driving cars, but the technology requires really fast AI thinking if your want the car to go really fast.
After numerous great questions, the meeting was brought to a close by President Rebecca, with a reminder the club has a social gathering on Thursday at the Irish Pub, so if you show up at LCC on Friday it will be a lonely meeting and the lunch offering may be lacking.
Email for Tim Adams is: TAdams@manercpa.com