Patti Perspective

Hello there,

At the end of a month in which gratitude takes center stage, we'd like to give our thanks to a group that doesn't often get much publicity: non-profit organizations.  Whether providing students with excellent STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education, preparing the leaders of tomorrow, or lending a hand to neighbors in need, these organizations benefit all of us.  In this month's feature article, we're highlighting a few that we have had the pleasure of working with this year.

In our spotlight, you'll read about Caitlyn Ulinski, an accomplished, gracious, and grounded junior at Kettering University.  She is the recipient of our Clayton R. Smith Memorial Scholarship this year.

Giving Thanks to Great Causes

Patti Engineering has the pleasure of working with some incredible organizations. We’d like to highlight a few organizations we have worked with this year and how they are making a positive impact on our communities.

Engineering Society of Detroit’s Future City Competition

Future City describes itself as “a cross-curricular educational program where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades imagine, design, and build cities of the future. Over four months, students work as a team with an educator and volunteer mentor to design a virtual city using SimCity software; research and write an essay addressing this year’s theme; build a model of their city using recycled materials; complete a project plan, and present their city before a panel of judges at a Regional Competition in January. Regional winners go on to represent their region at the national competition in Washington, DC, in February.”

In addition to being a sponsor of the competition, several members of our team participate as judges for the regional competition in January. It is truly impressive how knowledgeable the young middle schoolers are about the process and the issues that affect their “city.” We love that students have the opportunity to get involved in engineering from such a young age. The Future City Competition is an excellent program and a wonderful way for the Engineering Society of Detroit to give back.

Formula SAE Team, Hope College

Like the Future City competition, Formula SAE gives students practical experience in engineering as well as business skills. Formula SAE is a student design competition organized by SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) International in which a co-curricular group of students design a formula-style race car, raise their funds, build, and develop the car for a variety of dynamic events. Every year in Detroit, over 120 teams from all over the world attend the competition to get a chance to display their engineering and design knowledge, ingenuity, and creativity. Several of our team members participated in Formula SAE in their own college days and were bit by the engineering bug there.

We were proud to sponsor the team from Hope College in Holland, Michigan this year. Not only did the team launch its first complete car in 6 years, it also placed in the top third of all participants and garnered quite a bit of media attention including a local news story and a feature in a Hope College publication.

Boy Scouts Great Lakes Field Service

Likely the most well-known of these organizations, we support the Boy Scouts organization because of the values it instills. This year we participated in the Boy Scouts of America Dodge for Detroit Dodgeball Tournament, benefitting the Great Lakes Field Council. This event raises money to support the Scouting program for Southeast Michigan’s most socioeconomically disadvantaged youth. We’re proud to help out and support membership and programming for boys who otherwise might not be able to afford it.

Kettering University: Clayton R. Smith Memorial Scholarship

Each year, Patti Engineering sponsors the Clayton R. Smith Memorial Scholarship at Kettering University. Clayton was a Kettering student and a Patti Engineering co-op when he passed away at age 18. It is our privilege to support an electrical engineering student who demonstrates leadership and community service in his memory. Kettering University is the alma mater of several on our team, so we rest assured that the scholarship recipient will benefit from a quality education and will be well prepared for work in the real world. Our spotlight this month features this year’s recipient, Caitlyn Ulinski.

Kokomo Rescue Mission

FCA Kokomo teamed up with Mahar Tool Supply Company to create an annual charity golf outing. This was the first year, and they decided to have the proceeds benefit Kokomo Rescue Mission. Kokomo Rescue Mission serves the Kokomo area by providing: Men's and Women's Homeless Shelters, food for the hungry, transitional housing, and more. After speaking with the organization, FCA and Mahar learned that they needed new beds for the men’s dorm and updated bathroom fixtures. They estimated the project cost at $20k. FCA and Mahar beat that fundraising goal and raised $23,500. We were delighted to participate. Fair and Ethical Business Practices was one of the criteria we used to decide on our 2015 Customer of the Year, FCA US LLC Transmission and Casting Division, but this really goes above and beyond.

Kudos to these worthy organizations that are strengthening our communities and preparing the next generation of engineers!

 

Patti Perspective Spotlight: Caitlyn Ulinski

 

Speaking to Caitlyn Ulinski for just a few moments starts to make you quite optimistic about the future of the engineering profession. A junior at Kettering University, she is this year’s recipient of the Clayton R. Smith Memorial Scholarship, given in memory of a former Patti Engineering co-op student.

As she describes the litany of campus organizations she’s involved in, it is obvious that her participation is driven by genuine curiosity and pragmatic propensity to pitch in. Caitlyn’s interests are numerous. Her love of sports has driven her to run two half-marathons in over the last two summers. She is a member of the Society of Plastic Engineers, the Society of Women Engineers, and Greener Engineering. She is the President of the Electrical Engineering Honors Society, IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu and she’s in charge of the Capital Fund for the Finance Council for the student government, pushing her peers to invest its student funds in equipment and resources for clubs that will pay off for years to come.

 

In addition to her many school related activities, Caitlyn gives back to the community. She volunteers once a week at a women and children’s shelter, serving meals or taking care of infants. She often joins in with friends in the Theta Xi fraternity on community service projects from painting houses to removing weeds from parks. Caitlyn even started the first bone marrow drive at Kettering University, dispelling myths about marrow donation and registering 60 donors.

As a member of the Society of Plastic Engineers, the group is in the design phase of a project to recycle plastic bottles into cups and plates to use campus-wide in meetings and functions. In the Greener Engineering Organization, she is part of a team building an electric car to compete in their first Shell Eco Marathon in the Spring.

Caitlyn is also a self-described 3D printing hobbyist and owns her own 3D printer. “I spend more time tinkering with it than actually printing things,” Caitlyn mused. Still she’s managed to print a small collection of Star Wars figures, including R2D2 pictured here.

Although Caitlyn is passionate about the subject now, she didn’t always know she wanted to be an engineer. A “What is Engineering” class filled with projects and challenges in her junior year of high school piqued her interest. “It was an amazing class. It was my first opportunity to create something with my own mind.” Watching her dad, an electrician, further inspired her. “He’s Mr. Fix-It. I wanted to be like that- to be able to design, build, and fix anything.” The opportunity for real-world experience led Caitlyn to choose to attend Kettering University to pursue her engineering degree.

 

General Motors is lucky enough to have Caitlyn as a co-op for the duration of her time at Kettering. Caitlyn has worked primarily in Controls Engineering at GM, but is taking a turn in the maintenance department this semester which also allows her to gain management experience. “Working in an assembly plant is all very exciting,” she said. “There’s always new products being introduced, things breaking, and new things to build; there are new things to learn at every corner.”

After graduation, Caitlyn expects she’ll work as a Controls Engineer – at least for a few years. “It’s a dream of mine to own my own business,” she said. “It’s always been in the back of my mind.”

We wish you the best of luck, Caitlyn. We can’t wait to see where you wind up!

 

We work as partners with our clients. When you need an expert to help solve automation challenges, we are here to add value to your solution - enhance efficiency, increase productivity, and work with your team as a trusted resource. Visit our website for more information on our areas of expertise, or call us (248)364-3200 for a free initial consultation.

Thank you for your interest in Patti Engineering.

Best regards,

Georgia H. Whalen
Director of Marketing
Patti Engineering