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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
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