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M A Y
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EMERGING PROFESSIONALS
VOLUNTEERISM
COMMITTEE
Profile of a Volunteer
James Boileau, Technical Expert,
Ford Motor Co.
Stories matter. James Boi-
leau was new to materials when
he entered Detroit’s Wayne State
University and took an
Intro-
duction to Metallurgy
course. “I
had an excellent teacher with a
great collection of stories, each
with a lesson built in. He made a complex subject easy to
understand,” recalls Boileau. “I changed my major within a
month.”
With his bachelor’s degree, he was hired by Ford Motor
Co. and given the opportunity to complete a master’s and
Ph.D. while working. After 28 years, he is now in Ford’s
Research and Innovation Center, conducting research on
lightweight automotive components, managing the optical
and electrical microscopy labs, and conducting materials
analyses to improve vehicle durability.
After joining ASM as a student in 1984, Boileau received
several scholarships, made industrial contacts, toured facil-
ities, and learned about potential jobs for his future. After
graduation, he attended Chapter meetings until life got
busy with four daughters—and coaching lots of soccer. In
2008, Boileau answered the call to join the Detroit Chapter
and has served on the executive board ever since.
Now his focus is on supporting students and teachers
in the field of materials science. He modernized his Chap-
ter’s college scholarship applications by creating online
forms, which boosted the number of applicants from two
to 32 in one year. He also serves on a national committee
that will be extending scholarships to community college
students in 2016. And he has led a creative twist on the
Chapter’s ASM scholarships—overseeing the creation and
distribution of six grants to providemuch needed classroom
materials for teachers who attend the local ASM Teachers
Camp. In addition, Boileau is teaching materials science at
Wayne State and University of Michigan-Dearborn. “To all
those who have helped me, I am paying it forward and tell-
ing good stories with lessons built in,” he says.
EMERGING
PROFESSIONALS
Understanding the
Power of Networking
Shane Kennett, Ph.D., P.E., CWI
During
graduate
school,
Ph.D. candidates are tasked with
developing new theories and
proving new results that push the
scientific envelope in their respec-
tive fields of study. When students
finish their dissertationanddecide
to transition away from academia, their next major task is to
learn how to assimilate into the “real world” which, in some
cases, can be a relatively easy task. In the field of engineer-
ing consulting, this transition can be challenging due to the
diverse nature of problems that are encountered for a wide
array of industries. For consulting engineers to grow and
be successful, they must be able to build trust with diverse
clients who may come from a range of scientific and non-
scientific fields. This may come easier for a confident and
competent engineer—once they start working on projects.
However, a significant hurdle in the career of a young
consultant lies in obtaining new clients that trust him or
her with their most important issues. Young engineers are
challenged not only by the projects, and at times, rapid
turnaround times, but also by having to communicate find-
ings with professionals who work in a variety of industries
and/or those who may have vastly different educational or
professional backgrounds. Each field tends to have its own
terminologies or ways of approaching problems. These are
hurdles every engineer will encounter. Effectively working
through them will lead to becoming a well-rounded engi-
neer. Professional networking is a key tool to overcoming
these hurdles, but effective networking is not taught in
graduate schools. Further, it can be lost when an engineer
does not engage with professional societies. Because of
this, it becomes increasingly important for engineers to
become—and remain—active in professional communities
while seeking to work across many disciplines. By maintain-
ing relationships made during networking and obtaining a
general knowledge of some of the difficulties or successes
that colleagues are experiencing, one will continue to grow
as an engineer and build a desirable set of experiences and
skills. Networking can truly put the young engineer on a
path to success.
Boileau
Kennett
Boileau