Cedarville Magazine, Spring/Summer 2015

One graduate from the class of 2008. That’s all it took for Cedarville to form what has now become a graduate-to-employee pipeline with one of the largest engine designers and builders in the world — Cummins Inc. “Almost every year, I have a new [Cedarville graduate] on my team,” commented Andy Wenig, a Validation Engineering Manager for Cummins. “I’m always impressed by their education, practicality, hands-on experience in the labs, and extracurricular activities.” “You get one person in and the floodgates will open,” said Dr. Tim Dewhurst, Senior Professor of Mechanical Engineering. “We have 12–15 engineers right now at [General Dynamics] Electric Boat [builder of America’s nuclear-powered submarines]. When I first came here, Prince Manufacturing in Michigan was hiring a lot of Cedarville people. Procter & Gamble has started hiring a lot. When they see a product they like, companies will get on board.” Hitting the Accelerator Cummins Inc. makes things move. The Columbus, Indiana, company employs 54,600 in the U.S. and around the globe, designing and building engines used in just about every vehicle you can imagine, including iconic brands like the Dodge Ram diesel truck, as well as providing backup and primary power for manufacturing, health care, and other types of facilities. But until the last 10 years, very few Cedarville graduates had worked at Cummins. Enter Chris Byus ’08. “Chris is a really sharp guy, very personable,” commented Jay Kinsinger, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering and adviser to the Jackets Racing Formula Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE) team. “Everybody knows about Formula, so when Cummins saw he participated in the Formula SAE competition, it was an immediate connection. They know the quality of students who come out of that program.” Once Byus was on board at Cummins, he started making contact with Kinsinger, Dewhurst, and other professors to find out about promising seniors who might make good engineers for Cummins. “They started hiring more and more Cedarville graduates,” Kinsinger said. “It became a domino effect.” Wenig manages 40 validation engineers at Cummins’ Southern Indiana Seymour Engine Plant. His team is responsible for making sure that all the appropriate tests are run on new engines and that they’re done to company specifications. “I interviewed the first Cedarville candidate that we hired,” Wenig said. “I offered to start sponsoring recruiting at Cedarville, though I’m not an alumnus, because I liked what I saw from him. They have become a strong source for us.” Thirty-eight employees and counting, in fact, with eight interns heading to Cummins this summer. Cedarville graduates work across the company in new engine development and design, manufacturing, and application support. They’re developing engines powering Dodge RamandNissan trucks, semitractor- trailer rigs, mining trucks, locomotives, construction equipment, manufacturing plants, and more. “What’s very important for me personally is the faith-based education,” Wenig added. “Cummins has a strong set of core values. We’re a diverse company, and we hire people from all backgrounds. With that faith-based education, you get strong core values and a strong work ethic.” And that’s something even casual observers have noticed. Dewhurst, faculty adviser for Cedarville’s Solar Boat team, tells the story of a U.S. government background investigator who came to campus yearly to ask about Cedarville grads hired at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base. One year, the man spied a boat propeller on Dewhurst’s desk and asked who made it. “I told him the students made it,” Dewhurst recalled. “But they don’t know how to design propellers; they have to figure things out and learn how to machine it. This man responded, ‘I don’t know what it is about Cedarville engineers, but everyone at the base loves them. Their character is incredible, but also their engineering is very good.’” Mastering the Mechanics While the Dodge truck has a reputation for being Ram tough, Cummins has discovered that Cedarville engineering graduates are just as tough — seasoned problem-solving engineers who’ve used their knowledge and skills in practical, hands-on learning situations not found in engineering textbooks. “Cedarville is an excellent undergraduate school,” noted Joshua Brown ’11, a Validation Engineer who works on the ISX truck engine. “The professors prepare students very well. They’re involved with students developing the fundamentals of engineering technical expertise.” Brown commented on the importance of the senior capstone project. “Academic knowledge is great, but you never have Thirty-eight employees and counting, in fact, with eight interns heading to Cummins this summer. Cedarville Magazine | 13