Hosting nearly one-fifth of all US automotive production, Michigan has long been a hub for engineering and manufacturing jobs. Today, the state’s tech landscape is evolving and growing rapidly, offering a variety of new high-tech career opportunities in areas including electric vehicles (EVs), mobility tech, and semiconductors.
But at least 3,000 jobs are currently vacant in these sectors. Filling these positions is critical, not only to Michigan’s success but to the future of mobility and how that technology is developed, designed, manufactured, and deployed. Michigan aspires to add more than 290,000 new EV and mobility tech jobs by 2030.
To help Michigan businesses working to fill these high-demand, high-tech jobs, while also increasing the state’s workforce longerterm, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) launched The Michigander Scholars scholarship program in March 2023.
The program is an initiative of the Talent Action Team, a public/private consortium convened by the MEDC Talent Solutions division and part of a multimillion-dollar talent attraction and retention strategy. MEDC describes the push as the nation’s largest campaign to promote high-growth jobs, notably in EV/ mobility sectors. Michigan Tech helped pilot the program and is one of seven state universities now participating.
Now in its second year, The Michigander Scholars connects students interested in EV/ mobility or semiconductor careers with core Michigan companies looking for tech talent. Eligible Michigander Scholars jobs include computer, electrical, and process engineers and software developers. Participating EV employers include BorgWarner, Bosch, Denso, Ford, General Motors, LG Energy Solutions, Magna, Mahle, Nissan, Our Next Energy (ONE), Shape Corp., Subaru, Toyota, Ultium Cells, and ZF. Participating semiconductor employers include Calumet Electronics, Hemlock Semiconductor, KLA, and SK Siltron CSS.
The program awards scholarships of up to $10,000 to students who complete internships or accept a postgraduate letter of employment with a participating employer. Students who complete experiential learning coursework sponsored by a participating employer as part of Michigan Tech’s Senior Design and Enterprise programs may also be eligible for scholarships.
At Michigan Tech, more than 190 students are participating in the University-wide initiative. Over 20 Scholars at MTU have been awarded scholarships to date, and the University plans to award an additional 30 scholarships in 2024.
While participating in the program, Scholars are encouraged to attend networking events, expos, career fairs, and other learning and networking opportunities. In summer 2023, Scholars participated in a slate of Detroit Intern Experience events, which included virtual events that covered skill building, professional development, financial literacy, and more. In several in-person events, Scholars from across Michigan met to discover what Detroit has to offer, talk with Talent Action Team representatives, and meet with employers.
Scholars at Michigan Tech also took part in activities at the North American International Detroit Auto Show in September 2023. At the auto show, Huskies Emily Roth and Livi Morgan participated in a panel discussion to inspire high school students to explore engineering and STEM careers, sharing their college experiences and career plans. In addition, Roth, Morgan, MTU student Daniel Douglas, and other Scholars from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University participated in a roundtable discussion with Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II.
MTU mechanical engineering major Marina Fernandez completed an internship at ONE in Novi, Michigan, in summer 2023, receiving a $5,000 scholarship from The Michigander Scholars program. At ONE, Fernandez worked with the product design team, applying software to develop 3D models.
Fernandez had already explored a career in the EV industry when she found out about The Michigander Scholars program, but she says it helped her look at the industry in a different way.
“The Michigander Scholars scholarship is important to me. It not only helped me financially, it fueled my passion for a career in the EV industry and heightened my awareness that EV and mobility tech is the future for the next generations,” Fernandez says.
In 2023, The Michigander Scholars program was administered by the College of Computing. In 2024 and beyond, Pavlis Honors College will oversee the program.
MTU Research Supports Mobility
In addition to The Michigander Scholars program, Michigan Tech recently received over $18 million in federal research grants to develop technologies for recycling and reusing EV batteries. This facultyinitiated research will help ensure that Michigan has a steady and sustainable supply of batteries going forward.
On the semiconductor front, Michigan Tech has received $838,000 from the MEDC’s Talent Solutions program to support a major expansion of semiconductor education and training programs across the Upper Peninsula. Michigan Tech will establish a talent pipeline to meet Michigan’s increased demand for engineering professionals and skilled technicians in the semiconductor industry, where jobs are projected to grow at least 11 percent in the next five years.
Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
