Fall 1998

Dennis Grannan: Engineering business success in the U.S. and Asia

As vice president and general manager for the Man-Machine Interface Division of British-owned LucasVarity, Dennis Grannan manages a business that accounts for $250 million in sales. “The goal is to make it a billion dollar division in three years,” he stated. The division is a world leader in the manufacture and sales of computer interface systems and switches for celluar phones, pagers and calculators. The division employs 500 people. As a senior in 1979, Grannan wanted a pure engineering job. Even as he graduated, potential employers saw his management and sales potential. His on-campus interviews resulted in 27 offers, of which 24 were in sales engineering.

He took one of the few engineering job offers he had and started his career as a design engineer for the robotics division of General Electric.

“In three years they moved me to sales engineer and I’ve been in management and sales every since,” said Grannan, who received his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering.

It wasn’t long before Grannan became interested in running a business. He received that opportunity as president of Data Entry Products, a Colorado-based company with 200 employees.

Grannan changed Data Entry from a low volume batch process manufacturing company to a producer of high volume switches for celluar telephones. Business boomed and soon the company was competing against Lucas (Lucas merged with Varity Corp. in 1996).

“We got into a global contest with them and couldn’t compete,” Grannan recalled.

Lucas negotiated the acquisition of Data Entry, which included hiring Grannan.

Grannan says his Rose-Hulman education gave him a career advantage over others.

“You spend four years with very bright people at a formative time in your life,” Grannan, a native of Louisville, Ky., recalls about his undergraduate days.

Grannan says Rose-Hulman provided him with skills he needs to successfully manage.

“There were a lot of opportunities to work as a team to know how best to use everyone’s strengths to accomplish a goal,” he said. “You came to know everyone, working with them helped develop important social and leadership skills.”

Grannan said the personal attention he received from faculty and staff has left a lifelong impression.

“The interest professors and staff expressed in me being successful is a major part of my experience at Rose that I’ll never forget.

“Ron Reeves and others were like surrogate fathers and big brothers to me. Ron was an example of so many people who had such an affection for the institute and its students,” he explained.

“I’m very impressed with the direction Rose-Hulman is going, he said. “The new facilities and other academic progress illustrates that the college isn’t afraid to change in order to continue improving.”

Grannan has gone from the Terre Haute campus to building plants in China and other Asian countries.

While he’s faced with plenty of professional challenges, Grannan said he still has an interest in starting his own company from scratch.

“I like the management and sales part of the job, but it’s also nice to have the chance to use my technical experience,” he said.
Grannan has never forgotten his love of engineering. He recently received a patent on a machine that he developed while leading Data Entry Products. It is the 15th patent he has had a hand in creating.

Sounds like Dennis Grannan has engineering in his blood.

— by David Piker