People/Career

Clemson students show their concept for Next-BIG-Thing in automotive design The prototype, sans body panels, was produced in less than two years. The six-passenger design, reflecting Gen Y social values, was exhibited at the 2012 SEMA Show. It uses a 1.5-L turbocharged four-cylinder for front drive and adds hybrid electric drive in the rear for power, economy, and all-wheel-drive capability. Read full story

For the ‘connected’ airplane, young engineers have right mind-set “I do a lot of recruiting. The kids I’m hiring now are phenomenal. They look at things differently. They’re energetic and they’re sharp,” said John Craig, Chief Engineer of Network Systems for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Read full story

JumpStart-ing your engineering career Currently working on the Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro, Jeremy Kearney is an Interior Design Release Engineer at General Motors Co. He also mentors GM's JumpStart Employee Resource Group and has been instrumental in organizing the Future Leader Program at SAE Convergence 2012. Read full story

Engineering Ram’s leading-edge driveline Planning and close supplier collaboration were keys, said Chrysler VP Mircea Gradu. Read full story

Navistar’s take on ComVEC, next-gen diesels Navistar is providing the executive leadership for this year’s SAE Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress, taking place in Rosemont, IL, on Oct. 2-3. Ramin Younessi, Group Vice President, Product Development, Navistar Inc., discusses how the Congress is shaping up and the company’s future product plans incorporating the next-gen ICT+ (in-cylinder technology plus) system, which adds urea-based aftertreatment to its EGR technology. Read full story

GM engineers hail move to kill VLE position, say 'faster PD' will result GM’s recent action to streamline its product-development process by eliminating 20 executive jobs is being praised within the automaker’s vehicle-engineering ranks. Read full story

Conti restructures growing software staff In most automotive electronics groups, the role of software has expanded rapidly over the past few years. As this shift evolves, many companies are devising new strategies to cope with growing demand. Read full story

Aerospace employment conditions for engineers improve; salary gains mixed Employment prospects and salaries have improved for the majority of commercial-vehicle engineers (including those in the off-highway industry) since the end of the global recession, according to the recently released 2012 SAE International Salary Study. Whether one’s salary went up or down depends heavily on where one works. Read full story

Chrysler raises its engineers’ stature with new Technical Career Path Program The new program establishes four levels of participation. It focuses in particular on the many “unsung heroes” in its Vehicle, Powertrain, Supplier Quality, and Product Quality engineering ranks whose experience, know-how, and creativity will underpin the automaker’s future success. Read full story