Visteon named 'Employer of Year' by University of Michigan-Dearborn

For the past five years, global automotive supplier Visteon Corporation has been giving rewarding on-the-job opportunities to qualified engineering students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. The university recently acknowledged this growing partnership,
naming Visteon 'Employer of the Year' for providing a growing number of quality internship and cooperative education opportunities to U-M Dearborn students.

Tony England, Dean of the University's College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS), presented the award recently at the college's annual employer-student recognition breakfast. Accepting for Visteon was Maureen Pittenger, Visteon Associate Director, Human Resources.

Since 2009, Visteon has provided about 40 U-M Dearborn students with summer internships or work-study opportunities - mostly in electrical, mechanical and computer engineering - at its corporate offices and innovation center in Van Buren Township. About half of the college interns that Visteon has hired over the past five years graduated from U-M Dearborn, and of the 36 interns and co-op students working at the company this summer, 20 are from the university's College of Engineering and Computer Science.

"U of M Dearborn is a great partner for Visteon because of the quality of students in the engineering program - most of whom are interested in automotive careers, live in the area and want to stay in Michigan," said Pittenger. Most of the co-op and internship assignments are within Visteon Electronics, a business that is increasingly integrating consumer electronics approaches and features into vehicles, which many prospective engineers find stimulating and challenging.

"The students bring lots of energy and ideas; they often have a different and fresh perspective," added Pittenger. "We've had several work on projects for our annual participation at CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas. Our senior engineers are thrilled to have someone they can mentor, and to whom they can pass on their knowledge. They learn from the students as well. It’s an investment in our future and it's good for our business."

Each year a CECS advisory council selects a Co-op Employer of the Year based on positive student comments about their experiences, along with faculty nominations. Visteon was selected for its strong and growing partnership with the university, which provides students with on-the-job experience at a multi-billion dollar global automotive supplier, and gives Visteon access to talented prospective engineers.

"The decision to select only one employer is challenging for the advisory council since there always are several worthy employers," said England. "In addition to student comments and faculty evaluations, consideration is given to a company's true partnership to the CECS College and their commitment to cooperative education. The CECS is happy to award and acknowledge Visteon as the 2013 Co-Op Employer of the Year."

Posted in: Award,College of Engineering and Computer Science,Dearborn,Employer of the Year,Maureen Pittenger,Michigan,North America,Tony England,U-M Dearborn,University of Michigan,Van Buren Township,Visteon