I’ve written before about the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP)—the network of fluid power research laboratories, academic faculty, graduate and undergraduate students at seven universities—that is making a difference when it comes to preparing a better educated workforce for the fluid power industry.
The CCEFP has created a 500% increase in the number of fluid power focused advanced degrees awarded in the United States, with almost half of its graduates going on to work in the fluid power industry.
One of those graduates is Jonathan Meyer, a former PhD student at the University of Minnesota, and now a Control Systems Engineer at Bosch Rexroth.
According to a recent presentation I saw given by the chair of the CCEFP’s Student Leadership Council, Jonathan says the biggest impact the CCEFP had on his career was his ability to present his knowledge and experience on the bi-weekly webcasts the CCEFP’s hosts for its industry partners.
“During my job interview, they said, ‘You obviously know a lot about hybrids, so we don’t want to ask you about that. Let’s see how much you know about construction equipment.’ And I believe I impressed them with my knowledge, just by listening to those webcast presentations. I realized then that every webcast is like a mini-interview since industry can see what you’re doing and how you communicate it. That’s probably the greatest thing in helping me get this job.”
Jonathan is just one of the many new faces in the fluid power industry who is better able to hit the ground running because of his research and education experiences within the CCEFP.
Want to learn more? Visit www.ccefp.org.
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