Detroit’s Hidden Strength

For the last 12 years, I’ve been working in the area of technical staffing.  Specifically, I place people into positions in the field of electronics and software development.  Though I work nationally, a large portion of my clients are in the Detroit area.  The systems my candidates develop are the driving forces behind most of the technologies people are talking about all the time these days, from electric vehicles to wind power.  This inside view has cued me to one of the Detroit area’s main assets and possibly the advantage we have that could bring us back.

I’m one of the people who believes producing our own energy is the number one way to lead the nation not only into recovery, but maybe our best shot at greatness again.  But for all the talk about wind power, fuel cells, and all similar technologies being the way of the future, none of them have succeeded in the open market.  Sure, you can buy hybrid cars now but how many people do you know who have one?  So what keeps these from hitting the big time?  Cost.

It takes a lot more work to turn sunlight into electricity than to burn a pile of coal.  More work equals more dollars.  You can get electric cars but only the well-off will be able to afford them without giant incentives.  Can we come up with ways to bring the cost of these technologies down?  Sure.  Will that issue be solved in a lab in San Jose?  Probably not.

The advanced research facilities both coasts are famous for are great at coming up with new ideas.  What they create in any given week could make your head spin and they deserve kudos for lighting the path to the future.  The problem is most of them don’t have any clue what it takes to mass produce these products for a reasonable price.  That’s where the Detroit area engineering community comes in.

The Detroit engineering community is one of the most underappreciated assets our country has.  No other region in this country matches this one in terms of taking advanced concepts and turning them into real products.  It’s not even appreciated here.  Every day I talk to people who develop algorithms, electronic hardware, and software controls to do wonders like object detection/avoidance, precise battery power management, and other feats.  Not only do they do these things, but they do them precisely and safely.  And not only that, but they’re developed within strict budgets to make sure they can go into millions of affordable vehicles.  Just a handful of years ago, the idea of stability controls to prevent your car for slipping and hydroplaning was just on paper.  Now it’s going out in every vehicle and saving thousands of lives a year.  The sad part is if not for my job, I wouldn’t even know about it.  Our local papers don’t talk it up.  I’ve only seen Time’s Detroit blog mention it in passing. 

Global companies know about it.  One of the reasons I’m so busy now is that countries from all over the world set up engineering centers here in an attempt to turn their ideas into real products.  It was just automotive firms in the past, but now we’re seeing battery companies come rolling into town.  These centers are adding the types of jobs this area needs.  Can you imagine how much more we could have if someone were out there bragging about it?  What does anyone every talk about?  Folks on the assembly line.  Those are important people doing important jobs, but they’re not the path to the future.  I could forgive the national media for missing it, but why us too?

Our country desperately needs to start bringing some of these future technologies into the present and Detroit has the know-how to do it.  We have a rare opportunity to put ourselves at the head of the pack and we will really regret missing it.  So will the country.  We need to stop moaning about what we don’t have, appreciate what we do, and tell the world about it.  It’s the only way to bounce back.  We can gripe about Dateline’s negative coverage all day, but the story will never change unless we give them a reason to look at us different.  I’m convinced this is it. 

Detroit – 2009 and Beyond

Everyone is talking about Detroit these days.  We seem to be the global symbol of the failure of 20^th Century business, social, and political practices.  They argue about what the failure of Detroit means to America.  How did they sink so low?  Are other cities next? 

After wading through one article after another by people from other places ringing their hands over us poor souls in our dilapidated city, I thought I’d weigh in on some things I’ve seen.  Through my work now, I’ve been exposed to sectors of Detroit’s communities that are usually missed and here are the reasons why we can bounce back:

1.  We care now more than we did then.
Detroit was abandoned by two generations of mostly white people who fled the city in search of a “Leave It to Beaver” paradise in the suburbs.  They took their money with them.  Practices such as red lining kept more “undesirable” people (and we know what that means) in a half empty city.  This happened in major cities all over the country, but in those other places they stopped it at some point and said, “This is as bad as it’s going to get and we won’t let it get worse.”  Not here.

The generation now approaching middle age and younger simply cares more about what happens to Detroit in the future.  We’ve been to other cities and see what’s missing here.  We’re tired of the racial disputes and city vs. suburb wars that held us back for so long.  We want a thriving urban area at our core.

2.  We have better engineers
I know all about this one from working in the electronics and embedded systems industry for the past 11 years.  Even people who live here don’t often realize that Japanese and European companies set up technical centers in this area simply because of the engineering talent and traditions we have.  This is invisible because most people don’t realize how much technology is under the hood of even the cheapest modern car.

If new energy sources are the future then pulling this area’s talent into the equation is of upmost importance.  Sure there are great research centers in Boston and San Jose, but they’ve failed to technologies that can succeed on the open market.  Our engineers are well versed in taking advanced systems and making them work for the average citizen.  

3.  A half-empty city is ripe for redevelopment
Whether it’s urban farming, next generation communities, or a modern park system, we have an open market to apply better development models for 21^st Century communities.  First, though, we have to do something about the squatters and “investors” who will clog up the works.  I don’t know what the answer to this is, but whoever comes up with it could be the architect of not only our redevelopment, but a model for smarter urban areas in the future.

4.  Finally, we have the will to get it done
All the illusions that made up our old way of life are gone.  The huge UAW wages and benefits are going away, our automakers can no longer pretend they still own the market and get away with it, and the malaise that many thought was safely contained under 8 Mile has made its way to Rochester Hills.  There are many people in this country who are still clinging to the roaring nineties.  Not us.  Is there a new idea that could help us out?  We’re willing to try it.  Will it take more work than anything we’ve done before?  We’ve already been working hard only to find ourselves at a dead end.  Give us the light at the end of the tunnel and watch us go after it.

We now have some leadership in the city that gets all of this.  We’re still saddled with squabbling in Lansing and there are holdovers at the local political level that will never learn or change.  We’re just going to have to roll over them.  They had their shot, now get out of the way and the rest of us will show you what we can do.