Paul Cloutier '92 is the recipient of the 2015 Kettering University Alumni Service Award. The Alumni Service Award recognizes graduates who have given outstanding volunteer service to Kettering University. The 2015 Alumni Awards Banquet is October 22, 2015.

Paul Cloutier ‘92 believes that Kettering University and the start-up atmosphere in Silicon Valley have two shared characteristics. One, the dire need to be able to figure stuff out (FSO) and two, the prioritized pursuit to get stuff done (GSD).

“Kettering is awesome for FSO and GSD. Students learn right away. They come out of high school and they GSD. It’s a work ethic that you don’t get coming out of other schools,” Cloutier said. “FSO is part of the Kettering experience DNA. It’s the environment of looking at things and asking why and how can I make it better, at work and at school.”

Cloutier has transformed his Kettering experiences into a fascinating and unique career in Silicon Valley. However, like many other alumni, his successes in Silicon Valley are grounded in sound engineering experience in the manufacturing sector in Michigan.

Discovering Kettering

Cloutier discovered his passion for hands-on manufacturing experiences when he was a high school co-op student at GMF Robotics in Troy, Michigan. After high school, Cloutier continued working at GMF while pursuing his engineering degree at nearby Oakland University.

“I was working full-time and had flexible hours,” Cloutier said. “I could take classes during the day or evening, and they were paid for, but I was still drawn to Kettering.”

So Cloutier met with Bob Nichols '74 in admissions (now director of the FIRST Robotics Community Center) and soon after prepared to transfer. In the process, he traded his full-time position at GMF for a rotational co-op position at the robotics-maker between school terms.

“I liked being on campus. I relished, and still do, in being part of the 'Kettering fraternity’,” Cloutier said. “It was smaller. I was known by the professors and campus leadership. I got involved in lot of activities and started discovering the rewards of serving, and leading.”

Cloutier conducted his thesis in laser robotic welding and cutting at GMF and re-joined the company full-time after graduating in 1992 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. After a year at GMF, Cloutier was lured by one of GMF’s clients, TRW, by the prospect of being able to design and implement his thesis project on a larger scale and see the engineering come to fruition beyond just the installation. He wanted to “live with what he helped design and implement.”

“It’s a whole other experience when you are responsible for a line that is running three shifts and you can’t make air bags fast enough because the industry is mandating them. Physically and mentally - it was exhausting,” Cloutier said. “You’re tied to the line. You are 24/7. That was new. I never experienced that before, and I learned quickly about ensuring that the design delivered repeatable, reliable performance.”

Cloutier worked with this degree of intensity until 1995 when he got an offer that led him even further west. This time, to Silicon Valley during the software renaissance.

From Manufacturing to Entrepreneurship

In 1995, enticed by a former colleague at GMF, Cloutier joined RASNA in Silicon Valley. RASNA was a mechanical engineering software company that analyzed and verified human-made CAD designs for stress, strain and optimal performance. The company was sold three years later which gave Cloutier his first foray into the Silicon Valley culture that he’s been embedded in since.

“The thing about startups is that you have to be able to move fast, wear many hats, and you have to work well in teams,” Cloutier said. “You catch this buzz. I caught the buzz and it has led me to other startups in roles as a team member, executive staff, an investor, board member, and an advisor.”

Since RASNA, Cloutier has been primarily involved with four different start-ups in different service fields that are at various stages of their development.

ARIBA was an e-commerce and spend management software platform and was sold to SAP. DocuSign, with Digital Transformation Management, automated paper flow by expediting the signature process. Microposite was a materials company that was sold to a large building supply company, and Levanto,  is a leader in personal finance management technology and services.

“Sometimes there’s no natural progression when you go from one to another,” Cloutier said. “That’s the case of Levanto. I’m in the financial services industry now, and love how we’re disrupting the space and making a unique and positive impact on high-income families.”

Cloutier invests and advises companies that span many disciplines in Silicon Valley and has been involved in projects that have gone public, been sold to public companies or are pre-IPO. Each project is unique and his mindset is anchored by an intent to build value and not just the “exit.”

“If you build sustaining value for your customers, the rest of it will take care of itself,” Cloutier said. “The focus is on building value for the clients, employees and shareholders.”

Given Kettering’s unique education model, Cloutier believes that the campus is cultivating a greater entrepreneurial mindset in its students by maintaining the rigorous academic standards and continuing to foster physical spaces and curriculum standards that attempt to enhance creativity and networking.

“That’s the biggest secret ingredient, connecting these young, smart students to people who know how to move it forward,” Cloutier said. “I meet a lot of entrepreneurs who have great ideas but don’t know how to execute them. Kettering can, and is, helping people develop these ideas and connect them with professionals who have succeeded in this activity before.”

Cloutier has moved back and forth to Michigan multiple times after working in Arizona and California and expects to one day return to his home state. Until that time, he’s been a member of the Kettering/GMI Alumni Association Board for 10 years and is exemplifying the importance of giving back to the school that provided him with a career path. He’s previously served as vice president and president of the Alumni Association Board and has evaluated scholarship applicants and visited high schools in Michigan as a volunteer with the admissions department. Cloutier is also still involved with Kettering’s Sigma Chi chapter.

“I’m still involved with the University and with my fraternity (Sigma Chi),” Cloutier said. “What that means is that you don’t have to live in Flint to give back to the community. You can live in California like I do and still give back to the University and provide value.”