Outsourcing: A Survival Guide for the Engineering Student

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Outsourcing: Survival Guide for theEngineering Student

Ivan BercovichMay 14, 2007

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Abstract

The initial purpose of this research was to find information regarding engineering outsourcing anddecide whether this process could be harmful to current engineering students or not. The main sourceof information was a series of interviews with four professors at the University of MassachusettsAmherst. Two of the interviewees, Sandip Kundu and Weibo Gong, are originally from China and Indiarespectively, a fact that made those interviews very meaningful. Professor William Leonard is a nuclearphysicist whose research field is the improvement of teaching techniques in schools and colleges. Thelast interviewee was Alan Robinson, who is an engineering PhD. who has opted to go into the businessfield.All the interviews were very positive regarding the future of current engineering students. All theprofessors believe that good students are not at risk. However, my personal experience at UMass hasshown

me that the definition of “good student” is not applicable to the majority. Because of this reason,

I decided to write this paper for a student audience. This paper contains a mix of data and personaladvice for the student who might be at risk.From the economics point of view, I discovered that money is not the only reason for companies tooutsource; there are actually strong political forces that persuade big corporations to open productionplants and hire engineers in foreign locations. I have also found out that academic performance in thefield of engineering is more important than what most people think. The increasing offer of humanresources from Asian countries is giving corporations a bigger sample from which to choose. Therefore,the better your academic record, the better the job you will be able to get and the less likely you are toget replaced through the process of outsourcing.

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Table of Contents

List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... ivIntroduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1Outsourcing ................................................................................................................................................... 1Background ............................................................................................................................................... 1Why do companies outsource? ................................................................................................................ 2Education as a solution ..................................................................................

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Be aware of your background ................................................................................................................... 3Higher Education ....................................................................................................................................... 4Change of Attitude .................................................................................................................................... 5Study Hard ................................................................................................................................................ 5Get Experience .......................................................................................................................................... 6Final Thoughts ............................................................................................................................................... 7Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................... 8

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