“Great minds create”

On Friday, January 26, Rose-Hulman played host to Steven F. Dwyer, Chief Operating Officer of Rolls-Royce. Dwyer spoke to a nearly-filled E-104 about Rolls-Royce’s recent technical accomplishments as well as general, and sometimes unconventional, career advice.

Dwyer began his presentation by showing a Rolls-Royce Indianapolis promotional video, which showcased the engineering and manufacturing of Rolls-Royce, as well as their turbines in action on many of the ships and aircraft that feature these engines. After the video, Dwyer proceeded to illustrate many of Rolls’s most important technical achievements. This technical portion included a venerable alphabet soup of historically significant aircraft: the JSF, Global Hawk, C-130J, C-130H, C-27S, E-2C Hawkeye, P-3 Orion, C-2, V-22 Osprey, ERJ-135/ERJ-145, Citation X, and Bell 407, as well as the DDG 51 and DDG 1000 warships.

Photo: Ryan Shultz Steven F. Dwyer, Chief Operation Officer of Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis, speaks to students about the advancements Rolls-Royce has made in propulsion and the ethics of the professional world.

Throughout his presentation, Dwyer emphasized the impact of Rolls’s products on the war effort and keeping our men and women safe. He told two stories illustrating the positive impact of Rolls’s engines on the war effort. One story was of a tank crew that took a wrong turn during the Gulf War and, thanks to a Rolls engine in their tank, were able to out-maneuver and out-flank the surrounding Iraqi tanks. The other story told of an airman who had to fly more than 20 missions in less than 40 days and was able to successfully complete each one due to the reliability of Rolls’s turbine in their airplane.

After the technical achievement part of the presentation was finished, Dwyer gave career advice to the audience, some of it unique and counter to commonly held preconceptions. “Family first wins if you pick the right company,” explained Dwyer, “we’re family at work…you shouldn’t have to miss the birth of your son…you should be able to take care of those things…and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.” Dwyer also downplayed the importance of an MBA in regards to advancement in the business world, “I don’t have one (an MBA), but a bunch of people working for me do.”

“Go for the unknown,” he said, but gave this caution: “There is a price you will pay…you will remember every failure and forget your successes.” He continued by encouraging the elimination of this natural tendency and developing perspective to be able to see the big picture of your career when in the twilight of life. Dwyer also spoke briefly about ethics, saying to “give one-hundred percent all the time,” and to “[leave] things stronger than you found them.”

Student reaction to the talk was positive. Adam Ford, a junior mechanical engineer, said “The company seems to have strong family values.” Jon Vonk, another junior mechanical engineer said, “I liked it. It (Rolls-Royce) looks like a good company to work for.”