Mr. Michael J. Arnold
Associate Director, Engineering Managment Program
Senior Lecturer
Advisor

Mr. Arnold began his college education at the University of California, Berkeley. After his first year, the combination of his parents moving to Tucson and high tuition costs brought him to the University of Arizona where he majored in Chemical Engineering and graduated with his BS in 1972. His first job was in agricultural research testing sugar beets for residual pesticides in Colorado.

Mike soon decided that research was not his interest and subsequently accepted a manufacturing position with National Semiconductor in Santa Clara, California. After working a year at National, he decided to further his education and contacted one of his professors back at the University of Arizona who arranged a position as a teaching assistant while he worked towards his MS. He earned his MS in Chemical Engineering and was accepted into the Ph.D. program. While in graduate school, he worked one summer as a consultant to Phelps Dodge Corporation (PD). The summer consulting assignment was to model mine production and determine if a computer control system could improve productivity.

The consulting study showed that a significant increase in productivity could be achieved with computer control. PD soon decided that they wanted to implement a mine control system and approached Mr. Arnold about directing this effort. PD made Mike an irresistible offer and he never returned to graduate school instead founding Modular Mining Systems.

The company quickly grew from three employees to over four hundred with subsidiaries all over the world. Modular Mining Systems grew to be the dominant market leader with a market share in excess of 90%. In 1987 the company was recognized by INC Magazine as one of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the US with a 3 year growth of 1400%.

Major mine equipment suppliers began developing robotic equipment and soon realized they needed a supervisory control system. Modular found itself in the enviable position of being sought after by major companies in the mining industry and eventually was acquired by Komatsu.

He stayed with Modular for four years after the acquisition then decided to return to the UA to work with the Engineering Management Program. He believes that engineers need business knowledge if they expect to enter management ranks. With more business knowledge, Mr. Arnold says that engineers will be in a better position to start their own company or assume management positions within other companies.

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