Car lovers and aspiring engineers alike were awed Wednesday by the presence of two brand-new luxury vehicles — a bright yellow Hummer H2 and a gray Cadillac XLR, — outside the entrance of the Technological Institute.
The cars were part of a display at General Motors’ “GM Day at McCormick,” organized to raise awareness about job and research opportunities with GM, said Ira Uslander, executive director of the Office of Industry Relations in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
“It’s a way for students to get to know the company and for the company to get to know the students,” he said.
GM Day started Tuesday night and continued Wednesday with representatives giving away posters, flashlights and Matchbox cars from a booth in the Tech lobby.
Besides promotional gifts the most visible signs of GM’s presence on campus were the Hummer and the Cadillac.
“We’re bringing the beauty and the beast to the front terrace of the McCormick building,” said Richard Schreck, a GM research scientist and McCormick ’66 alumnus.
Schreck said the company chose to bring two such different vehicles because the contrast between the bulky Hummer and the sleek Cadillac shows the extremes of GM and highlight the variety of opportunities within the company.
“(The Cadillac) is the most exciting new car we have,” said Stephan Biller, a GM research engineer. “It shows a lot of engineering and a lot about what we do at GM.”
According to Biller, the corporation recruits heavily from Northwestern.
“Northwestern is one of our key targets,” he said. “We prefer to hire people from Northwestern. We know they are excellent students with broad (educational) backgrounds.”
Students also attended lectures, such as “The Biomechanics of Automotive Safety,” which highlighted opportunities within the company and showed students how their education directly applies to aspects of the industry.
“It gives students the opportunity to see their certain field of study applied in the real world,” said Aaron Szerlip, a McCormick sophomore who attended the “What Will Your Car Do Next?” lecture, where an expert described future technological innovations in car design.
Students were not the only ones who benefited from the festivities. GM employees said they received insight about research and technology being developed at NU.
“We are continuously learning what schools are doing, where they’re getting ahead of us on research and where we need to work harder,” Schreck said.
Many students said they appreciated the dialogue with GM employees because it aided in the job searching process.
“Looking for a job is a daunting task,” said Amishi Mehta, a Weinberg senior. “It’s not as scary if you have companies talking to you.”
GM’s presence on campus showed its commitment to hiring students, said Vivek Kumar, a McCormick freshman.
“The fact that they are bringing their cars shows they are serious about what they’re doing here.”
In addition to making students aware of job opportunities, McCormick Dean John Birge said the day also was designed to help students who are unsure of their major find a field that interests them.
“It’s good for people to know what jobs they can get into,” he said. “It might help them pick a major.”
