Working for the Public Good 

Problem-solving is the essence of engineering. By focusing that skill on problems of public interest, Michigan Engineering alumni, students and faculty are making life better for people. They’re also creating links with those who are outside their immediate sphere, and those connections benefit all involved – the public and engineers alike – providing opportunities and resources that wouldn’t otherwise be available to either group.

As you’ll see in the following stories of alumni, students and faculty who’ve performed public service, they grew in proportion to how much they gave of themselves. And the recipients of their largesse benefitted in ways that were seemingly impossible – who could imagine that highly educated, highly skilled people would leave their comfort zones to wade through mud in a far-off village to tutor children? But Michigan Engineering alumni, students and faculty do those sorts of things, improving people’s lives and in the process learning that public service is its own reward.

Engineering and Public Service in 2020

A decade from now, every discipline in the engineering community will be creating technologies that solve problems associated with water, energy, the environment, healthcare and manufacturing. Simultaneously, engineering will be working in a world with a population that will struggle increasingly with economic pressures, complex social issues and geopolitical tension. “Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century,” published by the National Academy of Engineering in 2005, said that “the steady integration of technology in our public infrastructures and lives will call for more involvement by engineers in the setting of public policy and in participation in the civic arena.”

So, engineers in 2020 must be as facile with people as they are with technology. They must understand the world and the problems people have living in it. They must realize that – more so tomorrow than today – good engineers don’t solve problems in a vacuum, separate from society. Their technology will reach into every facet of life on this planet – engineering and public service will be faithful partners.

Public Service – Early and Often

From their earliest days, the College of Engineering and its faculty have inspired graduates to serve public interests. Here's just a sampling. (Read their complete stories in the spring/summer 2004 issue of the Michigan Engineer.)

Alexander Winchell: Professor Alexander Winchell, who taught the first engineering course at the University of Michigan in 1854, volunteered his skills to help the surrounding community do surveys for a regional railroad. 

Henry Earle Riggs: Henry Earle Riggs (D.Eng. ’10, D.Eng. Hon. ’37) was the driving force that built the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railway lines, new bridges, utility plants and water works.

Irwin Chase: PT boats, which helped turn the tide of major battles in WWII, were the brainchild of Irwin Chase (BSE Marine Engineering ’06).

Clarence "Kelly" Johnson: Two of World War II’s most honored planes -- the Lockheed P-38 and the Hudson bomber -- were the creations of Clarence "Kelly" Johnson (BSE AA ’32, MSE ’33, D.Eng. Hon. ’64).

Jim Goodrich: Jim Goodrich (BS NAM ’37) guided Bath Iron Works Corporation, which designed 245 military ships for the U.S. Navy.

Murray D. Van Wagoner: Murray D. Van Wagoner (BSE CE ’21), Michigan governor, 1941-1942, constructed an expressway that linked Detroit and Ypsilanti to support the Willow Run bomber plant.

Richard Balzhiser: Richard Balzhiser (BSE ChE ’55, MSE NERS ’56, PhD ChE ’61) became a member of the Ann Arbor City Council. He followed that with a tour of duty in the Defense Department.

Gloria Jeff: In 2003, Gloria Jeff (BSE CE ’74, MSE ’76, MUP ’76) became the first woman -- and the first African American -- to lead the State of Michigan Department of Transportation.