Fisher-Price project engineer to speak at RIT

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A. Sue Weisler

Engineering graduate Brian Argauer ’07 (right) will return on Sept. 26 and open the annual Dean’s Alumni Speaker Series. He and Tim Trapp ’04 (center) spoke several years ago to Harvey Palmer (left), dean of the Kate Gleason College of Engineering, and a group of engineering honors students about the work the two alumni were doing with Fisher-Price.

Even toys need the expertise of an engineer.

Brian Argauer, a project development engineer at Fisher-Price and RIT engineering alumnus, will open the Kate Gleason College of Engineering Dean’s Alumni Speaker Series for the 2013-2014 season. He will discuss “An Engineer for the Next Generation: Building a Multi-Disciplinary Background” at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, in the Xerox Auditorium.

Argauer ’07 received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer engineering from RIT and began working at the international toy company shortly afterward. He is part of a multidisciplinary team developing and manufacturing toys for infants, working alongside electronics, software and mechanical engineers overseeing application development.

From quality assurance to developing cyber security tools to engineering “castles and knights,” the career paths of today’s engineers require a multidisciplinary approach. Argauer will describe the role engineers play on the teams that develop children’s toys and how engineering students can prepare themselves for similar careers.

The speaker series is sponsored by RIT’s Office of Development and the Kate Gleason College of Engineering. For more information, contact Donna Benier at 585-475-4045 or dlbdar@rit.edu.