Alumni

1936–2022   One of the most recognizable mottos in the world was coined not by a copywriter but by an engineer. Ford Motor Company's "Quality Is Job One" was a slogan and a corporate touchstone for seventeen years, practically forever in the short-attention-span world of marketing. It originated with one man's obsession with making everything better."Dan Rivard was the face of Total Quality Improvement at Ford Motor Company . . .

Why did you choose Michigan Tech? I heard about the winters and wanted to experience it for myself! Please tell us about a memorable experience you had during your time at Tech. I really enjoyed sledding with friends, the drag show, and traveling with Mind Trekkers How well did Michigan Tech prepare you for your career? Pretty well. What was your first job after graduation and how did you secure it? I’m currently a PhD . . .

Paul W. Fernstrum, a mechanical engineering alumnus, is chairman and past president of Menominee-based RW Fernstrum amp; Co., a third-generation family-owned company that invented—and continues to manufacture and market—the Gridcooler keel cooler, a marine engine heat exchanger, which was developed during World War II for landing craft. Paul began his career at RW Fernstrum as a draftsman. In 1975 he designed the . . .

Jack Real began his aviation career two years after graduating from Michigan Tech with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1937. He joined Lockheed Aircraft as a design engineer in 1939, flew for Pan Am during World War II, then worked as a test pilot and flight test engineer for Lockheed until 1965, when he became vice president and general manager of the Lockheed Rotary Wing Division. He became Howard Hughes chief . . .