May 11, 2007

Dear Prospective Students, Current Students and Alumni,

We are entering an unprecedented time in the history of the transportation sector. The demands placed on the automotive industry now exceed all previous standards for technology. Society continues to expect the automobile companies and their suppliers to deliver state-of-the-art, high-quality vehicles and components. We also insist that the global impact of mobile transportation be dramatically reduced in the coming years. Now more than ever, engineers in the automotive community must rapidly bring diverse and technologically advanced solutions to production using economically sound methods.

I am honored and pleased to be appointed as the Director of the Automotive Engineering Program at The University of Michigan during this critical time of change. We are tasked with the most important objective of the transportation community: to educate the next generation automotive engineers who will achieve the changes required to survive in this competitive, global industry.

Whether your interests are in novel composite materials, new concepts for hybrid powertrains or advanced neural networks, I welcome you to explore what we have to offer in the Automotive Engineering Program at UM. We strive to provide the best education on the most current topics important to the future of automotive engineering. Our goal is to create the individuals who will be the instruments of change.

Best wishes,

Margaret Wooldridge