UNDER THIRTY Celebrat blazing the future of advanced manufacturing in the United States SECOND A NNUAL Sponsored By www.sandvik.coromant.com/lookingahead Sandvik Coromant would like to congratulate this year’s honorees of SME’s 30 Under 30. Manufacturing education is the key to our future workforce. Looking ahead, Sandvik Coromant is proud to support the strength and growth of the manufacturing industry through education, training and knowledge sharing and we are proud to support SME’s 30 Under 30. F or the second year, Manufacturing Engineering is proud to celebrate 30 young people under the age of 30 who have demonstrated exceptional talent and leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics— fields that are essential underpinnings to a career in manufacturing. These young people have taken the road less traveled, and we applaud them for it. As this nation tries to encourage more students to develop their STEM prowess, we at Manufacturing Engineering have learned some valuable lessons in talking to these young stu- dents and professionals. Among them: You’re not necessarily born with STEM talent—you have to cultivate it. Several honorees said it may not be helpful to treat STEM like one bucket of skills that you have, or don’t, because it may discourage some students from a STEM career unnecessarily. For example, some honorees said they were good at science but really had to work at math— or vice versa. Some consider themselves more aligned with engineering, which they described as investigating and solving problems. Some said they were more inclined toward technology, good at logic, programming language and coding. Others said they were better with their hands, crafting a vision into reality. Several honorees encouraged other young people to hang in there and not get discouraged by, say, math, if they loved physics and wanted to pursue a career in that direction. Few people are good at all aspects of STEM fields, which is why several honorees sang the praises of team- work, one of the aspects of a STEM career path that they said often goes underappreciated. “I feel like that’s a very overlooked part of engineering school in general, the team player aspect,” said Jean Oh, 27, a manufacturing engineer at Boeing Co. in Portland, OR, and one of the 2014 30 Under 30 honorees. “There should be more emphasis on it in school.” ME Recognizing the Future Leaders of Manufacturing UNDER THIRTY A lover of science, Jean Oh had always imag- ined herself going into the medical field. But then, during her coursework at the University of Washington in Seattle, she encountered a roadblock. “I learned I wasn’t good at chemistry,” she joked. That sent her investigating other science-related options. A friend had mentioned that the industrial engineer- ing program “had a good camaraderie” of students, which appealed to Jean, who also had an aptitude for fixing things. As it turned out, industrial engineering was a good fit. “I found that I under- stood a lot of it and it made sense to me from both a technical and business perspective,” Jean said. She wished somebody had told her years ago how important people skills are to being suc- cessful in engineering. “I feel like that’s a very overlooked part of most engineering schools in general, the team player aspect,” Jean said. Since 2010, Jean has been a manufacturing engineer at Boeing, in the production engineering, fabrication division and has newly transitioned to a Quality Engineering role. Her work revolves around providing producibility analysis to accommodate part design changes, executing projects to reduce pro- duction costs, and facilitating/planning for process changes. “Working with cross-functional teams is one of my favorite parts of the job, people of differ- ent disciplines,” she said. “There is a very high level of interaction with others. It forces you to look at the bigger picture of things.” People, she said, have a lot of misconceptions about what engineers do. “It’s definitely not all about math aptitude, at least from what I've seen,” she said. Jean said that one of the things she loves best about her job is solving problems. For example, she noticed that inspection reports on a boring operation on a 2-inch pad of titanium for the 747-8 Landing Gear Beams were consistently off by a certain degree, forcing the drilled holes out of tolerance. She did her own research and analysis and came up with a fix. In addition to mak- ing her proud, the fix saved Boeing money and helped deliver a higher quality part on critical equipment. “The perception off the bat is that you have to have some sort of fabrication skills in order to get this job, and when I got hired, I had no background in machining,” Jean said. “It’s more about your willingness to learn and listen and being open minded to everyone’s advice.” Ann Simmons, a manufac- turing engineer at Boeing in Portland, who nominated Jean as a 30 Under 30 honoree, said Jean is a standout engineer. “The primary job of a Manufacturing Engineer at Boeing is configuration control, but Jean has taken this to a whole new level by utilizing her proactive project management style,” she wrote. “She has earned her Six Sigma Green and Black Belt with Boeing and enjoys being able to advise others on projects, while seeing how the data collected correlates with improved part quality.” In addition to her work at Boeing, Jean also works to help develop the next generation of STEM leaders. She serves as a mentor for FIRST Robotics Team 2517. “They did not have it in my school,” she said, “and I wish they did, because I would have started on the Engineering path earlier if I knew it was that much fun.” Jean is also active in several STEM efforts in local high schools and volunteers every year for the Engineering Week with Boeing Portland. ME Jean Oh Age: 27 The Boeing Company Portland, OR UNDER THIRTY “I like being able to work with the cross-functional teams, people of different disciplines. There is a very high level of interaction with others. It forces you to look at the bigger picture of things.” A t 19 years old, Selin Sirinterlikci has already mastered time management, which was necessary in order to achieve all of her academic successes, not to mention her sports accomplishments. “I get involved in everything I am interested in,” Selin explained. “My parents encouraged me to pursue what- ever I was interested in, to try it out.” Selin said her leanings toward math, science and engineering were evident from a very young age. But it was a chance encounter with an astronaut, the late Rick Husband, as a child that really sparked her interest in engineering. “I gained as much exposure to the field as possible,” Selin said. “I learned AutoCAD design software and the proper operation of a 3D printer to compete in the Toy Challenge Nationals in my middle school years, an event that I found highly worthwhile and educational about product design and manufacturing.” She participated in the toy challenge in both fifth and sixth grade. “Being able to do that at a young age exposed me to the field and made me more interested,” she said. Her father, an engineer, also was encouraging. “I spent a good amount of time in his lab as a kid, so I was able to see things firsthand,” she said. “I was able to talk to him about it.” Later, at Moon Area High School, Selin spent much of her time on the honor roll, participating in academic competitions, including the robotics club, as well as competing on the school’s bowling, cross country and track and field teams. She also volunteered in several ways, such as tutoring other students in math. “Selin is truly an outstanding young woman. She excels in the classroom, as a leader in our school and in our community,” wrote Judith W. Shuster, Moon Area High School Gifted Coordinator. Physics teacher Shawn T. Welsh added that Selin is an outstanding leader, “being the vice president of the Robotics Club, President of the speech and debate team, Captain of her Euro Challenge team and secretary of her graduating class. She is also active in the Science and Environmental Club, Key Club and Electronics Club ...” Today, Selin is a freshman at Carnegie Mellon Uni- versity in Pittsburgh, studying electrical and computer engineering, and competing on the varsity track team. She’s also con- templating minoring in robotics. “The robotics program at CMU is fantastic,” she explained. She’s very excited about several computer program- ming courses she’s taken, which have educated her in Python and C Programming Language. While Selin said it’s difficult to determine where her academic career might take her—she’s interested in so many topics—her Toy Challenge experience has left its imprint. “I definitely enjoy the hands-on,” she said. “Physically developing the products—I find that to be very rewarding. You can’t have strong products without a strong development and revision process.” She has some advice for others interested in pur- suing a path in science, technology, engineering and math: “Perseverance and dedication are very impor- tant,” she said. “”I think persistence is one of the more important qualities someone can have.” She also thinks that people may not realize how much teamwork goes into STEM career fields. “I would say that working with my robotics team was one of the most rewarding experiences.” ME Selin Sirinterlikci Age: 19 Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA THIRTY UNDER THIRTY PROFILES UNDER THIRTY “I definitely enjoy the hands-on. Physically developing the products.” E ngineering today comes with social responsibili- ties to make the world a better place, and Kelly Hentges, 20, a chemical engineering student at the University of Illinois, epitomizes that fact. From a young age, Kelly was always drawn to sci- ence, a fact that was partly influenced by the fact both her parents work in the Engineering Telecommunica- tions industry. “Science began as a fun hobby when I was little; it then grew to a lifelong passion,” she told Manufacturing Engineering As a 12-year-old, Kelly stood out among her peers as an enthusiastic learner and natural leader, said Ana Kamath, a science teacher at Plum Grove Junior High in Rolling Meadows, IL, and one of several professionals to nominate Kelly for the 30 Under 30 honor. “Kelly had a natural affinity to sci- ence,” she wrote. In both the 7th and 8th grade, Kelly attended the “Girls Adventure in Math Science and Engineering Camp” at the University of Illinois. In her second year at the camp, she learned about chemical engineering and was hooked. “I thought it was amazing, how products we use every day are created by engineers,” Kelly said. When she was 15, Kelly received the Girl Scout Gold Award, a rare honor for someone that age, through her volunteering for the “Women in Need Growing Stronger” program, which supports victims of domestic violence. Kelly had decided to build a large sustainable vegetable garden to help provide families with healthy food. The project required a great deal of planning, in terms of produce selection and in creat- ing a large scale garden that could be easily managed. “The garden still stands and is being used to provide produce to many homes throughout the Chicagoland area,” Kamath wrote. While in high school, Kelly also was selected to enroll in the Project Lead the Way Engineering Program. Initially, she was hesitant about participating. “I was one of four girls out of 40 students,” she explained. But she noted that “engineering forces you to work with one another to solve problems.” Ultimately, she said, the program ended up being a “blast” because “we were given numerous design challenges that helped develop our creative engineering skills.” Paul J. Hardy, Applied Technology Department Chairman at William Fremd High School in Palantine, IL, said Kelly stood out: “I remember her insatiable quest for betterment and how contagious it was.” In the summer of 2013, Kelly participated in a co-op program at Kimberly-Clark Corporation where Kelly said she worked on fun, cutting-edge development of next generation processing equipment. “This summer, I will be at Abbott Laboratories,” she said. “My internship focus will go beyond Research and Development, into taking a newly designed product through the technology transfer process to mass production. I know manufacturing is a key area that I want to pursue.” But Kelly’s dedication doesn’t stop there. As a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Kelly has been part of a team that is design- ing a car powered by two chemical reactions, wrote Arkaprava Dan, a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a member of the Out- reach Committee of the Society of Women Engineers at the U of I, she also introduces elementary and middle school students to the world of engineering. “This," Dan wrote, "is born out of her passion for engineering and industry,” ME Kelly Hentges Age: 20 Student, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL UNDER THIRTY “Science began as a fun hobby when I was little; it then grew to a lifelong passion.” UNDER THIRTY A t 28, Eric Icke, a program manager at General Dynamics NASSCO, is working on a project that he already believes “is going to be one of the highlights of my career.” He is a critical player in the development and construction of the world’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered containership. Production of TOTE, Inc.’s new Marlin Class vessels began at NASSCO’s shipyard in San Diego in February. Clean burning, LNG offers unmatched environmental benefits, reducing emissions below even the world’s most stringent standards. Eric, who started in the Professional Development Program at NASSCO in 2008, is now program manager of the TOTE project. He’s also worked as a production manager and deputy program manager for commercial contracts on a few other projects, such as the ECO- class tankers. “It’s historic, and it’s unique,” Icke told Manufacturing Engineering of the TOTE project. “There are a lot of different folds. It keeps me excited.” Among the challenges: con- verting traditional vessel designs to a dual-fueled propulsion system with LNG. Eric explained that LNG is stored at about -260 ° Fahrenheit, and the cryo- genic liquid must be converted into a gas that can be used in the engine. “It’s really unique in that this is the first and larg- est LNG-powered vessel of its kind,” said Eric, who believes that “we’re just starting to tap the potential” of LNG when it comes to displacing traditionally powered engine systems. Parker Larson, director of Commercial Programs, General Dynamics NASSCO, said Eric is helping lead the US maritime industry into the future with his “creative thinking and unmatched drive,” noting, “The technology associated with this program represents the future—environmentally friendly and efficient vessels that transport goods around the world.” This isn’t the kind of work that Eric saw himself doing when he started his path toward engineering. “I thought I would design cars or be an architect,” he said. “I’ve always been interested in math and science,” explained Eric, whose mother manages civil engineer- ing projects and whose father is an IT manager. “I never really thought of doing anything else.” Eric was attracted to the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY, because of its distinguished curriculum, regimented lifestyle, and athletics program. Eric played men’s varsity basketball at the Academy. It was there that Eric had his first ex- posure to sea going ships, and he found their complex infrastructure fascinating. “As part of the program at Kings Point, students are trained to operate large ships. While sailing, I studied the shipboard systems, and had to figure out how they worked with each other to power the ship,” he explained. While Eric confesses a natural inclination toward math, science and problem-solving, he said he still had to work at his studies in college. “Kings Point is a very difficult cur- riculum,” he said. But failure was never an option for Eric, who is also a Lieutenant in the Navy Reserve and, at the time of his interview, had just returned from reserve duty in Korea. Eric said working on ships is very exciting, even though the process can take years. “Every day there’s always a new challenge,” he said. And in the end, “you get to see your concepts take shape and become massive, opera- tional vessels.” ME Eric Icke Age: 28 General Dynamics NASSCO San Diego, CA “Eric’s ability to comprehend and construct the complex mechanical and electronic systems onboard these ships makes his skill set unique and invaluable.” THIRTY UNDER THIRTY PROFILES UNDER THIRTY J onathan Grocott clearly has the education and hard skills needed to excel in his position as a numerical control programming engineer at The Boeing Company, but he also shares a per- sonality trait possessed by many other truly successful people—humility. Douglas C. Genord, Jonathan’s colleague, mentor and a technical fellow for Boeing Information Technology in Tukwila, WA, describes Grocott as exceeding everyone’s expectations, being extremely capable, demon- strating leadership skills and sitting at the top of the talent pool. But ask Jonathan, 27, why he’s so successful, and at first he talks about others—his great colleagues and mentors. “I do work hard,” he said, adding: “And it’s something I want: to be successful.” Jonathan said he also watched how his dad ran the family construction business and adopted the elder Grocott’s work ethic—seeing things through to comple- tion, being fully engaged in processes, communicating with others, and encouraging everyone to work toward the same goal. The goal for the project team Jonathan was on with Genord was to develop a best-in-industry composite wing skin fabrication system for the Boeing 787 Dream- liner. This involved research, development, implementa- tion and production hardening of software, hardware and the corresponding processes, Genord explained. Jonathan, who’s keenly interested in robotics and automation, said he considered himself blessed “to get on such a technically challenging project very early on.” He obviously exceeded the challenge. “Jonathan has already left such a large impact on high volume composite part lamination,” Genord wrote. “He has directly impacted the design, functionality and efficiency of both the hardware and software used to ap- ply composite tape which have and will enable Boeing to increase 787 production rates.” Jonathan joined Boeing in 2011 after earning a bach- elor’s of science degree in manufacturing engineering technology at Western Washing- ton University (Bellingham, WA). Boeing is only his second full-time position, not counting framing houses for his father’s construc- tion business, but he’s already considered a pro. “Without knowing Jonathan’s background of recently coming out of school you would have thought he had been in industry for at least 10 years,” Genord wrote in his nomination. Jonathan provided numerical control programming support to the team, including drafting implementation plans for improvements in production. That’s where his leadership skills really shone. “He quickly brainstorms and itemizes tasks to be performed, contacts the impacted team members and subject matter experts for input and concurrence, and works with the project manager to cap- ture the details into a formal project plan,” Genord said. Working at Boeing seems a natural choice for Jona- than. He grew up in Washington, and his school tailors its engineering program for Boeing jobs. “Manufacturing engineering really has the most diverse opportunities,” he said. “Everything has to be made, everything has to be manufactured, so you have a lot of options.” ME Jonathan Grocott Age: 27 The Boeing Company Turkwila, WA “Without knowing Jonathan’s background of recently coming out of school you would have thought he had been in industry for at least 10 years.” UNDER THIRTY W hen a casting producer for the Discovery Channel’s #BikerLive custom motorcycle- building competition watched chopper fabricator Jesse Srpan’s audition tape and called to say he was interested, disbelief broke out on both ends of the phone. The producer couldn’t believe he was talking to a 23-year-old, because he assumed someone with that much experience would be a lot older. And Jesse, president and owner of Raw Iron Choppers, who’s since turned 24, couldn’t believe what he was hearing: “To be honest, I actually thought it was a prank phone call from a few of my buddies.” But this was no joke. He answered yes, of course, prompted by his desire to promote blue-collar weld- ing and to inspire the next generation of welders. The segment featuring Jesse and his team building a 1940s style bike aired in June. Building a bike from scratch for the TV crew took five weeks instead of the typical half-year, resulting in a very crunchy production schedule that forced him to delay his planned graduation with a combined as- sociate’s degree in industrial welding technology and mechanical engineering. “It was a hard decision with being only two classes away, but sometimes you must put 110% energy and focus into other areas,” Jesse says. Because Jesse teaches welding at the same school he attends, Lakeland Community College (Kirtland, OH), works up to 15–20 hours a day to keep up with orders for the custom motorcycles that roll out of his 11-year-old shop, and takes them to trade shows and competitions three to four months a year, it took him four years to finish his degrees, instead of the typical two. “We’re pretty much slammed with work constantly,” he says of Raw Iron. But his big workload hasn’t harmed the quality of his craft, according to one of his professional peers. Greg Coleman, marketing group leader for The Lincoln Electric Company, a Cleveland welding firm, wrote: “With considerable passion, talent and focus, Jesse has built his own path to achieve his goals. Weaving traditional educational experiences with hands-on knowl- edge from a number of sources, it’s clear that Jesse is fast becoming a success in a field that merges technology, art, design and specific metalworking skills.” Part of Jesse’s success stems from the thorough training to which Coleman refers. He’s accumulated 11 American Welding Society/American Society of Mechanical Engineers welding certifications, and has also learned sheet metal fabrication, 3D CAD and practical designing and engineering skills. Next up are certifications in engine building and motorcycle mechanics. In addition to his head-turning motorcycle metal work, he’s had jobs ranging from making iron staircases and multistory fire escapes to non-disclosure projects for aerospace and nuclear energy clients. “We still do nuclear, but aerospace is really big,” Jesse says. His talent and skills have earned Jesse awards usu- ally won by much older, more experienced welders. He placed 15th out of 50 in the Skills USA National Welding Competition in 2010 and won the International Show Car Competition’s Rising Star award at the Cleve- land Auto-Rama in 2012. How is he so successful? “It’s about being creative, different, and doing what you love,” says this young entrepreneur. ME Jesse Srpan Age: 24 Raw Iron Choppers Chardon, OH “We’re pretty much slammed with work constantly.” D ave Malrick, sales manager for industrial cut- ting tools distributor Walter R. Hammond Co., Minneapolis, met Sonja Riley a year ago dur- ing a meeting about the future of the product she makes and he sells. “Throughout our conversation, I came to gain lots of respect for this young woman,” says Malrick, who’s been in the cutting tools business 44 years. “I have rarely come across a person of this quality so young in life.” Not only did Sonja hold her own in the meeting at Harvey Tool, Rowley, MA, where she’s manager of prod- uct development, she often led the discussion, says Malrick. Their business relationship one year later has only led to a deeper respect of Sonja’s knowledge and problem-solving skills. No surprise then that Sonja’s nickname at work is E.F. Hutton, after the brokerage firm whose advertis- ing slogan in the ‘70s and ‘80s was “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” Sonja, 26, was hired at Harvey Tool as a trainee for the technical sales staff that promotes its specialty carbide end mills and cutting tools for the metalworking industry. Part of her training was to spend time in different departments to learn the business; inspection, quality control, technical customer support, special quoting, and new product development. Her knowledge grew quickly, and she was soon asked to teach a technical training course for company employees. It was when Sonja worked in new product develop- ment that she found her niche. With her good grasp of the product line and her ability to positively interact with customers, she joined the team, and has since been promoted to manager of two other employees. “Sonja’s skills and work ethic resulted in her early promotion to manager at the age of 25,” says Har- vey President Peter P. Jenkins. “Her role within the company and her reputation with customers as a go-to person for technical expertise have already po- sitioned her as a leader in the machining and cutting tool industry.” Since Sonja became a member of the New Product Development Team in 2012, the number of new tools launched each year has increased from 800 to up to 2,000. A bullet on her resume says Sonja identifies potential new product lines, and it’s hard to get her to claim individual credit, but when pressed she admits to designing a new, longer-lasting threading tool for the difficult-to-mill hardened steel. Her success at Harvey surprises Sonja only because she was on track to work in the bioengineering field after graduating from Syracuse University with a bach- elor’s of science degree in biomedical engineering. She interned at Zoll Medical, Chelmsford, MA, where she worked on software for quality testing of automated external defibrillators. Her senior thesis project at Syracuse focused on bone cement for orthopedic applications. Her interest in the biomedical field stems from her dad, a software engineer for biomedical applications. Her mom’s a math teacher. “We did square roots at the dinner table,” Sonja says. In addition to her math and engineering skills, Sonja has an “uncanny ability to process and retain information,” Jenkins wrote in her 30 Under 30 nomination. “You never have to tell her something twice,” says Jeff Davis, vice president of engineering at Harvey. “It’s almost kind of frustrating that in just a few short years she has learned what it took me 20+ years to learn on my own.” ME Sonja Riley Age: 26 Harvey Tool Rowley, MA UNDER THIRTY “We did square roots at the dinner table.” R ebecca Kurfess, 19, and a freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, readily admits she comes from a nerdy family. Her mother has a master’s degree in mechani- cal engineering from MIT (Cambridge, MA). Her father has a doctorate in the same field from the same school, and teaches at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The school not only employs Rebecca’s dad, it once was a source of entertainment for the Kurfess children, and introduced them to aerodynamics. “I remember, gosh, when I was probably 7 or 8 my dad used to take me and my brothers to a building at Georgia Tech with a high staircase and we would fly paper airplanes,” Rebecca recalled. She’s following in her parents’ footsteps by majoring in mechanical engineering, with a minor in German. Rebecca was an exchange student in Germany in high school. Her father, whose grandparents immigrated to the United States from Germany, speaks the language fluently. So, if Rebecca needs help with her engineering studies she can call on either parent, and on her dad for her minor. The same summer Rebecca was an exchange student, she did an internship at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, in the additive manufacturing lab. Her internship included designing and 3D printing an artifact to test the accu- racy of an additive manufacturing machine, a task that whetted her interest in the manufacturing technique. “For (admission to) MIT you have to go to an inter- view,” she explained. “And for most of my interview I talked about additive manufacturing.” Rebecca isn’t 100% nerdy, however. After all, she grew up in Clemson, SC, home of Clemson University and the Clemson Tigers football team. “The people there are very intense about football,” she said. “In fact, the population triples on game day.” The focus on football in her hometown also gives Rebecca an analogy for her love of science and math, which she said matches the fervor of the Tigers’ fans. Growing up in a college town also made for some pretty smart classmates, but that allowed her to soar, not blend into the woodwork. “It is typical for 20% or more of my AP (advanced placement) class to have parents with doctoral de- grees in some form of math or science,” wrote Gary DuBose, AP chemistry teacher at D.W. Daniel High School, Central, SC, where Rebecca earned top aca- demic honors and graduated valedictorian. “Even in this environment Rebecca managed to stand out as one of the top students.” She stood out in another way as well. Like her MIT alumnus mother who prefers to teach seventh grade science rather than work in industry, Rebecca loves to teach others. She taught Sunday school at her church, flute to middle school students, and would help classmates who were strug- gling in school. “In this respect, she was somewhat unusual,” wrote DuBose. “As many of our top students are so competi- tive that they are unwilling to help their peers.” Rebecca plans to earn a master’s degree in me- chanical engineering, and possibly a doctorate so she can teach at the university level like her dad. Either way, her mother’s story has inspired a desire in Rebecca to continue to help others learn. “I enjoy helping others both because it helps me learn and because I really enjoy helping others make sense of things,” she said. “And seeing it on their faces when the concept ‘clicks’ with them.” ME Rebecca Kurfess Age: 19 Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA THIRTY UNDER THIRTY PROFILES UNDER THIRTY “For most of my (MIT admissions) interview I talked about additive manufacturing.” A bout the time that Travis Bengtson was interviewing with Caterpillar for its Manufac- turing Professional Development Program, it seemed as if everybody was jumping out of manufacturing. Travis saw that as an opportunity because at some point there was going to be a shortage of manufacturing experts. Prior to his experience at Caterpillar, Travis had studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Tra- vis didn’t think that he was going to end up in manufacturing. He thought he would do more me- chanical design, but after meet- ing with the Caterpillar recruiters and talking about the MPDP program, he thought the cross functional experience and manufacturing looked especially attractive. Once in the program, Travis held various roles such as Facility Engineer, Section Manager in Operations, and finally as a Logistics Planning Analyst at various fa- cilities within the Caterpillar Business units. “The insight gained from this cross functional experience allows one to make decisions that are not only good from an engineering perspective, but also good from a business perspective,” he said. His final rotational role as a Logistics Planning Analyst in the professional program led to a perma- nent Manufacturing Engineer position in the Technical Services group for the Undercarriage Business Unit. In this role, Travis executed lean manufacturing con- cepts as he has integrated Andon systems throughout the facility and enabled monitoring of equipment effectiveness (OEE) through development and integra- tion of Statuswatch. In his current role as Manufacturing Project Engineer at Caterpillar’s Undercarriage Business Unit, Travis Bengtson is using modern IT resources to collect and analyze data on tooling, maintenance, resource utiliza- tion, and scheduling methods, among other manu- facturing factors. “There’s a wealth of knowledge to be gained, giving us valuable insights into what I call the real operation of the machines. It challenges the preconceived notions about processes so that decisions can be made based on facts and not on hearsay,” Travis said. Travis has led the manufactur- ing engineers in the conversion of a legacy IBM ERP system’s data to a current SAP platform. The scope of the conversion involved a master data plan that could support the way the subcontracting business and cell level manufacturing systems have evolved over the years. The conversion was executed successfully with 100% Routing and Bill of Material accuracy to sup- port the operation in the new ERP system. Travis is currently leading a project with the goal of radically reforming supply chain planning in a com- ponent facility that operates in SAP through a com- bination of demand management practices, strategic managed inventory, and heijunka planning. A pilot is underway which will deliver a template for develop- ment into an enterprise level solution to support a stable supply chain for a component value stream with volatile demand, while reducing enterprise in- ventory. Travis recently completed a Six Sigma Black Belt curriculum within Caterpillar and he continues to develop his technical capabilities and change management skills to improve manufacturing in each functional area. ME Travis Bengtson Age: 29 Caterpillar Undercarriage Business Unit East Peoria, IL UNDER THIRTY “There’s a wealth of knowledge to be gained, giving us valuable insights into what I call the real operation of the machines.” UNDER THIRTY A li Rizvi is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. He combines rigorous academic research with an entrepreneurial drive to bridge the gap between a proof-of-concept invention and commercialization. Ali is developing innovative and industrially viable technologies to manufacture low density porous plastics with super-absorptive properties for oil-spill cleanup applications. He holds patents that have been favorably received by the industry, including a major Japanese chemical company. He is the co-founder and director of manufactur- ing at a start-up company and leads the company’s product development for rapid prototyping, material selec- tion, material research and development, incorporation of advanced manufacturing technologies, and plastics mold design. The start-up, which received the Venture- Start grant from the Research & Innovation Commer- cialization Centre - Ontario, has achieved substantial success and continues to grow at an exponential rate. Ali graduated with High Distinction with an Hon- ours B.S. in Environmental Chemistry and a minor in Economics from the University of Toronto and was fast-tracked into the Ph.D. program in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Ali said that he wanted to study manufacturing because it is the key to commercializa- tion of an idea: “A great idea that can’t be produced and scaled-up economically will fail. The reason I pur- sued manufacturing engineering was to develop insights that will facilitate commercialization of scientific break- throughs. During my undergraduate work in chemistry, I engaged in cutting edge research in various disciplines of chemistry. What I noticed was that scientists evaluate research by considering whether it makes an original contribution to our understanding of the world and often overlook or not address the more pragmatic factors, like cost of manufacturing, and scalability.” Ali has been awarded a number of grants including a challenge grant from the Canadian government aimed at addressing health-related problems in third world countries. The proposal is aimed at developing a field- capable device based on the mobile phone that would overcome the difficulty of field-diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in third world countries where sophisticated equip- ment and electric power are typically not available. Ali has two patents and ten technical publications in refereed journals and conference pro- ceedings. His scientific contribu- tions have received academic and industrial recognition. In 2013, Ali received the NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship. In 2012, Ali was awarded the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) PerkinElmer Award: Composites Division for the best paper. In 2012, he also received the Queen Elizabeth II-GSST Award: DuPont Canada Scholarship in Sci- ence and Technology. Ali, as a graduate assistant, has been active in the academic life of the university. He has supervised six summer research students who came from countries across the globe. He served as a judge at the LIVE Competition 2013, a two-day national business competition; Show Me the Green Conference 2013; and the University of Toronto Engineering Kompetition 2012–2014. ME Ali Rizvi Age: 27 Student, University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario, Canada “A great idea that can’t be produced and scaled up economically will fail. The reason I pursued manufacturing engineering was to develop insights that will facilitate commercialization of scientific breakthroughs.” THIRTY UNDER THIRTY PROFILES UNDER THIRTY P atrick M. White found his niche early on taking high school drafting classes, something he was so good at that others would ask him how to work in AutoCAD and other programs. When he studied at Moraine Valley CC, his teachers were engineers by day and instructors at night. Initially, Patrick wanted to be a teacher who communicated to young people why keeping manufacturing in the US is so important. The example of his college teachers who went out and worked in industry and in some cases retired to teach, motivated him to earn a B.S. in Industrial Technology from Illinois State University and pursue a career in manufacturing. Patrick started at the Caterpillar Decatur facility as an operations supervisor at 22 with responsibility for lead- ing hourly employees in achieving their safety, quality, and cost and throughput requirements. Patrick made immediate improvements to the Lower Power Train pro- duction areas through his ability to lead and motivate his employees. While in Decatur for three years Patrick managed production areas in machining, fabrication and final assembly before pursuing an opportunity at the Caterpillar Joliet facility. At the Caterpillar Joliet facility Pat managed the Heat Treat production line. During the first year in his role, Patrick yielded positive improvements in an Employee Opinion Survey. He empowered his employees to be self-sufficient and make decisions that positively impacted the Heat Treat Value Stream business. Patrick also propelled himself by sharing and utilizing the “best practices” he learned at the Decatur facility and helped to implement those prac- tices at the Joliet facility. Following his first year at the Joliet facility, Patrick inherited additional production areas and employees. He demonstrated the same type of improvements by coaching his employees and helping them under- stand their impact on the customer and business. When Patrick was a shop floor supervisor, he went above and beyond to foster pride in his team by showing them how the components being manufac- tured played an important role in the overall product. In the previous two years, Patrick managed through an employee work stoppage that lasted three months and three rounds of reduction in the workforce. Although unfortunate, these experiences helped Patrick grow as a leader and demonstrated his ability to withstand pressure and make difficult decisions. Becaus