Engineering
(ALL STORIES PRINTED WITH AUTHOR, THEIR STAFF TITLE AT THE TIME AT WHICH THE ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED, AND DATE THE ARTICLE ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE BEHREND BEACON.)
GE CEO Simonelli advises Behrend students
RYAN FRANKOWSKI
engineering reporter • industrial engineering
February 19, 2010
Lorenzo Simonelli provided advice
for students staring down the barrel of
a bleak job market on Monday.
Simonelli, the current CEO of GE
Transportation, spoke to a packed
Samuel P "Pat" Black 111 Conference
Center. Those students in attendance
came from a variety of backgrounds -
business, engineering, communication
- but all were united by a common de
sire: attaining a job.
Since Simonelli's section of GE em
ploys over 10,000 people worldwide,
he was a prime candidate to answer
questions regarding that crucial job
seeking programs that many students
will soon face.
Much of the presentation was ques
tion and answer, and students could
voice their own concerns as they
stared down the job market.
"What attracted you to the position
as a CEO?" one student asked.
"When you are given the opportu
nity to become CEO, you take it," Si
monelli responded.
His career as a CEO speaks for itself
as a success story. Originally from
Italy, he has spent time in a variety of
nations in various capacities for GE.
His last residence was in Budapest,
Hungary. He can speak French, Eng
lish, Italian, and German after having
moved 27 times.
Having a second language, or even
a third, is very important, he said, be
cause it can greatly assist you in mov
ing up the corporate ladder.
Much of language-learning deals
with expanding your own intellect,
which Simonelli emphasized as a
huge part of moving through a career.
He recommended trying for a mini
mum GPA of 3.2 coming out of under
graduate studies.
Still, when it came down to it, the
biggest driving force in Simonelli's ca-
.Plastics in
•
KRISTIN SLIWINSKI
30,•gint C-9 'my Clrem Cirroo
Day 1; 'We Invoked from Erie latornollonall Alyport to Ve
.4' "r r trait, where we boarded another flight to Frankfurt, Ger. di
' may After we arrived In Germany. vre
f terted traveltu
via train from Frankfurt m`voil
_ _
.0.1.
d,r• A li ble • •
41,111110. 1,1% eV*. al a armor a all
-AV ". e a .g.k wk. aa aa all. all Pc- 'NM Aar.
.1111111 M eaa awe, a, a Ara Amy.
~•••• to a a agar. a a
wren Ay, , A 6 S
40.4{ , .011.6 /O. PV•IMI, *..:r„r dir.4lll fan.
-- Day 2: "Upon arrival in Heidelberg we found our way to
the hostel _ evrryunr gut settled USW their rooms and
then we eruturod oat on the tom to get some much,
'tented
CM=
►-rru-1
Vey 7; *Early rir today for an hour and a half-long train
ride to Me' snenieti, Switzerland, where we totis
.SChoftti.totttt 19 aSnits* hteh midges bilocotton mold
tniumfacturino . N 6ulity
m thiurehaes in niukb lin the
media and packaging 1"741401110.151k.
N., ,« It
Russell Warley settling in as M.E. program chair
CONNOR SATTELY
editor-in-chief
February 5, 2010
After half a year in his position as
the Department Chair of the Mechan
ical Engineering program, Russell
Warley is starting to feel like he
should really be there.
He has become, in his words, a
"leader among peers."
Warley took over the position last
July, when it was vacated by William
Lasher's resignation. He has used the
friendships and relationships with fac
ulty and colleagues to create a type of
"consensus" leadership of the depart
ment. This has presented what Warley
thinks is the best way to lead, but has
also given several distinct challenges.
"You don't just hit the gavel and
have it done," he says, drawing from
his 20 years of experience managing
in industry, rather than a university
"We have very competent, very col
legial, cooperative faculty," he said.
"We haven't had any issues with fac
ulty even for a second, so that makes
it very easy."
Lasher, who held the chair position
for a decade, still remains as a "fall
back" for Warley, giving advice and as-
BEHREND BEACON YEAR IN REVIEW
A look back at the stories that define the 2009-2010 academic year at Penn State Behrend
Photos by Jon Klein / The Behrend Beacon
CEO of GE Transportation Lorenzo Si
monelli spoke to a large assembled
group of students regarding their futures
with jobs, careers, and internships.
reer was hard work, he said
"I'm no different than anyone else,"
he said, "I just did hard work. GE is
unique because you can start off at an
entry-level position, and with hard
work, you can work your way to the
top."
With the economy in a downturn
and even GE experiencing difficulties,
many students had a bleak view on the
job and internship market.
That outlook, Simonelli said, "de
pends on what businesses of GE you
apply for. With engineering, there def
initely are opportunities; you just need
to apply. There's no doubt we need
leaders for tomorrow."
For those who might not get hired
right away, the operant idea is to
maintain focus and effort in getting
the position. Many complaints he
hears from applicants, he said, came
from people who applied and were
0 11..111111.1111111 , 11.0111•1 MPS OM.
10.41 , 11 ..10 II IN Minien* MIN
Fyn _~-'~.•_•_
-a
sistance when he can
"I help with developing schedules
for teaching - what classes are held
when, who teaches what, and so on -
as well as problems with students," he
says. "Graduation requests, transfer
credits, that type of thing."
Despite the fact that Lasher advises
the faculty member who is now the
chair for his own department, he
thinks Warley is off to a good start.
A lot of that good start is due to the
transition which actually began fairly
well before Warley took the post.
"Really, I ramped into the position,"
Warley said." He became the Dean's
Representative to University Park,
and dealt with a lot of students who
needed to transfer after two years.
That helped him prepare for many of
the issues which come to his desk on
a daily basis today.
"Bill [Lasher] and I knew a little
early that it was likely me that would
be taking the role," he said, "so I
started to work with him in advance
on some things, start training early."
Amongst those early training oppor
tunities was the Fall 2009 Semester
schedule, which the two created to
gether last spring.
"There's a lot of potential repercus
turned down once and then quit.
"If you don't get hired in summer,
keep applying, keep at it, and eventu
ally you'll get in."
So what type of engineers are GE
looking for?
`All types of engineers, all across the
board," he said, "there's a need for
smart engineers."
For Simonelli, his routine is fairly
set, and he knows how to organize his
priorities.
"I get up early, and leave the office
On Thursday, Oct. Bth, a group of 17
plastics engineering technology stu
dents and five faculty members set off
on a ten-day journey through Ger
many and Switzerland. Among faculty
is Ralph Ford, Director of the School
of Engineering, and Jonathon Meck
r ley, associate professor of engineer
ing. Three seniors - Tim Farrell,
Jessica Patz, and Keith Maloney - are
blogging about their experiences as
they travel.
Aside from the experience they will
gain in regards to German and Swiss
engineering, the students on the trip
are also experiencing foreign travel,
many for the first time.
"Students are learning how to navi
gate through foreign countries using
different transport modes," said Ralph
Ford, the director of the School of En
gineering. "For example, to get from
Switzerland to Germany today for the
Fakuma Injection Molding Trade
show, we started on train, switched to
a ferry boat, then had to catch a bus to
sions there for even a minor error,"
Warley said. "If a certain class over
laps and you don't notice until after
the semester starts, then you've got to
deal with contacting every student in
a certain section of a certain class, and
for many it can severely impact their
semester schedule."
The continual flow of problems has
presented its challenges as well.
"It feels like I'm a bit less in control,
because you can't necessarily foresee
the workload coming at you," Warley
said. "It makes it hard to plan for and
accomplish longer- or intermediate
term goals."
And it's taken its toll, he says.
"Psychologically, I feel like with the
flood of things that are coming in, that
I'm somehow going to drop the ball or
let something fall off the bottom of the
to-do list. There's a little bit of appre
hension, I think, but just mainly be
cause I'm new.
But he's quick to say that there's a
lot still to do and accomplish.
"I knew what I was getting into
when I agreed to take the position," he
said. "It'll probably take a full year
cycle including the summer to see
how I'm really doing in the position,
assess how the last year went."
late," he said, saying he had woken up
at 4 a.m., having visited Milwaukee
before his 7:00 speech in Erie.
It's all in a day's work for Simonelli,
who was named one of the top CEOs
in 2009 as one of Fortune's 40 under
40.
"Being a CEO can be a relatively
easy occupation," he said. "Depend
ing, of course, on the quality of the
people surrounding you."
the show. That combination was by far
the fastest way to get there."
Wednesday, the group woke early to
take a train to Diessenhofen, Switzer
land to tour SchOttli, "a Swiss high
precision injection mold manufactur
ing facility that specializes in molds for
the medical and packaging industries."
Johannes Strassner, a managing di
rector for sales and marketing showed
the group around, educating the group
on "what Swiss technology brings to
the plastics industry." The group then
broke up into three smaller groups,
each receiving an extensive tour of the
factory.
"In terms of insights, this is a good
example of a company being able to
stay competitive by adapting to their
markets," Ford said. "[Students) also
got to see a very technically advanced
company that is staying ahead of com
petition based on value of technology."
On Thursday, the group visited the
Fakuma injection molding show.
"This event put students outside of
comfort zone - which I see as a good
thing," Ford said. "They had to interact
with company representatives to un
derstand their technology, most of the
engineering editw
October 16, 2009
Russell Warley.
r En , •
Engineering Editors gineenng Writer
. .
Kristin Shtymski Beth Bimber
Ryan Frankatilki
BEHREND BEACON
April 30, 2010
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
time discussing with people for whom
English is a second language."
At press time, the group was located
in a small town in Switzerland, where
they are seeing some cultural sights
before a day of rest which, Ford says,
"we all are looking forward to."
Some mishaps have accompanied
the group, but most have bordered on
amusing rather than troubling.
Ford recounts a faculty member who
stressed the need for students to be on
time, then missed a train after locking
himself out of his room during a
shower at a youth hostel. Though he
caught up with the group later, the fac
ulty member has been "razzed" by stu
dents all week.
Another incident, perhaps less
amusing, occured when a faculty
member left their Eurorail pass in his
room, and was caught by authorities
without it on the train.
The engineering students and fac
ulty will continue blogging about their
experiences until they arrive back
home on Sunday, October 18th.
WHAT'S NEXT?
RUSSELL WARLEY'S LONG-TERM
GOALS FOR THE M.E. DEPARTMENT
More classes online, larger online ele
ment in classes that aren't online. Involve
faculty and students to see how much of
this is appropriate to do.
2. Wider reputation
Many local M.E. employers are im
pressed with Behrend. Warley wants to
expand Behrend's good reputation out
side of just Erie or Pennsylvania.
3. Promote innovation
Employers know about the research
and technology at Behrend - Warley wants
to let employers know about the educa
tional innovation that occurs in the
g classes.
1. E-Learning