Alumni Corner: Pete Walsh

Pete WalshThere are some students who leave their college right after graduation, happy to never have to take another exam again or even have to walk on campus again. And then you have the alumni that keep the university going, and who wear their Penguin pride for all to see. Pete Walsh is one of those alumni.

Pete came to YSU in the fall of 1966, when YSU was referred to as Youngstown University, and only two years after the first Penguin mascot started showing up at football games.

He was an industrial engineering major with a math minor, and said that he always thought he was in the right field.

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Student Spotlight: Kylie Delgros

Hello STEMians!

Kylie and Stitch

Kylie and Stitch

I am a senior in Industrial Engineering at YSU. I got hired as an Engineering Services intern here at Walt Disney World in August 2012. The department I am apart of is called Global Contracts. My team handles all of the large contracting agreements that affect Walt Disney World properties.

Working for Disney is great! I am especially lucky to have been hired in the role I have. Because my team handles global contracts, I get to experience everything the Walt Disney Resort has to offer. Whether I’m off checking furniture layouts or shadowing my boss on an elevator inspection walk, I get to see every aspect of the resort, onstage (within guest view) and off-stage (cast areas).

My main role here at Disney is establishing a global furniture program for all of the public spaces in our resorts across Walt Disney World. I am creating a centralized database that contains the furniture specifications for each of these assets. It might not sound like much, but when you think about it, so far I have collected data on about 20,000 pieces of furniture. In the future, we are hoping to implement my database into a work-order-based system that can effectively track the maintenance cycle, as well as the life cycle of our furniture. That being said, I have compiled past work orders so that our team can be more cost effective when awarding bids to vendors (for refinishing furniture). My work has been extremely helpful to estimating a budget for our program for upcoming years.

One of my favorite things about my role is it is not what you would think of when you think of an Industrial Engineer. If I have learned one thing from Disney, it’s that Industrial Engineers can be used everywhere. Industrial Engineering is all about efficiencies. In my role, I have centralized a system of information that had no documentation in some areas, or information that was ten years old in other areas. It feels great to be able to help organize something on such a large scale. At Disney, we realize that people are spending their money to be encompassed by the charm that our resort promises, whether that charm be not having to wait in a two hour line all the way down to being impressed with the quality of furniture within or resorts. I’m excited that the work I’m doing is helping to keep that Disney magic going for our guests in years to come!

Have a magical day,

Kylie Delgros

Dr. Daniel Suchora

The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering will have a faculty change this June 30.

Dr. Daniel Suchora, chair of the department for the past seven years, will be retiring after a 32-year career on the campus of Youngstown State University (YSU). Before examining his time at YSU, it’s valuable to look back on how it all began.

“When I was growing up, I liked to tinker with things, and take things apart” Dr. Suchora said. Following that desire, he worked at a bowling alley as a teenager, working on the machinery, and enjoyed it. When it was time to go to college, Dr. Suchora said he knew “…mechanical engineering was a good idea.”

Dr. Suchora went on to obtain his undergraduate and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from YSU, and his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Case Western Reserve University. During his master’s program, Dr. Suchora found his passion for teaching. Although he did consulting work with other companies, Dr. Suchora conveyed that he “liked the connection of teaching and practicing in the field.” That way, he could bring real world experience to the classroom.

When asked what has been the greatest accomplishment of the department, Dr. Suchora simply said “the students: their successes are our successes.”

And for YSU students, they feel the same sentiment. Aubrey Garland, junior in mechanical engineering, and student employee of the department, relayed how she has enjoyed working with Dr. Suchora as well as being a student of his. Garland said “There is no question he wants the students to really learn the material so we are not just successful students but successful and effective engineers.”  She added “To this day I am still more nervous about taking a Dr. Suchora test than anything else; not because I am afraid I won’t do well, but because I don’t want to disappoint him.”

Another junior mechanical engineering student, Amanda Cox, furthered this, saying how Dr. Suchora …” genuinely cares about his students and did his best to prepare us to be the best engineers we could be. I appreciate Dr. Suchora so much for all he has done for me, and I am so thankful I got to experience having him for class.”

Students are not the only members of YSU who will miss Dr. Suchora’s leadership. Faculty members also emphasized the impact he has made. Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Hazel Marie, said how Dr. Suchora always “puts the good of program, department, and university first.” Dr. Martin Cala, professor and coordinator of industrial and systems engineering said that he and Dr. Suchora worked together on projects such as hiring a new Industrial Engineering faculty member, and …” coordinated the reconfiguration of laboratory space together, and made some progress in improving shared resources not only between the two programs in our department but with other STEM programs and other colleges.”

Though Dr. Suchora will be missed, he will not be entirely gone. He will continue to teach in fall 2012 part time. Reflecting on his experiences overall, Dr. Suchora added: “I’ve been lucky to get into a career that I really enjoy.”