Career Services

Tesla Offers

In need of engineers, the famed car company comes to Castine.

Many people associate MMA with the maritime trades rather than hi-tech auto manufacturing, but a recent visit by two representatives from Tesla Inc., the renowned electric car producer, resulted in job offers for eight MMA engineering students.

The Tesla factory in Fremont, California is one of the world’s most advanced automotive plants, capable of producing 100,000 cars annually, but plans call for an expansion to produce 500,000 a year, and the need for engineers to make it happen.

One of the Tesla reps, Robert Howe, had worked for a New Hampshire nuclear power plant and had experience with a number of MMA grads there who impressed him with their capabilities. When the new personnel needs were announced at Tesla, according to Tim Leach ’10, Director of Career Services, Howe said, “I knew right where to go: MMA.”

Leach adds, “He knows we produce graduates with solid academic credentials and practical skills that you typically don’t see with other engineering graduates.

“There are plenty of engineers who can design things, but not so many who can build them if necessary.”

“MMA grads have the functional skills, knowledge and diligence that are a perfect fit for Tesla’s situation where problems have to be solved on the floor in a practical way, quickly.”

For reference, when Tesla unveiled the Model 3 electric auto in 2016, its first for the mass market, a week later global reservations totaled 325,000 units.█