Engineering talent is critical to state national economic progress

Renee Meiller, University of Wisconsin-MadisonRenee Meiller,

Engineering talent, progress

Engineering fields are facing a major skills gap that isn’t going away. Engineers provide an economic backbone. A university changes the message.

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Many of Wisconsin’s most notable companies have grown from family businesses founded decades ago into multibillion-dollar companies with an international reach – and engineers drive the innovations that underlie their progress, global competitiveness and economic success.

“Engineers are a multiplier in the workforce,” said Todd Kelsey, CEO of Plexus, a global company specializing in highly complex design, manufacturing, supply chain and aftermarket services based in Neenah, Wisc. “They create things, and by creating things, they create jobs. Engineering is critical to make our economy grow.”

Beyond manufactured goods, engineers also play a major role in virtually every aspect of daily life. Engineers design transportation systems, buildings, water supplies, and energy infrastructure. Engineers enable all aspects of digital infrastructure, from smartphones to 5G wireless networks to the cloud – and create systems to keep data secure. In healthcare, engineers pioneer solutions for diagnosing and treating disease or improving the way in which patients receive care. University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Engineering enrolls 4,500 undergraduate and 1,500 graduate students annually; each year, approximately 1,500 students earn engineering degrees. Even with that, industry demand for engineers is outpacing the supply. “We can’t grow our company without continuing to innovate and develop new technologies, and we need more UWMadison engineers coming in to help us do that,” said John Pfeifer, president and CEO of Oshkosh Corp. As of April 2021, there were nearly 9,400 full-time engineering jobs posted in Handshake, UW-Madison’s online career management system, and Wisconsin occupational employment projections show a 7.77% increase in engineering jobs from 2018 to 2028. Plexus is among those employers seeking to grow its engineering work-

ANSWERS KEYWORDS: workforce development, STEM, engineering education force, which in Wisconsin includes 350 engineers. “Over the last five years, we’ve hired well over 100 Engineers play a major role in engineers,” Kelsey said. virtually every aspect of life. Admission to the College of Engineering is Industry demand for engineers extremely competitive, said Robertson. “Each year, is outpacing the supply of some-7,000 talented students apply to UW-Madison graduates. with a desire to become engineering undergraduates,” The University of WisconsinMadison is looking to expand enrollment and upgrade facilities. he said. “Our college can admit only about 1,000. That capacity is limited by the space and the facilities we have available, as well as the number of faculty and ONLINE staff we have to educate our students.” With this article online, see additional college and university stories at www.controleng. With an ambitious plan to enroll 1,400 additional students each year – bringing the total annucom. Also look at the Control al number of engineering graduates to more than Engineering 2021 Career and 2,000 – Robertson said the UW-Madison College of Salary Survey, published in May, for more information about engineers today. https://cfeedu.cfemedia.com/ www.controleng.com/ online-courses/ Engineering needs to follow suit. “We need to grow not only to meet student and employer demand, but also to remain attractive to them. If we want to continue to recruit the best talent – and that means at the faculty, staff and student www.controleng.com/webcasts/ level – we need facilities that are comparable to our https://cfeedu.cfemedia.com/ peers,” he said. ce pages/virtual-training-week CONSIDER THIS What inspired you to be an engineer and what advice would you give to an aspiring engineer?

The College of Engineering’s rigorous curriculum helps students become innovative problemsolvers, while hands-on design and capstone courses allow them to apply their engineering training to real challenges. Courtesy: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Renee Meiller is director of communications,University of Wisconsin-Madison. Edited by Chris Vavra, web content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media and Technology, cvavra@cfemedia.com.