U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin met with Enterprise student teams as part of UP tour
U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin, who represents the state of Michigan in the upper chamber of Congress, visited Michigan Tech to tour the Enterprise Program on Wednesday, Sep. 2. She met with students on several different Enterprise teams, mainly related to the automotive and aerospace industries, as well as a handful of student government representatives and Tech faculty.
For Enterprise students, the chance to present their work directly to someone wielding as much influence as a member of Congress was not an opportunity to take lightly. “It’s pretty exciting to see how we can actually have an influence on standing policies, and have an effect outside of the university,” said Nicholas VanCamp, a member of the SAE Supermileage Systems team of the Advanced Motorsports Enterprise. In addition to representatives from various Enterprise teams, multiple senior administrators from the College of Engineering were in attendance for Slotkin’s visit, alongside two members of the Undergraduate Student Government.
Slotkin had originally come to the UP to meet with constituents between Senate sessions. Since she was set to visit Houghton during this time, her office had discussed a visit to Tech with the university’s administration, eventually settling on a meeting with the Enterprise Program due to its distinctiveness among university programs across the state. “The thing that really strikes you when you come to Michigan Tech is that it’s a hands-on place. You’re not going to be just studying the theory for four years and like, stuck in a library,” said Slotkin. “Watching how students are integrated into the research is pretty awesome, and I have to say these projects that they’ve been pitching me on– that are pretty fricking unique in my experience.”
One person particularly instrumental to the senator’s visit was Enterprise Program Director Nagesh Hatti, who spoke highly of the Enterprise teams’ collaboration and confidence, stating, “the teams have developed that innate knowledge that they pass on from the seniors to their juniors… I think they were prepared. They spoke very well with the senator, and I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Hatti has previously helped Enterprise students prepare for other high-pressure events, such as national competitions and visits from sponsors.
The event centered around innovation and engineering feats, rather than politics. The atmosphere was fairly relaxed, and at times fun, with students from the Blizzard Baja Racing team even managing to convince the senator to try squeezing into their hand-built racing vehicle. “We got her to sit in the car, so that’s always a great opportunity,” said Team President Caleb Becker.
