Last week, Alter had its first STEM Talk of the school year. Mr. Joe Untener, father of five Alter alums, mechanical engineer with a MB and a professor at The University of Dayton, gave this prompt to the students: ‘The Design and Build of a Great Engineer’. Mr. Untener asked the students to write down the key characteristics of an engineer. Some answers were: ‘attention to detail’, ‘an interest in how things function’, ‘should like math and logic’, ‘should be logical’, ‘should see practical design solutions’, ‘be a problem-solver’ and ‘be creative’. Mr. Untener didn’t need to help them with this part of his prompt. But how to build a great engineer? Mr. Untener told the students to read, to tinker with machines, to embrace failing and to have a strong work ethic. Great advice from an experienced mechanical engineer and engineering educator. Thank you, Mr. Untener!