The CSO's visit was very informative. While the trip was geared towards those looking to go into engineering, as YiFan if planning to do, it was also a good experience for everyone else. During the tour of the factory, we were able to see how several different parts were made, mostly related to power steering. It's good for everyone who drives to know what parts their vehicles are made of. Unfortunately, we were unable to take pictures, a safety hazard, but it was still a memorable tour.

After the tour, we had the chance to sit down with several engineers who work at the factory, and learned what they do at Nexteer, how their job affects the quality of our driving, and how they worked to get their jobs.

YiFan: "Overall, the trip was well worth the time that we took away from school. The factory tour demonstrated a slight taste of working in the field, but failed to convey to many that reason for each section int he factory. The lack of knowledge of automotive of many of us may have led to this, but overall it was very satisfying to see the foundation of common vehicles. The true gem of going to Nexteer must be the interviews. The opportunity to ask questions regarding current professionals within the field is beyond valuable."

Mackenzie: "The trip was a great experience. While I'm not planning on going onto an engineering field, I still believe it was worth while. I learned a great amount about the automotive manufacturing industry, and as someone who is driving, I think that is extremely valuable information. One of the pieces that we were able to observe being made was created using a technique similar to 3D printing, which was extremely interesting to me as I 3D almost everyday through the CSO program. When we were able to sit down with the engineers that work at the company, they explained how they went from high school students to successful employees in a STEM career, which was useful information as many of us who went on the trip were juniors or seniors, preparing to go off to college. One of the employees we spoke with focuses her time on coding, and after speaking with her, I've decided that learning to code could be very beneficial to my STEM career. Overall, the trip was an amazing experience that I would promote to my classmates who are interested in engineering or the automotive industry."

Anthony: "Our trip to Nexteer automotive plant was indeed an amazing experience for CSO team and just an overall great stepping stone in the vast reality of the real world. The exploration ranged from the office-based jobs of demographics and marketing to the actual hands-on construction of the automotive parts. This exploration of the some of the different jobs that Nexteer has to offer was a great learning point, as we found out that building steering parts for cars is not just hard manual labor. I personally found that one of the most critical parts of success is not just the automotive industry but all industry is a hardworking problem-solving attitude. Such problem-solving skills is exactly what one man brought to the table that we met. He spoke about how his ability to work through a problematic situation is what really gave him the edge over other designers. Overall, the trip was a great deal of fun that also taught us some useful information that will better us for the future."