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1355
Oakman Boulevard Detroit, Michigan 48238 313.494.5500 |
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Center for Advanced Technologies The Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT) educates renaissance engineers through a unique collaboration with industry and university partners that started in 1993. Our candidates (students) gain hands-on experience in manufacturing while studying toward associates and bachelor's degrees in manufacturing engineering and technology. With their unique blend of work experience and academic preparation, our CAT graduates are truly prepared for engineering careers in the 21st century. Students work on the Focus: HOPE campus and on internships with major employers while pursuing their engineering degrees. They earn a salary and do not pay tuition for college course work. The program was started with funding from the National Science Foundation. The degrees are:
Wayne State is the lead partner in this unique Focus: HOPE program. Other academic partners are Michigan State University and Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Industry partners include Cincinnati Machine, Chrysler, Detroit Diesel, Electronic Data Systems, Ford Motor, General Motors, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Together, the partners are called the Greenfield Coalition for New Manufacturing Education.
Careers Graduates of the CAT command impressive starting salaries that average $55,000 per year. Most graduates have gone into the automotive industry, although opportunities exist in many areas, including the medical field. Check out the profiles of some of our graduates below:
CAT Entry Requirements
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Itayemi Kinni-Olusanyin 2006 CAT Graduate
Itayemi Kinni-Olusanyin moved to Indiana to take her first full time job as a manufacturing engineer for Cumming Diesel. It was a much shorter journey than the one she made eight years ago when she moved from Nigeria to Detroit and switched from pursuing a career in the arts to one in the sciences.
In 1999, Kinni-Olusanyin moved to Detroit to live with her grandmother and raise her unborn son. She expected to continue her pursuit of a career in the performing arts – until she learned about the education opportunities at Focus: HOPE.
Once enrolled in the Machinist Training Institute, she found she loved math and working with her hands. “That's the part I enjoyed the most,” she said of learning how to operate lathes, mills, grinders and CNC machines. “It is the foundation for my technical expertise. Once I found I could do that, I thought why not go on to become an engineer?”
She took full advantage of all opportunities at Focus: HOPE. She brushed up her math skills in the Fast Track program, then completed the MTI curriculum (first in her class) before heading to Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT) to study engineering. While studying engineering she was tapped to participate in Six Sigma training offered through Ford Motor Company. Throughout her six years at Focus: HOPE, her son was enrolled at the Center for Children.
With her trademark laugh, Kinni-Olusanyin talks about the opportunities she has had at Focus: HOPE – among them the chance to “meet the greats”. She met President George Bush, Ford Motor President Bill Ford, several state legislators and numerous other business leaders. She also has had the chance to solve real engineering problems using her black belt training. “I like that fact that you use Six Sigma tools to problem solve,” she said. “It's something you can always use to evaluate performance, to see how a company is performing, and improve on its performance. It has been a beneficial tool to both parties; you and to them. It has acclimated me to the way engineers think.”
As she embarks on her professional career, she is grateful for her experience at Focus: HOPE. “I'm pretty excited,” she said. “Now I have more choices in life. This experience gave me confidence … now I can see a brighter future for myself and my son.”
I also give thanks to my Grandmother, Ethelyn E. Femster, for helping me through it all.
André Smith 2007 CAT Graduate
For André Smith, a presentation from Focus: HOPE that started out as an excuse to skip class turned into a life changing experience.
While enduring a hot day at the end of his senior year at Osborne High school , Smith was presented with the opportunity to learn about Focus: HOPE. After listening to all the information, he decided to take an entrance exam in which he achieved perfect scores on the math and reading sections and an above average score on the mechanical component. Despite his great results, Smith decided to continue on in a construction career, which he had started in January of his senior year.
Also working in the construction business was Smith's step-father, who had a secret way of motivating Smith to continue on with his education. “I came to Focus: HOPE because my shoes melted,” says Smith with a smile when talking about the days of his step-father putting him to work on the toughest construction jobs, among them work with a blast-furnace. This prompted Smith to start looking for work elsewhere, and he decided it was time to give Focus: HOPE a try.
Smith looks back and remembers, “I didn't even know what an engineer did when I came to Focus: HOPE!” He quickly learned it was something he had been interested in his entire life. Since a young age, Smith was constantly building and constructing things, and he realized a career in engineering would be like second-nature for him.
Coming from a family full of assembly line-workers, Smith's main goal when starting at Focus: HOPE was to learn enough to secure an assembly line job for himself. After talking with others in the program, he realized it would be beneficial to continue on into the Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT).
While in CAT, Smith flourished. He loved meeting with CEO's and VP's of companies, which gave im a chance to learn all about the business world. Focus: HOPE was a great help in his education with this aspect of the program. “It really gave me a chance to see what employers were looking for and how I would be able to work my way up in the business world,” says Smith.
Internships were another way for Smith to get some real insight into what his future career would hold. He completed two internships at Ford Motor Company in two different departments. His first internship was working with materials planning and logistics for the Mustang. Smith set up a warehouse for the up-coming launch and made sure the Auto Call program, which is in place to prevent all line stoppages, was running smoothly. In his second internship, Smith worked with new model product development for the Super Duty trucks. This gave him an insight into how a duct is created from start to finish and taught him process management. In his second internship he was not only a team player, but also in a leadership position.
After earning his Associate's Degree, Smith observed some older students at a National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) conference and decided it was time to get serious about what he wanted to achieve. Employers were extremely impressed with resumes being provided by the Focus: HOPE students and Smith was able to see what his future held. “The students would be walking away, but as the employees would look at their resumes, they would grab the students arms and beg them to stop and talk!” This past year, Smith was in high-demand himself, participating in seven interviews over a three-day period.
Employers were impressed not only with his resume, but also the way he presented himself. Focus: HOPE taught him things he would need to know in everyday life in addition to his engineering skills. For example, he was taught that during interviews a good strategy for answering questions is “CAR”, which stands for cause, action, response. Smith answered all questions using this format and the interviewers were extremely impressed.
Smith is leaving Focus: HOPE for Erlanger, Kentucky where he will be working for Toyota . He has five years of experience and has earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Detroit Mercy during his time at Focus: HOPE. In addition to his accomplishments at Focus: HOPE, he is also a senior partner in a business development firm. Smith hopes to eventually own his own business, possibly an engineering firm or an engineering consulting firm.
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