Real World Engineering Detroit at Ford
The College of Engineering is collaborating with the Ford Motor Company to offer a trip to select students to participate in a site visit in Detroit. This program gives students an opportunity to see the inner workings of the Ford Motor Company and connects students with professional engineers for two days. Students can expand professional networks and gain insight into the types of work environments available in the automotive industry and in particular Ford Motor Company.
Who: All College of Engineering undergraduate students (including past RWE participants) are encouraged to apply. Preference is given to sophomore and junior Mechanical and Electrical and Computer Engineering majors who are interested in working in the automotive industry.
Where: The visit is full of activities that include tours of the plant and test track and shadowing in areas like Product Development, Purchasing, Software Engineering, and Research. There will also be opportunities to network with CMU alumni, get small group mentoring and experience the city of Detroit.
When: The Detroit program is not running in 2023. Check back for more details next year.
How: Applications are not currently open for this program.
The RWE gave great opportunities to network and learn about different career paths at Ford. The shadowing program was also very helpful because I got to learn more in-depth about a career that I wasn’t previously aware of.
RWE Ford participant
Here’s what a few RWE Ford students said:
“Just being at Ford for two days, I already got pretty deep into the projects, and they all hit home pretty close. Ford was working on a lot of projects, all of which felt like they had meaning and were great opportunities for those working on them.”
“Besides being a great way to network, this was overall a great experience. I would tell anyone not heading home for the spring to try and head out to Ford for an insightful trip regarding engineering, and work in general.”
“The shadowing experience really went in depth to what their work experience and work life is like. I also learned more about the automobile industry, which I had absolutely no idea about before the visit.”