Michigan Tech seeks railroader input for survey

February 14, 2001 Michigan Tech is working on what it believes is a first-ever collaborative study between the U.S. and the European Union to improve railway education.

"We are currently
conducting an industry survey to learn more about the demands and needs by the
industry (quantitative and qualitative)," said Pasi Lautala, director, rail transportation
program. "At the same time, we’re learning a lot about the background of our
workforce. We’ve had quite a few responses already, but we’re hoping to finish
with a big bang."

"Five universities from
United States and European Union are working together to improve railway
education and to increase trans-Atlantic collaboration," Lautala said. "As part
of this Tuning Rail Higher Education (TUNRAil) project, the research team is
looking for input from the industry experts on both sides on Atlantic Ocean to
better understand the demands placed by the industry for university graduates
and for universities involved in rail. To date, we have 190 respondents, but
we’re looking for much more to get a meaningful sample of such large industry."

Here are some initial
outcomes of responses:

– 85 percent of industry
respondents are male, 15 percent female.

– 50+ percent are from the U.S.,
the rest from EU and the rest of the world.

– 50+ percent are either
civil, mechanical or electrical engineers. The rest come from numerous
backgrounds.

– 30 percent gained rail
experience either before university or at the university.

– 50 percent said that
exposure played a major role in career decision.

– 76 percent believe university
education in rail operations/management would benefit their company.

– 70+ percent believe that
increasing university collaboration would benefit industry in recruitment,
R&D and innovation/creativity.

– 72 percent believe that
more people will work in rail positions in their company three years from now.

"There is still time to
participate in the survey, which consists of two separate parts," Lautala noted.
"The first part takes only 2-4 minutes to fill and is targeted to anyone in the
railway industry, while the second part is mainly targeted for managers of
younger professionals and those involved in recruitment and training. Please
use this link to access the survey: http://surveys.supersurvey.com/survey-bin/surveys/s34137.pl
Thank you in advance for your assistance in improving the railway education.
For more information or questions, you can visit our project web site at
www.tunrail.info. The survey outcomes will also be posted on the web site in
late fall 2010."