In support of the UH College of Technology's Celebrating 70 campaign, FMC Technologies recently contributed $75,000. In recognition of this generosity, classroom 101 in the College's original building, Technology Annex, has been officially renamed FMC Technologies Lecture Hall. The Technology Annex – T1 Building – opened on October 28, 1941 as a training facility for Hughes Tool Co. and the U.S. Naval Reserve Vocational School. This building was the third built on the University of Houston campus.
The Celebrating 70 anniversary fund commemorates the college's growth during the past seven decades and focuses on future needs to educate students in the ever-changing technology field. Proceeds from the fund will benefit facility repairs and maintenance, helping provide future students with state-of-the-art learning environments.
"Just as industry stepped up 70 years ago to fulfill a need to provide a quality experience to our students, FMC Technologies is doing the same today," said Dean William Fitzgibbon. "A global leader in providing technology solutions for the energy industry, FMC Technologies has been engaged with the College for several years, supporting our Mechanical Engineering Technology capstone students with mentorship and advice on their senior design projects. They've hired our students as interns in their Design Center and as employees upon graduation. We are truly grateful for their support, which will allow us to maintain and upgrade our facilities to serve our students for decades to come."
During the College's 70th birthday celebration and open house in October, Preston Bruce, Product and Process Manager for Houston Well Completion Systems Engineering, accepted a copy of the official agreement renaming the classroom in honor of FMC Technologies.
Chris Sandilos, Project Engineer and Manager of the University of Houston Design Center at FMC, shared his optimism about partnering with the College of Technology to further prepare future mechanical engineering technologists and expand the scope of senior design projects.
"We have had a longstanding relationship with the College, cultivating and developing its top-notch students," said Sandilos. "All students in the Design Center, our work study program, are treated like new hire engineers. They can expect to work on things like revising technical documentation, conceptualizing and designing new tools, and tackling other detailed engineering problems. Real world, meaningful work is accomplished even within their 12-20 hour weekly work schedules; it is very important to get them interested and keep them motivated and engaged. The net result is a ‘win-win' for everyone," said Sandilos.
Sandilos' primary responsibilities with the Design Center include recruiting, managing, and mentoring work study program students. He serves as the direct point of contact with UH and was an internal interface with FMC management in facilitating the donation. The students who are a part of the work study program gain valuable insight into the operations and emerge with practical tools to navigate the engineering challenges of energy, offshore, and subsea projects. He advises that while taking advantage of work study and internship opportunities like FMC's to get industry experience is important, the most successful students typically get an early start with networking, establishing mentoring relationships, and attending career fairs and info sessions as early as their freshman year. "UH students have been consistently solid performers, which is a direct reflection of the integration of their course work with the knowledge and skills developed in the senior design capstone projects and our work study program," he said.
FMC Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:FTI) is a leading global provider of technology solutions for the energy industry. Named by FORTUNE® Magazine as the "World's Most Admired Oil and Gas Equipment Service Company" in 2010, the Company has approximately 13,500 employees and operates 27 production facilities in 16 countries. FMC Technologies designs, manufactures and services technologically sophisticated systems and products such as subsea production and processing systems, surface wellhead systems, high pressure fluid control equipment, measurement solutions, and marine loading systems for the oil and gas industry. For more information, visit here.
The Celebrating 70 Anniversary campaign is an opportunity for College of Technology friends and alumni to show their support for the college's future. Whether through naming opportunities of a classroom, office or laboratory space, by sponsoring a year in the college's history, through purchasing merchandise or simply attending events, we invite you to help us Celebrate 70.