KEENzine1

ISSUE ONE 17 “Everyone says that English is the global business language, but it’s not – the dollar sign is. That means finance and all of its elements are what matter, including costs, margins, pricing, and profits,” says Dan Stuckey, recently retired vice president of Lighting Products, Specialty Power & Strategic Ventures for battery manufacturer Energizer Holdings, Inc. “For engineers to be able to communicate with the outside world, they need to understand and feel comfortable with those elements so that they can work effectively within a corporation. That’s something that engineering graduates need to learn, so that they can stand in the shoes of non-engineers and see things from another perspective.” Stuckey, who earned a degree in electrical engineering from Ohio Northern University in 1979, recently returned to his alma mater, where he is involved in the KEEN program and its multi-faceted efforts to foster an entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate engineers. “When I retired, I went to talk to the dean of engineering, Eric Baumgartner,” Stuckey explains. “I asked him, ‘Can we get the engineering school and the business school to talk to each other?’ I was pleasantly surprised that the engineering school was already involved with the KEEN program. Freshmen [engineers] are learning communication and presentation skills, and are being put in team settings. They’re working with the business school and doing fantastic work.” For engineers to succeed, Stuckey firmly believes that they need to broaden their skillset and learn to work in teams. “Developing effective people skills is extremely important in becoming a successful engineer,” according to Stuckey. “The technical solutions, and knowing how to implement them, are probably only 10 percent of a problem. There’s a wide variety of thinking out there, so dealing with different personalities and organizational structures is essential to achieving success. Anyone can come up with a solution. Having the ability to actually implement the solution takes a whole lot more. You primarily need people skills, but you also need the ability to take a broader view of what is required.” Teamwork is essential to success in the current business environment, Stuckey says. “It’s almost a prerequisite that you be able to work in a team setting to get a job. In today’s world, in lean organizations, there are very few jobs where people are sitting in cubicles by themselves – companies can’t afford that. Everybody’s asked to wear two or three hats, and if you can’t work in a team environment, you have very little chance of success.” Embracing a customer-driven philosophy is also crucial. “Success,” Stuckey maintains, “comes when the engineering group, working as a team, hears and understands the customers’ wants and needs, then looks at processes and technologies to determine what is possible in a cost-effective manner. Corporations are looking for that.” Businesses also value engineers who understand their market and can seek out opportunities. “There were very few times in my career when someone told me exactly what the problem was or where the opportunity might be,” Stuckey explains. “Real INDUSTRY “ Anyone can come up with a solution. Having the ability to actually implement the solution takes a whole lot more. You primarily need people skills, but you also need the ability to take a broader view of what is required.” Continued on page 22