Yesterday, in the first of a planned monthly series of career presentations by Notre Dame alums for students of NDP, four graduates of Notre Dame discussed everything engineering with more than 60 very attentive and interested students.
Tom Durkin ’00 (NDP), Jeff Healy ’98 (NDP) and Anthony Farchone ’98 (NDP) were on hand in NDPMA's media center and Karen Dewitt ’01 (NDP) by video to talk to the students about future careers in engineering. Scott Lockhart, a 1998 graduate of Notre Dame Prep, who also is chair of the Notre Dame Alumni Association, served as facilitator for the speakers.
DeWitt, a senior aeronautical engineer, has been working for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics for nine and a half years. She has been a structural engineer on the F-16 fighter jet program, performing fatigue and fracture analysis on the entire F-16 airframe. She holds a B.S in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and holds an M.S in mechanical engineering from Southern Methodist University.
Durkin is currently the design system engineer in the Powertrain Division at General Motors, responsible for overseeing the design, release and validation of various base engine components on the second generation High Feature V6 engine. Prior to his current position, he worked in the Advanced Engineering Group as a strategist for future engine programs. He has also held the total validation engineer role for small block engines; calibration specialist on the Chevrolet Volt and Ecotec engines; and design responsible engineer on the Duramax Diesel engine. Durkin holds an MSE from Purdue University, a BSME from the University of Notre Dame.
Farchone has been with General Motors for 14 years. He joined as an intern in 2000, and in 2001, was hired as a lead program quality engineer on the Global Midsize Vehicle platform. Since then, he has held various positions in engineering quality, and manufacturing throughout his career, including: design engineer for side closures; global engineering business manager for Body/Interior/Exterior/Dimensional SMT; global quality manager for Large Luxury and Electric Vehicle programs; and quality engineering manager at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant. In his current role, Farchone is responsible for the development and execution of all Global Launch Excellence processes as well as leading a number of other GM quality processes. He is certified in Red-X problem solving, has a DFSS Green Belt, and is a certified quality manager and holds an MBA from Oakland University and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.
Healy, now VP of the Global Ford Business Unit at Takata Corporation, graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University in 2001. He initially began as an engineer for seat mechanisms at the Lear Corporation. After the successful launch of various programs, Healy took a position as an engineering manager at Takata. After a short period in this role, he moved within Takata to the sales organization and completed an MBA in 2007 from Michigan State University. Healy worked in different roles within the Takata sales organization before being promoted to director of the Renault-Nissan business unit at Takata and then to his current position as vice president of the Global Ford Business Unit. In this role, he manages the engineering, sales and program management team members of Takata in their support of Ford Motor Company safety and steering wheel products.
Beth Campbell, Notre Dame’s director of alumni relations, says another alumni “speaker series” day focused on careers in medicine is being planned for late October.
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.