EAST LANSING, Mich. - November 2, 2011 -- GE is collaborating with Michigan State University's College of Engineering to help train the next generation of engineers to address transportation-related issues for the future.
A ribbon cutting yesterday marked the opening of the Transportation Commons in Wilson Hall. MSU's senior associate provost June Youatt and Brett BeGole, product general manager, GE Appliances, spoke at the ceremony. BeGole also presented a lecture, "ecomagination at GE:
Building Innovative Solutions to Environmental Challenges and Building a Career in Clean Technology," to students, faculty and staff.
GE, a global advanced technology, services and finance company, is one of the first corporate sponsors in MSU's new Engineering Theme Partnership program, an initiative of the Engineering Residential Experience (ERE) and first-year engineering programs. ERE is a living-learning environment that combines intensive, hands-on classroom learning with co-curricular activities and engagement with leading corporations.
"As a company known for innovation, GE is excited to work together with Michigan State University on this innovative initiative to provide MSU students with real-world engineering experiences," said BeGole.
"Tomorrow's advanced technologies in the transportation industries like rail and aviation will arise from the imagination of these engineering students. GE looks forward to working with the MSU engineering students and providing the application insight that they will need to create solutions for our customers' future clean technology needs."
The GE collaboration will provide engineering undergraduate students with the opportunity to learn about transportation and clean technology-related issues confronting society today. It will support lab enhancements, student design competitions, mentorship and tutoring programs, field trips to GE facilities, and other activities designed to enhance classroom learning and prepare students to solve the world's toughest challenges.
"We must engage today's engineering students early on, immersing them in real-world activities that will teach them how to solve tomorrow's global challenges," said Satish Udpa, dean of MSU's College of Engineering. "This collaboration with GE will provide our students with an opportunity to brainstorm the technical solutions that will be so critical in the field of transportation over the next 40 years."
