Driver Interface Opportunities: Visiting Engineers
Visiting Engineers from SponsorsShould They Come to UMTRI? Visiting Engineers from Sponsors (and other long term visitors) Some organizations that sponsor work at UMTRI are not only interested in solving specific technical problems, but learning more about human factors in general. Experience has shown that such connections strengthen the bond between UMTRI and the sponsor. Sponsors may elect to have one of their engineers enroll in a degree program or, have that individual work on the project at UMTRI. For engineers seeking admission to University degree programs, UMTRI has no control over admissions. (As an aside, UMTRI is not an academic unit, so we do not offer classes or award degrees, though UMTRI personnel do participate in teaching through academic departments.) The more common approach is for the engineer to come to UMTRI just to work on the project. This approach has been taken on several occasions with Japanese companies, in a few cases with European companies, but never with American companies. Visits by academic faculty on sabbatical and scientists from research institues have occurred. To facilitate interaction, we try to team each visiting engineer with a graduate student and have them work together in a 2-person office. Funding permitting, an undergraduate student may also be part of that team. Most visits are for an extended period of time, 1 to 2 years, the duration of a project, though short visits (one day every two weeks, a month) have also occurred. Academic sabbaticals are typically 6 months. A few companies have had a succession of engineers work at UMTRI. One of the differences between the U.S. and other countries, especially Japan, is that smoking is not common among professionals here. Smoking is not allowed in most public buildings and it is not allowed at UMTRI. Of the 150 people at UMTRI, less than 10 people smoke (and they go outside to do so). A Japanese engineer from Toyota commented that he had to adjust to this while visiting the U.S. If the engineer is a smoker and reduces their smoking before traveling to the U.S., the adjustment might be easier. Visiting engineers should get an international driver's license before they leave their home country. This will allow them to drive for 1 year in the U.S. If they don't have an international license, they will have to get a Michigan license immediately. As proof of identity, the State requires a passport, foreign driver's license, and a third document. To get a Michigan driver's license one must pass a written test, wait 2-3 weeks for a driving test to be scheduled, and another 1-2 weeks for the license to come in the mail. Obviously for someone studying driving, not having a driver's license is a problem. Cars (for personal use, not research) and car insurance are usually provided by visiting engineer's employer. Visiting engineers should bring copies of their medical and dental records to the U.S. If they should have a health problem while they are here, a medical history can be obtained quickly. Since most U.S. doctors only speak and read English, visitors might want to have some of the records translated. An alternative would be to get a general health examination shortly after coming to the U.S., so there are health records in English. At UMTRI, we generally provide visitors with a Macintosh computer and connections to the Internet. The computers for Japanese engineers usually have some Japanese application software. Japanese engineers often bring NEC laptops with them that run (NEC-DOS) but that is not necessary. We have software to transfer text files between the Mac and NEC-DOS computers. When asked what to bring, one visiting engineer from Japan said "money ." Clothing is less expensive in the U.S. than overseas, especially Japan. Most UMTRI employees dress informally. Dr. Green usually just wears a nice pair of pants and a sweater. Some people wear jeans. UMTRI employees rarely wear jackets and ties except at conferences. If the visiting engineer likes certain sports (golf, skiing, bicycling, tennis, fishing, sailing, running, and so forth), they might bring the proper clothing and equipment (except for sailing). The University has excellent athletic facilities. There is a fee to use them (probably $200/year). After paying the fee, most facilities can be used for free, except for golf, for which there is a several dollar daily charge. How much money is needed to start for a 1-year visit varies with the individual, but $2500-$3000 should be sufficient. Upon arrival the visiting engineer will need an apartment. There are several complexes not too far from UMTRI (1-2 miles). Most people who work at UMTRI live in Ann Arbor, often only a few minutes away. If desired, UMTRI can obtain information on housing from local real estate agents, but usually housing in coordinated by the visiting engineer's employer. For an unfurnished 1-bedroom apartment, rents are about $700-900/month. The down payment on an apartment is typically rent for 1-1.5 months. The initial fee for furniture rental is $250 or more. Additional funds will be needed for dishes, utensils, pots, pans, cleaning supplies, towels, sheets, blankets, and so forth (maybe another $500). Appliances (TV, microwave, vacuum cleaner, etc.) could be several hundred more. The visiting engineer will also need a bank account. A minimum of about $500 is need to open an account. Food is relatively inexpensive in the U.S. There is a very large supermarket 1/2 mile from UMTRI. For tax purposes, the visiting engineer will need to obtain a social security card. This will require a visit to the local federal office building. The visiting engineer will need a J-1 visa for any extended stay. Generally this is handled by the visiting engineer's organization, though UMTRI will provide any supporting information requested. Even though Ann Arbor is in the middle of the U.S., there are a significant number of non-Americans who live here. Of the 35,000 students at Michigan, about 10% are from outside the U.S. Many of them are graduate students who come with their families. In addition, several non-U.S. based companies (Toyota, Mazda) have significant operations in town, adding to the population of non-U.S. nationals. Ann Arbor has a well established tradition of hosting non-U.S. nationals. Additional information can be obtained from the International Center (email: icenter@umich.edu; URL: http://www.umich.edu/~icenter/). |