More than 25 students from Notre Dame’s upper division gathered November 1 in the school’s boardroom for the 7th edition of the Alumni Career Speaker Series, which is sponsored by the Notre Dame Alumni Association.
Mike Kastler, a Notre Dame alum from the Class of 1975 and a member of the association’s board of directors, moderated the discussion between students and three other alums who work on the automotive industry.
Marty Rathsburg (’00), director of purchasing at auto supplier Irvin Automotive; Maria Wasikowski (’06), an automotive product specialist with an automotive OEM; and Andrew Stupeka (’13), who works in purchasing at auto and defense supplier BAE Industries, were on hand to discuss careers in the auto industry in general and their own jobs in particular.
Notre Dame alum Mike Kastler ('75) introduces the alumni panel to students on Nov. 1.
Wasikowski commented after the session on Twitter that it was an honor to participate. “Thanks @NDPMA for including me in your @ND_Alumni #career panel discussion today. These students will go far.”
Marty Rathsburg, director of purchasing, Irvin Automotive Products
Rathsburg is a 2000 graduate of NDP and has an engineering degree from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in business from Oakland University. He has worked at Irvin Automotive Products for his entire career since graduating college. Irvin Automotive is an interior trim supplier to the automotive industry. Seat covers, sun visors, cargo shades are its main products. He currently is the director of purchasing and has a team of 10 people that includes buyers and supplier-development personnel. Throughout his career he also has worked in engineering, program management, finance and now purchasing.
Maria Wasikowski, automotive product specialist
Maria Wasikowski is an alumna of Notre Dame Prep's Class of 2006 and has a communications degree from Michigan State University. Currently, she is an automotive product specialist and presenter for a luxury vehicle company at auto shows and special events throughout the U.S. When Wasikowski is not traveling the auto show circuit, she is acting in film, television, commercials, industrial films, and voiceovers. She is excited to discuss her experience with her fellow “Irishmen and “Irishwomen” in an effort to introduce them to the possibilities available in the future to students at Notre Dame Prep.
Andrew Stupeka, purchasing, BAE Industries
Stupeka graduated from NDP in 2013 and spent the first two years of his collegiate career at MSU studying accounting and simultaneously following a pre-med track. After his second year, he realized that the career track he was following was not the best fit for him. He says his real passion was automotive. So after his second year at MSU came to a close, he migrated back home and switched his major to Oakland University's version of supply chain management and operations management, concentrating on SCM which he plans to complete in April 2018. Since his move to OU, he has been gainfully employed at BAE Industries Inc., a Tier-2, minority owned supplier of commodity stampings and seat-latch mechanisms for the automotive industry. Some of BAE clients include Adient, Faurecia and Lear. Stupeka has spent the past two years working across their BAE’s supply chain functions including materials management, purchasing, program management and prototype coordination as a senior intern. He also is the president of the Society of Automotive Analysts chapter at Oakland University, a student organization focusing on bringing students and professionals together in the spirit of educating all members on the future of the industry and providing industry access to automotive senior management/executive management.
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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.