Derek Jurkiewicz

Background

About Derek Jurkiewicz

I graduated from Oakland University on December 16th, 2022 with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. My engineering experience comes from school projects and my past internship at Forvia Faurecia. At Forvia, I was Surface Development Intern From April 2022 to December 2022. My main role was to be a project coordinator of a demonstrator that features premium interior smart surfaces. This work entailed researching methods to make wood easier to backlight, sourcing electrical components, working with the design team to create different use cases for the demonstrator, and helping my manager create a proof of concept for future demonstrators. I also assisted on side projects for customer needs. A lot of my work experience comes from the food industry. I started off at McDonald's, where I was a certified crew trainer from May 2015 to March 2019. Following my time at Mcdonald's, I was a busser at the HUB Stadium from March 2019 to June 2019. After working in the food service industry for a while, I became an intramural sports referee for Oakland University Recreation and Well-Being from August 2019 until the pandemic closed everything down in March 2020. During the pandemic, I went back to Mcdonald's as a crew trainer. Once Covid-19 restrictions loosened up, I went back to the intramural sports program at Oakland University as a supervisor in September 2021. I gained valuable leadership experience as the Vice President of Health and Safety (VPHS) in 2020, and the President in 2021 of Theta Chi Fraternity at Oakland University. As VPHS, I created Covid-19 guidelines for our fraternity in a deal with our alumni corporation to be allowed to use the chapter house throughout the pandemic. As part of this deal, I presented these guidelines to the chapter through zoom, which gained the attention of the National Director of Health and Safety for Theta Chi. As President, I navigated the fraternity through the peak of the pandemic and grew the chapter size from 35 to 50 while adapting to online recruitment, which other fraternities struggled with. I am philanthropic and have given back to my community in numerous ways. Each semester, I completed 10 hours of community service. Things that I've done include serving food to those in need at a local church in Pontiac, helping incoming freshmen move into their dorms, and volunteering at a local women’s shelter.