Student Diana Ervin '17 is continuing her family tradition by pursuing a career in the auto industry while completing her education at Kettering University.

“General Motors and engineering has always been a part of my family,” Ervin said. “My mom always drove GM vehicles, my aunt is an engineer who worked for GM and my father has a bachelor's in mathematics and a minor in industrial technology. So yes, I would say working at GM was always a possibility for me.”

Ervin’s aunt, Donna Blake, worked at General Motors, specifically, the Warren Tech Center for 32 years in various engineering capacities before retiring in January 2014. She graduated from the University of Detroit with a bachelor's in Electrical Engineering (’83) and a masters in Business Administrations (’90). She has served as a mentor for Ervin as she pursues her own career.

“General Motors was a wonderful place to work for 32 years,” Blake said. "I had rewarding assignments and experiences, and worked with great people.”

Blake saw early on that Ervin was developing the qualities and skills required to be a successful engineer.

“Diana is a smart girl and she is a hard worker. She’s a good problem solver and she is excited about learning. I think we engineers tend to have those qualities,” Blake said. “We enjoy digging in and getting the answer. She has a good, strong, moral compass. I think it was natural for her to select engineering.”

Ervin came to Kettering after participating in the Academically Interested Minds (AIM) pre-college program on campus. She’s majoring in Industrial Engineering and completing her co-op at GM Customer Care and After Sales in Grand Blanc. Customer Care and Aftersales involves servicing customers, managing parts distribution centers and preparing for new vehicles to come to the market.

“My role at GM is definitely growing,” Ervin said. “GM is giving me more responsibilities after observing my good work ethic. My leadership continues to give me meaningful projects to work on.”

Ervin has spent time in warehouses in Rancho Cucamonga, California, Cincinnati and many different GM locations across Michigan.

“Actually the neat thing about my co-op is that they give me freedom to choose where I want to go for my next co-op rotation,” Ervin said. “I’m always sharing my feedback on my previous experiences and picking different places to gain new experiences.”

Ervin hopes to stay in the auto industry after graduating and is open to experiencing as many possible departments and locations between now and then.

“I think she just got a good impression of engineering and the positive results of hard work.  My engineering work has allowed me to provide a comfortable lifestyle for my family and I know Diana will benefit from her choice too.” Blake said. “It seems natural that she would gravitate towards engineering.”