Ferris Students Attend
MCAA Second Student Chapter

Two members from the Ferris State Student Chapter, President Megan Ruehmeier and Committee Chairman Jason Dempsey, attended the MCAA's 2002 Student Chapter Summit. Also in attendance were Chapter Advisors, Mike Feutz, Program Director at Ferris and MSCA Chapter Sponsor, Sandra Miller, President Greater Michigan MSCA. Also in attendance from Michigan was Randy Davis from the Greater Michigan PMC's Student Chapter at Eastern Michigan University.
The Summit was an unqualified success. They had excellent attendance (about 85), lively and thoughtful discussions in all sessions, and students who seemed genuinely engaged and interested in the program and the industry. There was an excellent tour of Carrier's newest chiller plant in Charlotte and the company's Customer Solutions Center, a facility that monitors many of Carrier's commercial installations worldwide by computer. Terry Hampton from Carrier and his staff did a superb job of organizing the tours and managing the logistics. Carrier has also established a special toll-free hotline into the Center for the students to call (24/7) with their questions about equipment for the 2002 competition. With Carrier's assistance, they were able to bring the group into NASCAR race car driver Rick Hendrick's complex where his teams of race cars are designed and serviced. Hendrick treated everyone to a very nice presentation by Bob Heiss who gave us some history about the facility, the cars, and the Hendrick family. The museum included the car featured in the Tom Cruise movie, Days of Thunder. By the way, the tour included a look at Jeff Gordon's new shop, Terry LaBounty's shop, and a pit crew's training session. The day ended with a first-look at Carrier's mobile exhibit and dinner at the Speedway Club at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The second day of the conference featured presentations by the University of Nebraska's president Donnie Arant, and an excellent presentation on job searching techniques by Sherelle Morgan, a human resources associate at Ferguson Enterprises. Her presentation really seemed to strike home for the students because they plied her with questions and comments. MCAA also included a game in this program again. The students enjoyed the interaction and the mind challenge (not to mention the cash prize).