MSOE graduates are leaders of character—responsible professionals who never stop learning and strive to create value in the communities where they work and live.
These characteristics are the sum of the MSOE Mindset—an approach to learning that weaves together MSOE’s mission, vision, and values, with a servant-leader philosophy and the entrepreneurial mindset that is the hallmark of an MSOE education. Fostering this mindset is the recently formed CREATE Institute (Community-focused Realworld Engagement in Academics Through Experiential-learning).
“It’s important to live the MSOE Mindset to really understand that we’re more than what we do. It’s how we behave and what our character is,” said DeAnna Leitzke, P.E., CREATE Institute director.
To support the developmental work toward the CREATE Institute’s success, MSOE has received a $2 million, multi-year grant from The Kern Family Foundation and will also leverage funds from current MSOE endowment funds.
The CREATE Institute will ensure MSOE students receive well-rounded, high-impact educational experiences that will enhance the relevancy of their learning and serve as a campus resource for faculty, staff, and students.
An MSOE industrial engineering class partnered with Careers Industries, a Racine-based company that provides vocational opportunities and employment for adults with developmental disabilities. The result was to improve the ergonomic conditions of the switch assembly and cord wrapping processes. Students toured the facility, spoke with employees and conducted evaluations. They wrote a paper detailing their observations and recommendations to improve the processes.
Junior Kate Wallschlaeger, of Jackson, Wisconsin, took the project much further. She designed and built the fixture that would improve the switch assembly process. “Our success could directly improve the everyday lives of people just trying to do their job,” she said. “I wanted to make sure Careers Industries had at least one working fixture, the training and instructions on how to use it, and all of the engineering drawings necessary to make another.”