Martha Jenkins
Q. What does your company do?
A. Ingersoll Rand is a global diversified industrial company representing: Air Compressors, Club Car, Hussman, Trane, and Schlage Security.
Q. What academic degrees do you hold?
A. B.A. in Business Administration, 1977, and BET Mechanical Engineering Technology, 1982, both from UNC Charlotte.
Q. What is the purpose of the college advisory board?
A.The board is a connection from academia to the work force.
Q. What changes have you seen in the college and UNC Charlotte?
A. Since 1974 to the present, the physical changes are amazing!
Q. What is exciting at the college?
A. More students.
Q. What do you see in the future for the college?
A. A very bright future with more expansion.
Q. What are your thought about the football team?
A. I was very unsupportive of a football team. I would rather spend money on education – not sports.
Your Engineering Career
Q. Why did you become an engineer?
A. I like to understand how things and processes work.
Q. What skills have been important in your career?
A. Technical, but with strong people skills.
Q. What changes have you seen in the profession during your career?
A. When I was in college, there was no PC and no Internet.
Q. What is the most exciting project you ever worked on?
A. As an industrial engineer – plant layouts. As a product engineer – seeing a complete air compressor package I engineered being shipped.
Q. What is the best career advice anyone ever gave you?
A. Invest max into my 401K.
Q. What do you like best about your job?
A. Getting to apply knowledge to solve issues and make things happen.
Experience with the College of Engineering
Q. Have you enjoyed your involvement with the college?
A. Absolutely!
Q. Have you been involved in senior design projects, co-ops or internships?
A. JETS
Q. What growth areas do you see in the College?
A. Motorsports Engineering
Importance of Community Involvement
Q. What importance does your company place on community involvement?
A. More now than they used to.
Q. What value does your company get from the college and from you being on the board?
A. Connection to a local university.
Q. What importance do you place on the giving back to the community, in gifts of time and/or money?
A. I am very involved in my community. I am on the Planning Board in Davidson and have just created a UNC Charlotte scholarship.