Our Learning

Here at Iron Range Engineering, we are required to teach each other classes that some have not taken yet. The ultimate goal is passing the Fundementals of Engineering Exam. We have several ways to address this need. One way is having a few students teach a class (such as Mechanics of Materials or Fluid Mechanics) for two hours of the day. The other is doing practice problems from an FE Exam booklet.
In the past week there has been disagreement in choosing these teaching methods. Some feel that working in a smaller group is the best way to learn and others prefer a big group meeting. Personally, I think both methods are effective. As long as everyone is truly trying to learn and they are giving an effort, then the method shouldn't matter. Yes, a bigger group would be more organized than smaller groups, but at the same time smaller groups are formed because they know what they don't know. Both ways are effective in a learning environment and I don't think that is an issue that should cause tension.
I hope in the future that there will be time to use both methods. Lately, time has been limited. Efficiency is our focus and that is why there is conflict with the techniques we use. However, I believe the method does not measure efficiency. I think that we need to make what we do more efficient.

Proofed by: Tyler Bartek

Communication

There are many aspects of our interactions at IRE. The one that I am most concerned about is our communication as a large group. So far, this blog has seemed like a daily journal rather than an inside look at Iron Range Engineering. By no means are we a well oiled machine yet. We still have a long way to go until we’re as efficient as we could be.
We often come together as a whole group to make decisions for many things. I have found that these meetings are usually not efficient and they usually end in many people being very frustrated. From what I have witnessed, we are a group of 14 very strong minded, dominant individuals and we have learned to argue and “discuss” in much the same way. We are all used to taking leadership roles in a group and we’re all very used to voicing our opinions. When we discuss things in a large group, it is no different. I know that everyone’s opinion is valid, and I’m glad that everyone has input. However, it seems that a lot of people do not know how to properly convey their ideas and more importantly, it seems that a lot of people do not know how to respect other people’s ideas if they don’t agree with the idea. On the other side, people are immediately going on the defensive if someone doesn’t agree with their idea. This creates a lot of tension, a lot of arguing rather than discussing, and it makes for a very hostile group meeting. Because of all these factors, we tend to have some rather long meetings that do not end in a decision. The decision gets delegated off to someone, which could have been done at the beginning of the meeting…saving time.
Two bits of advice for everyone, including myself: learn how to convey your idea in a non-threatening, overbearing way, allow people to constructively criticize your idea without going on the defense right away. And respect other people’s ideas.

Proofed by: Cory Moran

Connecting Your Experiences in the Classroom and Community

Funds Available for Students

Two $1,000 awards are available to full-time students interested in
connecting their experiences in the classroom and in the community.
Fill out a brief application by November 30th, 2009 to be considered
for one of two Carter Academic Service Entrepreneur awards given to
Minnesota college and university students. The awards support
innovative service learning projects that feature strong partnerships
between students, faculty, and community partners. To learn more,
visit mncampuscompact.org.

CASE-GP program provides a $1,000 grant for a student to implement a community service project, a certificate of merit from the Foundation for the student. The project will be published on their website.

GP scholarship students who have innovative ideas to use their academic discipline to solve a community problem or to address an environment need or otherwise strengthen the community are encouraged to apply.

Application and Info: http://www.servicebook.org/

Project Lead the Way Fall Student Survey

IRE Students

Please take the time to fill out a short survey on Engineering Education
in Minnesota. This is an important survey and offers a great chance to enter
to win a $50 Barnes and Noble gift certificate. This survey is open to all
students who are taking an Engineering or Engineering Technology class during
the 2009-2010 school year. It takes less than 5 minutes to complete.
This survey is open until November 6th, and the Gift card drawing will take
place on November 13th. Limit one entry per student.


Please follow this link to take the survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=33PpGMQfjYJUDmGiwII0Vg_3d_3d

Daily Journal

Wednesday was spent fulfilling various side tasks. A majority of us travelled to Itasca Community College to work on three dimensional modeling and a recycling project, while a few stayed behind to represent the students in an industry meeting. Overall, it was a very productive day. We designed and built three different recycling containers made from a corrugated plastic material manufactured locally by MDI. We have implemented them in our classroom and have plans to teach younger students the process of building them as a volunteer activity. The 3D modeling group learned some of the more complex tools and features of the Pro-Engineer program. We also received exciting news from the industry meeting. It looks as if there are several local industries and businesses with real life engineering opportunities for us; one of which could start within the next few weeks.

Proofed by: Deric Phillips

As Students

Recently I have been encouraged to gain a clearer understanding of what will change as we start our first semester as IRE students. Well I have discovered that we will still be in the classroom 8-4 on a typical day, but we will also be getting 4 hours of homework a day. We will be spending on average about three days working with industry to every one day in a classroom setting. We will be creating our own learning, but we will not be teaching one another. We will be learning together as a group and when the correct time comes, we will then be given the information we need. We will be doing projects for industry partners and leading EPD projects at ICC. We will be doing service work and writing technical papers. It will be a new, enjoyable and effective learning experience.

Proofed by Tyler Bartek

Target Field Tour

On Friday October 2, 2009 a group from Iron Range Engineering toured the new Minnesota Twins stadium, Target Field, located in downtown Minneapolis. The tour was led by Kyle Fritze, a Mechanical Engineer from M-E Engineers. Kyle acts as a consultant engineer, providing the link between the architecture firm Populous Architecture and the general contractor Mortenson Construction. Kyle would interpret the problems the contractor had with the design and relay the information to provide options for the architect. His title is Representative Engineer of the Mechanical and Electrical Processes. These processes are used in the building of the stadium, his specialty, however, is HVAC systems.

Design and Layout
The stadium location was selected from one of two spots. The chosen location was downtown Minneapolis, near the Target Center. The stadium has a very small footprint, as this was all the location allowed. The stadium was designed and built to fit around interstate 394 by the right field plaza. On the other side, a set of railroad tracks runs parallel to the third base line. Traffic will be an issue, and the light rail and public transportation options will be highly recommended. A passenger train will be added to act as a shuttle service to long distance locations. The field contains three main gates for the general public. The fan capacity is reduced by 15,000 from the 55,000 provided by the HHH Metrodome. Target Field has a sellout capacity of 40,000 fans.

Building and Construction
The building of the stadium was constructed by four main cranes that were centered inside the walls of the structure. They started building in right field, home of Target Plaza, in August 2007. Construction continued to work its way around home plate and into left field, ending near the service gate located in center field where the cranes were removed. The field was laid out using GPS, which allowed maximization of the space and precision in the location of design. In right field, the bleachers come within two feet of the Parking Ramp, and a large ad- panel was constructed to keep onlookers from peering in. Six levels make up the stadium: service, service mezzanine, main concourse, club, suite, and terrace concourse. It also is home to the largest canopy in MLB. The canopy is designed with the Minnesota winters in mind. There are four large legs and a main truss that support each section of canopy. This heavy support structure will be adequate for bearing the weight of the numerous lights, speakers, and snow that will accumulate during the winter.
During the early stages of development, there were up to 1,000 employees working on the jobsite at any given time. Now, as the construction process wraps up, they have reduced the number of employees down to about 300. On any given day, Kyle would have an average of three problems brought to his attention. These problems often included conflicts with designs and layouts that were not physically feasible for the construction crews to build. Kyle commented on the fact that engineers and architects don’t always agree, but spend long hours coming up with solutions that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Technical Design
There are many different engineering aspects included in the operation of the stadium. These include, but are not limited to: heating, plumbing, electrical, environmental, and economical processes. The stadium contains four 400 ton air cooled chiller units that are in operational use. Each cooling unit contains 10 to 12 condensers. To improve efficiency of the heating system, exhaust air from the locker rooms is used to preheat incoming air. The exhaust air is blown over a heat wheel that rotates and heats the input air; therefore increasing efficiency and reducing cost. Believe it or not, one of the hardest things to configure in the construction of the interior design was the grease ducts. This was because of the 1/8 inch per foot slope from horizontal, required for the drainage of the steam and grease splatter given off while cooking. To keep all of the beer cold for the 12 bars and concession areas, 26 keg coolers were installed.
With all of the electrical needs of the building, two backup generators are required for emergency use. Both of the generators are diesel powered, one produces 1000 KVA while the other produces 800 KVA. NFPA Code requires them to run for a period of 30 minutes per month to maintain reliability and performance. Exhaust from the generators is routed out to interstate 394 to prevent it from blowing back into the stadium. For the lighting of the field, the canopy contains a light bar, on the outer face, that projects out on the field. The positioning of the lights will be done at night on a 10’ x 10’ grid. Each square foot of field is required to have 225-350 foot-candles of light intensity according to Major League Baseball.
The plumbing that ran exterior was surrounded by heat trace. Heat trace is a wrap that surrounds the exterior of the pipes. It is activated by a thermostat to maintain a pipe surface temperature above 32 F to prevent freezing in cold weather. The original design had only planned for 6,000 lineal feet of the heat trace; the actual stadium required 18,000 lineal feet. The domestic water enters the building at 50 psi from the city. Once it has entered, the water is pumped up to 100 psi to maintain the required 80 psi at the upper levels after head loss is taken into account. Below the surface of the field, 38 miles of heated water tubing runs throughout placed on six inch centers to keep the playing conditions of the field ideal. The water that flows through the pipes is heated by steam from a city garbage incinerator located near the third baseline next to the stadium.
Now that the Twins are going back to an outdoor stadium, there are many design features needed to make outdoor baseball possible in Minnesota. The field was cored out six feet deep and layered with six different levels of rock and soil to maximize the runoff of water. Underneath the playing surface, several miles of drain tile was laid out to handle up to a four inch per hour rain, which is required by Minnesota State Code. The sod for the field came from Colorado. During the winter months, a special, heavy duty, breathable tarp covers the field. It is designed to sit on the grass to minimize compaction due to heavy snow. The field will be heated during cold months by 38 miles of hot water pipe to prevent the problems that come with freezing. The stadium has many aesthetic features to provide a good experience to the fans while also being player friendly. One of these features is the big green backdrop built in center field to allow the batters to better locate the ball coming from the pitcher. The backdrop includes spruce trees to break up the design of the plain wall, while also giving the stadium some character. The seats of the stadium were also chosen to be green to give the fielders a better chance of picking up the balls in play. Because of the layout of the field and positioning of the stadium, the Twins are taking the first baseline dugout to utilize the sun and rain protection.
Target Field is an impressive engineering feat. As of right now, the field is right on schedule to be ready for play in the upcoming 2010 season. The cost to build the stadium was around 450 million dollars. The stadium is also on track to becoming Silver LEED Certified; this takes into account the efficiency and environmental impact. The stadium includes twelve bars, numerous suites, multiple seating levels, a large plaza in right field, and year round administrative offices for the Twins executives.

Program Development Update

I am part of the Assessment Design team who has been developing a curriculum for the IRE students to use in the future. Recently we have come close to completing 24 competencies that we should have a decent skill level in by the time we graduate. We have created a format for each of these competencies and are currently proofreading them for spelling and grammar errors as well as consistency issues. Just recently, a portion of the IRE students met with industry partners who gave us a list of skills they believe an entry level engineer should be able to do. We then took this list, removed the skills we already dealt with, and consolidated the remaining ones into more competencies to go through the same editing, revising, and reinforcement processes we went through for the first 24 competencies.

Proofed by Cory

Chancellor McCormick's Visit

Chancellor James H. McCormick came in and visited IRE this morning. It was exciting for us to be able to meet the Chancellor and introduce our new program to him. We had a short discussion on what we do here at IRE, and then he gave us a few words of advice. He emphasized that all of us are now role models and that we are the key to the program’s success. He showed great interest in our program, and he spoke of the beneficial factors that will provide great opportunities for us further down our career paths. Overall, I feel that the Chancellor shares our excitement and he has great confidence in us.

Proofed By Christine

Bill Beyer’s Industry Message

Instructor Ron Ulseth, recently had an email sent to him from a former graduate of ICC about the kinds of things the Iron Range Engineering Program should cover. Bill Beyer and his employer came up with these key elements.

"There are 3 things shown in this document."

1. An engineer should be a master at the methods shown. This document is a standard calculation sheet we use in house at North Engineering
Company. The topics listed at the top have been created by us as necessary components to calculation sets. Being able to use these steps
in a design will give engineers a good practice to build their designs around. It will also give them a good way to approach and solve many
problems.

2. An engineer should be able to define a project in four paragraphs. When the opportunity for a project surfaces you need to define the
background of the project, the problem that needs to be solved, what the solution or possible solutions will be, and finally, what benefit does
the project have. Also, this method can be applied to different things, such as, a method to decide whether you should purchase certain
software or what kind of training should I attend.

3. Group Dynamics: I think this speaks for itself. Engineers need to recognize teamwork and participate in that environment, they need to
know when they need to lead, they need to know when they should follow, finally, be able to judge and know when they should take a stand.
-"These are the things that we came up with as good things to fit into the program."

Meaning of IRE…

What is Iron Range Engineering?

• A new and innovative engineering program different from traditional four-year engineering universities
  
  • The learning taking place will be project-based that partners with local industry
    
• Located in Virginia, MN on the Mesabi Range Community and Technical College campus
  
• Part of the distance education program through Minnesota State University-Mankato
  
  • Students will receive a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering Degree
    
• Our goal is to produce high quality work-ready engineers
  
• We are putting a big emphasis on professionalism
  
• We are participating in several community service activities
  

 

Why is Iron Range Engineering Needed?

• Several statistics have shown that engineers graduating from traditional four-year colleges are not work-ready
  
• IRE is going to attack this problem with a goal of producing higher quality engineers that have more experience with practical application
  

    

How is Iron Range Engineering Different?

• Our curriculum will be based on an actual work environment format
  
  • Students are in an office setting from eight to four (roughly two days a week)
    
  • Students will be out in industry working like on an actual job (roughly three days a week)
    
  • Students are required to dress like professionals
    
    • Business casual two days a week
      
    • Business formal one day a week
      
• Students are accountable for their own learning
  
• IRE will eliminate the passive learning style and move to an active learning environment
  
• Project-based Learning
  
  • Students will be doing actual industry engineering projects
    
  • Students will go into industry and work with engineers (industry engineers and IRE faculty) who will assist them when they need it
    
  • Faculty will use the projects for developing competencies and learning subject matter
    
• Self Learning
  
  • Students will teach one another the technical engineering skills needed
    
    • They will be required to pass the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam
      
  • Students will create their own knowledge and skills by working to together to address and solve real world engineering problems
    
• Professional Skills
  
  • Traditional four year institutions only provide students with technical engineering skills, not professional skills
    
  • IRE is providing these skills by:
    
    • Having the students interact with professionals in industry
      
    • Having the students plan school functions through committees
      
      • Program Development
        
        • Designs the grading system
          
      • Public Relations
        
        • Design radio and TV commercials
          
        • Sets up school tours
          
      • Student Life
        
        • Organizes all student life activities and accommodations
          
      • Video Journal
        
        • Keeps an ongoing update of all activities that IRE participates in
          

Competencies, Skills, and Attributes

Hi. My name is Ron. I am one of the faculty members for IRE. This fall I have been helping the students establish an efficient working structure, interacting with our industry partners, and developing what will ultimately be our curriculum when school starts in January.

One of the premises of our program is that it is outcome based. Our students have been working very hard to develop assessments for the outcomes. In this style of education, the student is presented with an outcome they are expected to achieve. The outcome is defined as a continuum from novice....to......expert. Think perhaps along the lines of a scale of 1-10. Where one is novice and 10 is expert. At the beginning of their IRE experience, students will work with faculty to determine their individual starting point on the continuum. Then, as their time at IRE goes by, they will be performing tasks that allow them to move down the continuum towards expert. Graduation will be possible when the student reaches a high level of achievement in a high percentage of outcomes.

Outcomes come in the forms of competencies, skills, and attributes.

Competency is defined as the quality of being adequately or well qualified physically and intellectually. wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn Think of this as knowledge acquisition.

Skill is the ability to do something well.
www.nga.gov/education/classroom/heroes_and_heroines/glossary.shtm Think of this as something that can be attained through practice.

Attributes are characteristics or qualities. en.wiktionary.org/wiki/attribute Think of attributes as the characteristics that make up who we are and how we act as people.

The outcomes students attain will be competencies, skills, and attributes that are both technical and professional in nature.

Proofed by Angie

Update from the Front office

The students hard work has not gone unnoticed, on Monday the 19th, the students will meet MnScu Chancellor James H. McCormick. He will be at Mesabi CC for a meeting with the Provost and a meeting has been arranged for him to come and visit the students and engage each other with a Q&A session. More will be posted on the happenings after the event.

Engineering devices are arriving daily! Being a new program we needed to purchase many new engineering tools and we have been in the process for the last few months. Some of the highlights are the new Dimension 3-D printer that can print models that were designed in a 3-D drafting program. We have also just received all of our computers with all the appropriate engineering software installed. Those are our two highest priced items that we have, but we also have many smaller priced items that are incorporated into our everyday teaching, ranging from our 96" smart board, two TVs that are connected to our desktops and a 36" plotter for printing our drawings.

Being an engineering program, we strive to find the newest and coolest gadgets. We have a great technology department helping us stay up to date with modern technology. We are currently looking into two gadgets that are rivaled by none: a note pad that records vocal notes and your pen strokes and loads them onto your computer for synced playback of both at a later time. The other is a pocket sized projector that would give us extra mobility when doing presentations.

We are always looking for new gadgets....

IRE Eveleth Golf Outing

IRE Eveleth Golf Outing
It is well known that many business deals take place on the golf course. On Monday, October 5, 2009, the IRE group headed to the Eveleth Golf Course to work on obtaining a business skill. The goal was to spark the interest to gain enough golf sense to not make a fool of ourselves next time on the course. The outing was put on by the Student Life Committee; it included a lesson and nine holes.
The day we attended was actually the last day the course was open. We arrived at the clubhouse at 11:00 a.m. for our lesson. The manager/professional instructor, John Rinne, seemed very happy to have us. When we arrived, the carts, clubs, and balls were all laid out for us. The plan was for an hour instructional including grips, putting, chipping, driving, and course etiquette. The first part of the lesson Jon gave us was on grips and putting. After the putting we moved on to chipping. All 15 of us were allowed to practice at the same time. You can just about imagine 15 inexperienced golfers surrounding the green, and all shooting at the same hole. In spite of the chaos, the instructor had a very high patience level with us.
The next station that was set up for us was a simulated driving range. I say simulated because of the fact that Eveleth does not have a driving range; instead he had the hole 2 fairway blocked off for us to launch balls down. This meant the balls were not special driving range balls; instead they were actual games balls that he provided. Many of the balls were lost to the trees and all of them had to be picked up by hand. After completing the last station, we headed out for the nine hole round.
Each of the teams of two were spread out among the holes to prevent from finishing at different times. We played a scramble, this is where a team takes the best ball after every shot to play on. Throughout the course the instructor checked in with us to see how it was going and also give a few pointers.
Overall, everyone had fun and enjoyed the outing. It was one of the best Mondays a person could have in the office. We plan on heading back in the spring for another outing.

-Student Life- Austin, Alex, & Deric

Proofed by: Erin

Friday

Yesterday Oct. 8th we opened the morning up with 2 hours of M.O.M. teaching. We then broke up into our teams and had discussions on things to complete by the end of Thursday. Toward the end of the day, we had a meeting with Ron; after he discussed Wednesday's Industrial Partnership Meeting, Ron had us do an activity gauging our level of verbal participation in a group atmosphere. All the scores were added up from each individual and then presented to the participants in random order by Ron, so that they had no knowledge of who graded them. Reflections are due Monday to reflect our understanding of the different levels. The thought process that went with this activity was a much needed one. It made everyone take time out of there day to think about what they have been bringing to the table as far as communication goes in our daily group involvements. Personally, I scored myself on the higher end of the spectrum, and I was not surprised that the others graded me towards the same level. Overall, it was a good experience to go through for all of us. We will have many more experiences like this in the next 2 plus years.

Professionally Edited by: Alex

Thursday 08, 2009

On Wednesday some of the IRE students went to ICC. For those who went to ICC, some finished the trailer shelves, which look awesome. The others started on their Pro E drawings, where much progress was made. The students that stayed back at IRE met with industry partners, and talked about how they will proceed with IRE in the near future. The meeting went very well and multiple issues were brought up. Overall it was a productive day for IRE.

Proofed By: Cory

Daily Journal 10-8-09

Yesterday felt like it was a big day for us here at IRE. Here on the Mesabi campus, there was a meeting with most of IRE's business partners. Representatives from BARR Engineering, Blandin Paper, Polymet, Hibbing Taconite, United Taconite, Tri-Tec, Arrowhead University Consortium and ALLETE had all gathered here for the sake of IRE.

There were two main reasons that this gathering was called to order. First on the priority list had been to answer any questions on how IRE would work as a college. The second was to receive input from business representatives on what they would like to see from employees of their companies.

To me, this was an honor. I was one of three IRE students who had the opportunity to partake in the meeting. There were times that three of the industry workers and I would brainstorm ideas to better IRE. It felt just like my classmates and I sat down to discuss ideas. The only difference that I noticed (off hand) was that it was a much more professional level. Ideas that were discussed didn’t have a long explanation, more like “one word” thoughts. This gave me some insight on how to handle this situation next time we are in a meeting and it also gave me confidence in working with industry. For me, this was a productive day.

Proofed by: Brianna Frey

IRE Golf Outing

Yesterday was definitely a fun filled day for the students here at IRE. We spent the day golfing at the Eveleth Golf Course, and it was a wonderful time. This was an event planned out and ran by our student life team (Alex, Austin, & Deric). There were 13 students who attended and 2 faculties. The first half hour we had lessons from the pro; this included putting, chipping, driving, and how to use the irons correctly. We were then sent out in groups of four to play best ball between the teams. Let me tell you it was definitely some intense golfing that had taken place. The majority of the students had never golfed before, and if they had, there wasn’t much practice behind it. After two hours of balls being hit in the woods or water, and tees being broken on the tee boxes, we all realized we have a lot of room for improvement. As a group, we decided we will make this an annual event and are all looking forward to next spring!

We Got The Tour!

Last Friday was an exciting day for IRE. All of last week the Public Relations Committee, led by Dan, worked on getting us a tour of the new Twins Stadium, Target Field. We had to jump through a few hoops to get the tour. They told us that they weren’t giving out tours, but we decided as a group that this tour would benefit our education, so we went on to talk to the engineers on the project. We were successful in getting the tour. The actual tour of the stadium was awesome. Our tour was led by Kyle Fritze, a Mechanical Engineer with an emphasis in HVAC from Mortensen Construction. To start the tour, he showed us around the Mortensen Office. There were piles of drawings of the different elements of the stadium. He told us the drawings change every time there is problem out in the field. Basically, the drawings have changed hundreds of times. Then we went out to the field to see the ballpark.
We started out the tour by walking around the concourse and looking at the structure. Then we went down to the service level where we got to see the guts of the stadium. We saw all the HVAC systems for heating the indoor parts of the ballpark. We learned about the LEED program while on the tour. The LEED program is a program designed to encourage environmental friendly energy systems. The new stadium has a system that uses exhaust air from the locker rooms to preheat air entering the heaters. Target Field is on track to get a silver certification for the LEED program. Another neat engineering feature is that the field has the ability to handle four inches of rain per hour. In order to do this, the field has six layers of different grades of dirt, and there is 40 miles of drain tile. To prevent the field from heaving due to frost, the field has water coils in it that keeps it from freezing. To end the tour, we got to walk down to the field and check it out. Overall, the tour was highly educational and we look forward to watching the Twins in the new stadium.

Attention Resume Writers

By EngineerSalary.com Staff, September 29, 2009

A Poor Resume is Costly
A September 2009 review of over 1400 Human Resource Managers revealed that a surprising number of open Engineering and Technical Management positions remain unfilled.

While it's no surprise in this economy that there are a tremendous number of job applicants, it is a surprise that so many employers claim very few candidates have the qualifications they seek.

It was further revealed that a vast number of potentially qualified candidates are routinely disqualified because their resumes lack substantial or comprehendible content. And in many cases, resumes are screened down to consideration for positions that are probably lesser than the candidate may otherwise be qualified. Several managers commented that they don't have the time to 'read between the lines', or make assumptions on whether candidates have the level of skills required.

Engineering resumes were cited as particularly challenging to screen. With the multitude of technologies and terminology unique to the profession, many screeners find the process overwhelming. In many cases, resumes are filled with ambiguous acronyms that pertain only to a specific company or industry niche. Other resumes are so vague that they communicate very little.

One respondent commented: "Many candidates seem to take their resume for granted. They put more thought and effort into preparing a company report".

To the reader, the resume is a summary view of who the candidate is – and how the candidate perceives them self. Above all, it reveals their communication skills. It portrays their thought process and ability to convey complex concepts into meaningful and comprehendible language.

In conclusion, it appears that many potentially qualified candidates are being rejected because their resumes do not adequately convey their abilities.

Make your resume work for you

Be sure your resume is well organized, concise, and contains solid and relevant material. Resumes that are too brief and say little are immediately disregarded. Those that are too long and verbose put the reader to sleep. Do NOT use a functional format – this is viewed as a red flag. Pay close attention to how you display dates of employment and education credentials – these items are always scrutinized, and can be an immediate disqualifier. Most importantly, make sure it is readily comprehendible.

In a volatile job market, it's critical to maintain a well-prepared resume so that you can respond quickly to a changing environment – whether you need to make a move, or want to capitalize on a new opportunity that presents itself.

Want Expert Advice?

Take advantage of our complimentary resume critique service to determine if your resume stands out. You'll also learn how a professional writer might successfully refine your resume.

For more than 15 years, our affiliated Certified Professional Resume Writers have helped thousands of Engineering and Technical Professionals land their next interview.

Today's job market demands hard-hitting resumes that sell. Your resume is your first impression, and your ticket past the gatekeeper – and a powerful one can take you to the front of the line. Does yours showcase your skills as best it can?

Remember, the interview lands you the job, but the resume lands you the interview.

Don't chance your career to a mediocre resume. Make sure yours is worthy of your talents.

Contact our experts – and take the first step towards your next success.

Daily Journal 10-2-09

Yesterday, Ron implemented a new (for lack of a better word) “game”. This “game” is intended for personal/group gain only. What’s happening is IRE is being split into two teams (the gold versus the blue). This leaves seven people per team. Now, every week there will be a team leader on one team and everyone else will be under his/her order. When the week is over the group will be graded by the leader (in a one to six fashion) and the leader will be graded by the other members (in general).
I see where great potential can come from this. In a perfect world, only good things would come. However, we are not in a perfect world. Personally, I won’t have a problem being told that I am sixth place in group of student’s whose potential is already set at a very high standard. I could sleep just fine knowing that. But I am kind of leery about other consequences that could come with this little “game”.
I don’t want this to be a competition. I have decided that my intentions are going to be the same as any other day in IRE when we are working. “Impressing is not our message, just let us do what we do”. This is how I feel and I am excited to see how things change from here on out.
~Matthew Korpela

Daily Journal

Yesterday we took our usual Wednesday trip to ICC. Erin, Christy, and Bri were at Timberlake Lodge for the Women In Engineering day. The rest of the IRE students were at ICC with the goal of constructing some shelves and work benches. These were designed to be placed inside the IRE and ICC trailers, but also be removable when not needed. In the front end of the IRE trailer we built a permanent twelve space shelving unit. The sides of the trailer also received a removable work bench with storage underneath, and some removable utility shelves on the other side. For the ICC trailer, we built a permanent work bench up front, and two rows of removable shelves on one side. Construction was mostly completed yesterday, with only a few finishing touches to be made next Wednesday. Getting started was slow moving for a while because we had ten engineers that wanted to do it their own way. Although, it wasn’t long before we all came to a consensus on a final design plan. Then, the shelves were built and installed without hesitation. Photos from the first day of construction can be found below, on this blog.