Forty Grand Valley State University Engineering students made the transition from student to professional as they were graduated Friday at the Eberhard Center on the Grand Rapids Campus.
The Order of the Engineer Iron Ring Ceremony is a commencement ritual for Engineering students, who are graduated later because they must complete a mandatory co-operative program in a local business. The co-op program lasts into the summer.
Each student receives an iron ring, placed on the little finger of the working hand, explains Jeff Ray, an assistant professor in the Padnos School of Engineering at GVSU. The practice started in Canada and is getting more well-known in the United States. It symbolizes bridging the step between training and experience.
Projects required of students in their senior year were recently on display in the Eberhard Center. All of the projects were designed to address actual problems and needs of area companies where students were assigned for their co-op programs.
Projects included a mobile testing cart for loudspeakers, designed for Rockford Acoustic Design; a system for testing catalytic converters for Benteler Automotive; and a system for testing rotors, designed for BFGoodrich Avionics Systems, Inc.
The importance of the course is that it gives interdisciplinary teams of students a culminating engineering design experience, Ray adds. The projects allow the design teams to learn and experience various aspects of leadership and management, which companies demand of their engineers.
Half of the graduates have already accepted job offers, and those remaining are in the process of making a final decision. Engineering students who have already accepted jobs will receive starting salaries exceeding $40,000.
