Maggie's experience in Honduras| Tom Dunham pays it forward
MSE Advantage sets stage with career-mindset construct
No two educational experiences are the same. Some are cast by instinct. Others are framed by mentors. Opportunities available to students in today’s world extend far beyond classrooms and labs. Students can incorporate enrichment components into a curriculum, which can transform an academic track into a passion-driven career.
MSE student Maggie Gottfried traveled to Honduras this March as part of Ohio State’s Global Capstone Course. The mission is an extension of a six-year collaboration among Ohio State and Honduras-based entities Zamorano University and AguaClara Reach to make clean water accessible throughout Honduras and Central America. The immersive experience allowed Buckeye students to witness the impact of humanitarian engineering. “Receiving first-hand accounts from community members about the way their lives have changed since having access to clean water has fueled my passion for working to increase accessibility to technologies provided by places like the AguaClara treatment plant,” shared Gottfried. It’s a critical component Maggie might have missed were it not for the MSE Advantage initiative.
Kevin Readey, Director of Development for the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, was especially instrumental in organizing the initiative. He worked with alumni, staff, and faculty to design the right option. MSE Advantage launched in 2022 and provides undergraduate students with financial support to pursue out-of-classroom, experiential learning opportunities that build professional development skills. WE Advantage was launched simultaneously and is available to undergraduate students enrolled in the Welding Engineering Program at Ohio State. Student experiences qualify by having elements of societal impact, professional development, or innovation and entrepreneurship. Participation in research or in an Ohio State-hosted hackathon also qualify under MSE/WE Advantage.
“I am truly grateful for the MSE Advantage Fund, which supplemented my travel costs, without which I would not have been able to travel to Honduras. Providing interested students with opportunities such as these is not only an incredible learning experience for the student but also has potential to create international impact,” said Gottfried after spending her spring break in Honduras. “Being in-country provided a first-hand experience that would be impossible to replicate in the classroom at Ohio State.”
Primary donors to the MSE Advantage initiative are Dr. Thomas (BS Metallurgical Engineering ’65, PhD Metallurgical Engineering ’68) and Barbara Dunham.Tom rose to vice president at GE Healthcare and is a strong proponent of enabling opportunities that build leadership and confidence in the future workforce. “I was the recipient of a scholarship when I first started at Ohio State University, and it was a very big help to us financially. More importantly, since I spent most of my career applying technology to numerous problems through my roles in management, I felt it important to have materials science students experience ways in which they could use what they learned to make a difference in the world...to develop skills in communication, leadership and applying their knowledge to real problems,” shared Dunham.
Maggie Gottfried, a fourth-year materials science and engineering student, was the first to receive support through the MSE Advantage thanks to the non-scholarship-based fund provided by Dr. and Mrs. Dunham. While the Dunhams and Maggie have yet to meet, they share similar sentiments about amplifying career readiness by refining soft skills useful within and beyond engineering-centric concentrations.
An engineering core fortified by elective experiences translates into better career perspectives
Tom and Barb both earned Bachelor of Arts degrees at Ohio Wesleyan University. Barb’s teaching job helped Tom complete his BS and doctoral degrees at Ohio State. He credits his liberal arts education with instilling value in areas like English and speech, both of which held important roles throughout Dunham’s career peaking as Vice President of the $1.6 billion Americas Medical Equipment Service business at GE. “I had the benefit of a liberal arts education before engineering.”
He recalled a tradition created by him and his friends at Ohio State in 1963. They would write a word of the week on a blackboard in the metallurgy building. “In order to engage in live communication with others, you must study and learn the English language. AI is doing a lot for people these days. What it won’t do is communicate with others from the heart,” said Tom. The tradition continues with Tom sending his grandchildren a word of the week.
His success as a research metallurgist earned him several patents and promotions throughout his 31-year career at GE. But the ability to communicate and manage effectively catapulted his capability. “Once you have a technical education, you can understand the intricacies of business easier. That gives you breadth.” An engineering core wrapped with a skill set derived from non-technical themes framed his career, and fifteen years as an officer meant congruent schedules with former GE CEO Jack Welch. Dr. Dunham grew to be a prolific speaker who presided over many annual meetings at the request of Welch. He managed respective operations at GE, including the lighting, health care, and appliances divisions. Tom’s career included teaching at GE’s Crotonville Leadership Institute where generations of managers were transformed into vibrant leaders equipped to drive manufacturing, apply best practices, and impart ownership of success to employees.
Dr. Dunham has visited engineering classes at Ohio State to discuss the importance of broadening themselves. Tom tells students to seek opportunities that balance out STEM curriculum. Public speaking was the most important non-engineering course he took.
I love engineering and love what engineers do. I just want them to become more engaged in work that applies their skills to engineering and in areas apart from their educational training.
Tom Dunham
Maggie Gottfried’s work making clean water more accessible to Hondurans enriches her engineering core with skills acquired through opportunity. This is the purpose of the MSE Advantage.
“We could not be more excited to hear of Maggie’s efforts in using her talents to bring better conditions to the disadvantaged in Honduras! This is what our fund is all about…providing opportunities for students to apply their skills to actual problems that can make a difference to the student and client alike.” These opportunities enrich engineering education by threading soft skills like communication, public speaking, and project management into their Rolodex of capabilities.
MSE Advantage has opened some incredible doors for me in the humanitarian engineering space, and I hope it does for other students as well.
Maggie Gottfried
MSE Advantage has supported fourteen additional students by helping them attend professional conferences.
The Dunhams also established the Scarlet & Gray Advantage Match program for materials science and engineering undergraduate students who participate in MSE Advantage experiential learning opportunities.
Maggie Gottfried recounts hands-on learning in Honduras: How it translates to the materials science and engineering major and professional development
This past March I had an incredible opportunity enabled by MSE Advantage to travel with The Ohio State University through a course titled Sustainable Water Treatment: Honduras.
Traveling to Honduras was motivated by the desire to collect more information for my Global Capstone project. This project, completed through partnership with AguaClara Reach, focused on advancing research to mass-produce components of the traditional AguaClara water treatment plant. These treatment plants are designed to be completely gravity-powered and maintained by only a couple of people, making them ideal for limited-resource communities in Honduras.
However, there are concerns about the overall cost, construction time, and how much manpower is needed to build the current design. With the capability to prefabricate components of the treatment plant, the overall cost would be significantly decreased, and assembly would be simple, allowing more communities to have access to clean water.
While in Honduras, my team and I were able to collect valuable information about available local materials, manufacturing capabilities, standard operations, and maintenance practices that could influence our prefabricated design. We were also able to speak with plant operators and community members about challenges affecting the water treatment system and to obtain insight on the impact of the technology.
This trip provided countless benefits for my Global Capstone project and personal development. I appreciated the opportunity to build in-person relationships with our NGO partners, AguaClara Reach and Agua Para el Pueblo, as maintaining these connections is vital for sustainable development projects to succeed. We also had the opportunity to connect with the University of Zamorano and learn from the students about higher education and academic research in another country. It was surreal to see the technology my team had been studying for the entire academic year for the first time in person.
Being in-country provided a first-hand experience that would be impossible to replicate in the classroom at Ohio State. This opportunity also allowed for an inside look at the realities of the operating environment of the technology, which will be vital in my future work when selecting a material and design that is ideal for the end user.
Apart from academic opportunity and advancing my capstone project, I am grateful for the experience to travel to Honduras on a personal level. This trip opened my eyes to the beautiful nature and culture of Honduras as well as the harsh realities of life in a limited-resource community. Receiving first-hand accounts from community members about the way their lives have changed since having access to clean water has fueled my passion for working to increase accessibility to technologies provided by places like the AguaClara treament plant.
I am truly grateful for MSE Advantage, which supplemented my travel costs, without which I would not have been able to travel to Honduras. Providing interested students with opportunities such as these is not only an incredible learning experience for the student but also has potential to create international impact.
Dr. Thomas Dunham
Tom received his Bachelor (1965) and Ph.D. degrees (1968) in Metallurgical Engineering from The Ohio State University. He joined the General Electric Company as a Research Metallurgist in Lighting and later became Manager of Refractory Metals Research and Development. Following several management assignments in Manufacturing, Tom moved to Appliances in 1979 as General Manager of Product Design. He became Vice President and General Manager of Production for GE Appliances in August 1986. He moved from Appliances to Medical Systems in 1988 as Vice President and General Manager, Manufacturing and Information Systems. Tom was appointed to Vice President of Service in July, 1991. In this capacity, he had responsibility for the > $1.6 billion Americas Medical Equipment Service business as well as worldwide responsibility for Parts Logistics Systems, Training, and Service Technology Development. He retired on October 1, 1999 after 31 years of GE service.
To support MSE/WE Advantage and provide similar experiences for students in either the undergraduate Materials Science and Engineering Program or Welding Engineering Program, contact Kevin Readey at readey.5@osu.edu or 614-316-3382.
By Libby Culley| Senior Communications Specialist| culley.36@osu.edu
