Bridging the Knowledge Gap: Part 2 of 2

Paul Ruzicka is the chief engineer for Xylem Inc. and is currently managing the Xylem Engineering team in Seneca Falls, New York. To read Part 1 of his interview discussing the challenges facing young engineers from January’s issue of MPT, please visit modernpumpingtoday.com.
MPT: What avenues are there for educational and corporate partnerships in preparing tomorrow’s engineers?
Paul Ruzicka: Many colleges and universities are offering work programs (CoOp) where engineering students have the opportunity to gain hands-on engineering experience though a paid position. Xylem has been a strong supporter of these programs and partners with a wide range of United States educational institutions. Many of our newly hired engineers draw from those students who participated in CoOps. We actively seek out talented students and have them work on new product development and R&D activity. We would encourage all industries to reach out and leverage these educational opportunities that benefit both the student and the employer.
MPT: How do you see Xylem’s Let’s Solve Water Challenge helping create the next generation of engineers and designers?
Paul Ruzicka: The Let’s Solve Water Challenge is a program we began sponsoring four years ago. The reasons we became involved are threefold.
First, it’s a great opportunity to support and be integrally involved in developing the next generation of engineers—and especially fluid engineers. Second, the competition is solely focused on water and developing innovative solutions to some of the world’s most critical water challenges, including water quality, access to water, and the movement of water—something that is needed for everything from heating and cooling buildings to removing flood waters in the wake of natural disasters. Third, it’s a way for Xylem to give back to the community. We are headquartered in the state of New York, we have several facilities in New York—Buffalo, Auburn, and Seneca Falls—and many of our employees are based here. In fact, not only do we sponsor the event and supply the contest, some of our employees serve as mentors to the students who compete.
The Let’s Solve Water Challenge is also helping to inspire future engineers and teach high school students real-world applications. This year, high school students were challenged to design and build a water filtration system—a direct link to Xylem’s mission of helping supply clean, safe drinking water to people around the world.
Teams had the unique opportunity to work side-by-side with water technology experts from Xylem to design and build a system using tubing, fittings, fasteners, and other materials that filter water with particulates up to 1/16 inches in diameter. Students used their engineering skills to manage design constraints and build products that filter dirty water. Teams then presented their working devices and described their development process to a panel of judges from Xylem. The devices were evaluated based on filtration capability, water quality, volume filtered, cost solution, and design.
The potential engineering professionals are using their engineering knowledge and further developing their skill sets to solve a water-related task. In previous years, we’ve had students develop a treadle pump, or stepping pump, for manual water transportation that circulates water. ◆
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MODERN PUMPING TODAY, January 2016
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