The Zoom Meeting platform was employed to promote learning, as Manufacturing Engineering
Technology students from Ferris State University made virtual presentations to engineers
with Amerikam, a Grand-Rapids-based manufacturing firm. Four MFGE faculty members
were also judges in this program, which continued despite logistical obstacles presented
by the COVID-19 pandemic.The tradition of learning through presentations to professionals continued during
Ferris State University’s Spring 2020 semester. Ferris Manufacturing Engineering Technology
students made their pitch to engineers from Amerikam, in Grand Rapids, and their faculty,
by virtual means, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
School of Design and Manufacturing Director Mark Dunneback said their traditional
program with the manufacturer would include a factory tour and pizza lunch. The Zoom
communications platform replaced the programs he had taught during the previous six
years.
“Our 324 class students have been following this instructional path through Amerikam
for more than 40 years,” Dunneback said. “It serves as a gateway to their internship
opportunities, with some of our students receiving greater career exposure through
the manufacturer, as well as employment.”
Dunneback said Associate Professor Nathan Leatherman was the lead class instructor
and one of the judges for this year’s presentations.
“He did a great job accomplishing the goals for this program and learning,” Dunneback
said. “It called for our students and instructors to adjust quickly in a developing
situation, which is very much the kind of situation our graduates face in their careers.”
Leatherman said, in some respects, his students gained unique and valuable experience
by taking their presentations onto this virtual platform.
“A great deal more online research was required, as our students could not machine
parts, or put equipment to use in developing their pitch,” Leatherman said. “I put
my family into service, so we could provide measurements for the students’ use. We
were able to make these presentations on time, with only slight adjustments to our
regular format.”
Leatherman assessed the necessary alterations to their class and program as a “different
experience.”
“It did not diminish the value of the learning that our students received,” Leatherman
said. “While they did not take up the exercises in the laboratory they would traditionally
gain, they acquired credible skills in project management and flexibility as team
members that will translate well for them in their careers.”
One judge from Amerikam has unique experience as a former presenter. Quality manager
Manuel Vazquez is a 2011 graduate of the Manufacturing Engineering Technology program.
“It was definitely a different experience, both for the students and ourselves,” Vazquez
said. “I went through this exercise, with the professionals commenting and questioning
our work. I feel the students may have been spared some tension, with no face-to-face
presentation required, though we asked appropriate questions and took a critical view
of their work.”
Vazquez said Amerikam staff look forward to each year’s presentation by the Ferris
Manufacturing Engineering Technology students.
“It is an important, real-life exercise,” Vazquez said. “From my personal experience,
it provided the ability to put what we learned in the classroom to use, and to speak
with professionals about our efforts. It showed us how to put our learning to use,
along with presenting our selves as professionals and putting those skills to use
in the field.”
Teams of four or five 324 class students made 40-minute presentations on their product,
a brass plunger housing to three Amerikam staffers and four Manufacturing Engineering
Technology faculty members. The winning team included Brandon Docter, of Hudsonville;
Austin Garza, of Sand Lake; Grant Joslin, of Hastings; and Ethan Wagner, of Lake City.
Amerikam President and Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Leonardos made a $500 donation
in the name of the winning team to Ferris’ Student Hardship Fund, which was created
to support students’ affected by COVID-19 during the Spring 2020 semester.
“The program is a great way for young engineering students prepare to enter their
careers,” Vazquez said. “We will depend on these students as peers and contributors,
and we want to help them succeed.”