Five Auburn University alumni from the Department of Mechanical Engineering have begun full-time and part-time jobs with the Mando Corporation, a Korean automotive supplier with an affiliate location in Opelika, highlighting important ties between Auburn and international industry in Alabama.
Three of the alumni attended and graduated from Auburn University as a part of the Department of Mechanical Engineering’s 3+2 program, and the other two individuals were domestic students who earned their bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering in spring 2018.
Kibum Kim, one of the international students who participated in the 3+2 program, graduated from Auburn in fall 2018 with his master’s degree in mechanical engineering and is currently working as a production engineer with Mando. Kim was introduced to Mando through a fully-funded course research project, which allowed him and his fellow seniors the unique opportunity to study the features of Mando’s products and solve actual industry problems through research. As a result, Kim made professional connections within the company and ultimately secured a position.
Besides gaining practical engineering experience and eventually a job through his course research project, Kim said it was the ability to participate in Auburn’s 3+2 program that benefited him the most. According to Kim, having obtained two degrees from two institutions in just five years added a great deal of value to his academic and professional careers.
The mechanical engineering 3+2 program was established in 2015 by the Office of International Programs and the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. The program provides international students the opportunity to complete three years of undergraduate degree coursework at their home university overseas and then travel to Auburn to complete two additional years earning their master’s degree. The partner universities currently participating in the mechanical engineering 3+2 program are Halla University in Wonju, South Korea, Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea and Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea.
The program was established to not only build relationships with Korean institutions and industry leaders, but to also recruit international students for the purpose of diversifying Auburn’s student body. By creating an intercultural environment in the classroom students gain a realistic expectation of today’s global workforce. Also, the international students who participate in the 3+2 program are able to complete an internship at a local engineering company such as Mando, which further diversifies their portfolio through practical experience.
In addition to hiring three international students, Mando also hired U.S. students, Roger Baggett and Logan Clark as brake production engineers. Baggett and Clark graduated from Auburn in spring 2018 with their bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering and believe it was the academic and practical experiences provided by Auburn’s program that sufficiently prepared them to be successful in their careers.
“The mechanical engineering program not only gave me the fundamental knowledge necessary to succeed as an engineer, but it taught me how to think as an engineer,” said Clark. “It taught me to approach problems logically, develop abstract thinking skills and use engineering principles to generate effective solutions.” Besides acquiring the necessary skills to be an effective engineer, Baggett and Clark also gained firsthand experience in working in an intercultural environment in Auburn’s mechanical engineering program. Sharing a classroom with international students not only broadened their scope of cultural competency, but also benefited them from a practical problem-solving standpoint.
“Working with people from different cultural and ethnical backgrounds is beneficial in that it teaches you how to get past certain obstacles such as language barriers in order to complete a task,” said Clark.
Furthermore, gaining practical experience through collaborations with engineering companies has proven to be beneficial to students like Kim, Baggett and Clark. These partnerships not only expose students to the dynamics of an engineering company and demonstrate how each department communicates with one another, but also educate students on the expectations of a professional engineer and the standards they are held to by their employers. Therefore, partnering with companies such as Mando for course projects enhances the educational experience of Auburn’s mechanical engineering students while also generating a positive economic impact as many of these students will go on to graduate and work for these companies.
To all current Auburn students preparing to enter the workforce, “be ready to learn and never be afraid to ask questions,” said Clark. “No one enters a job knowing everything they need to know.” Also, while still a student at Auburn, “be sure to try lots of new things until you find your passion and allow your creative mind to roam free,” said Kim.
(Written by Kalani Long)
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