SOUTHFIELD ? Robert Magee, who last week was named the permanent executive vice president of the Engineering Society of Detroit, said his first goal is to make the 120-year old group a relevant and strong value for engineers throughout the state.
Magee, a veteran executive with 20 years of progressively greater responsibilities at AT&T Advertising Solutions, has served as interim executive vice president since August 2014.
?Young engineers are here, but are not as engaged,? he said during an interview with MITechNews.Com Editor Mike Brennan. ?They are members, but they are not sure why they are members. My goal from day one was to make sure ESD was a relevant and strong value. Two that we are in line with our vision and mission statement. And three to make sure we understand who we are.?
When Magee accepted the interim job last summer, he was told ESD fosters and promotes Science, Technology, Math and Engineering, more commonly referred to as STEM. But he discovered that ESD was not a promoter of STEM in the true sense of the word. He said ESD touches math and science as building blocks of engineering, but the group is really ?all things engineering.?
To remedy that situation, he plans to establish 25 students ESD chapters around the state. He already has done so at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, where the chapter has grown to 61 members. He?s also met with or plans to meet soon with officials at the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, University of Detroit-Mercy, Oakland University, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University and Grand Valley State University. Other chapters will be formed at Kettering University, Ferris State University, University of Michigan Dearborn and Flint campuses.
?We want to cover more of the state,? Magee said. ?Our engineers have spread out.?
He also is developing ESD programs for the state?s high schools. So far initiatives have been launched in Rochester and Oak Park.
?We are a mega hub for all engineering disciplines,? he said. ?We need to build a stronger engineering workforce in Michigan. We will do that through our student-outreach program in middle schools, high schools and colleges. Our goal is to have those individuals stay in Michigan and be part of the workforce here.?
Magee said ESD is all things engineering.
?We are the only society that touches all disciplines of engineering. We are the only society that is unique to Detroit, southeast Michigan and the state of Michigan. We?ve clearly defined who we are, our real focus and where we are going over the next 100 years. We are going to make sure we cement Michigan as the engineering capital that it already is for many years to come.?
Michigan has the highest per capita number of engineers in the United States, he said. The state, with a population of some 10 million people, has 61,000 engineers. California, with a population of nearly 39 million, boasts 64,000 engineers.
By 2025, the United States will have hundreds of thousands of open engineering jobs and no one to fill them, he said. If the United States doesn?t focus more on training professionals to take these STEM jobs, these jobs will have to be filled by non-US born engineers.
Added Magee: ?I want to make sure everyone in Michigan knows what ESD?s role is in helping shape the future of engineering.?
To learn more about ESD, Click on ESD.Org
