BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The CWPA Remote series continues as Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame member George Gross, Jr., talks with Michigan State University alumnus and General Motors Senior Design Release Engineer Brent Augustine.
A 2009 graduate of Michigan State with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering prior to earning a Master of Mechanical Engineering in 2014 at the University of Michigan, Augustine both played and coached in the CWPA during his time in East Lansing.
A 2005 graduate of Rockford (Mich.) High School, Augustine holds a unique position in the annals of collegiate club water polo as a three-time National Collegiate Club Champion at two different institutions prior to leading the Michigan State women’s club team to a pair of National Championship tournament appearances.
A member of the 2005 Great Lakes Division Champion Grand Valley State University Lakers which defeated Big Ten Champion Michigan State University at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass, for the National Championship, Augustine used the theory of “if you beat them, join them” as he transferred to MSU following his first semester of freshman year.
As a member of the Spartans in 2006, he helped Michigan State claim the Big Ten Championship and top Grand Valley State by a 6-4 score at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, for the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship. Augustine helped MSU return to the National Championship title game in 2007 as the Spartans claimed another Big Ten crown. However, Michigan State suffered a 7-6 overtime loss to California Polytechnic State University at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, as Augustine missed out on becoming the first athlete to claim back-to-back-to-back championships.
As a senior in 2008, Michigan State claimed another Big Ten title and avenged its 2007 title tilt defeat by turning back Cal Poly via a 15-13 score at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, for Augustine’s third National Championship in four seasons.
While at MSU, he also found time to coach the women’s collegiate club program as the Spartans claimed a runner-up finish in the Big Ten and a Fourth Place mark at the 2007 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship (at Williams College) before winning the Big Ten and notching a Ninth Place mark at the 2009 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Oregon at the Mt. Hood Aquatic Center in Gresham, Oregon.
Following graduation from Michigan State, Augustine joined the Ford Motor Company where he served as a Global Tooling Engineer for Aerotek (June 2020-September 2011) and a Vehicle Architecture Engineer (October 2011-to-March 2012) in Dearborn, Mich., prior to taking on the role as the Product Development Engineer for exterior components of the new Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ in Hermosillo, Mexico (February 2012-to-September 2012).
He returned to the United States to assume duties as a Vehicle Dynamics Engineer (September 2012-to-March 2013) in Phoenix, Arizona, before moving into a role as a Special Vehicle Team (SVT) Design & Release Engineer (March 2013-to-October 2013) in Allen Park, Mich.
Following completion of a two-year (August 2011-to-May 2014) Ford College Graduate Product Development program to create well-rounded engineers, Augustine assumed the position of a Super Segment Marketing Analyst (October 2013-to-May 2014) prior to taking on the role as a Vehicle Integration Engineer (May 2014-to-Septmber 2015) in Dearborn.
Upon completion a four-year tenure with Ford, he moved over to General Motors in October 2015 taking on positions in Warren, Mich., as a Senior Architecture Engineer-Advanced Vehicle Development (October 2015-to-July 2016), Senior Program Engineering Manager (August 2016–January 2020) and most recently a Senior Design Release Engineer (January 2020-to-present).
