Aaron Bridge has always considered himself a DIY-er. From shop
class and drafting courses in high school to fabricating at home, he has always
had a niche for building. Aaron's interests led him to study mechanical
engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
As a project engineer at our Koch Fertilizer Beatrice,
Nebraska plant, Aaron saw an opportunity to apply some of his skills and
interests to “add more value to the business” by bringing some outsourced tasks
in-house.
“I enjoy CAD and modeling,” Aaron says. “We have the
software to work with point clouds in house. In most cases, it’s faster and more
economical to bring small design work in house. It also fosters
strong relationships with our original equipment manufacturers by streamlining
dialogue and collaboration.”
Aaron designs small parts for jobs and sends them out
locally for fabrication. For large jobs and capital projects, he works with the
manufacturers directly and evaluates their designs for fit and installation. He
says through laser scanning technology, he’s been able to demonstrate his
comparative advantage.
“Koch encourages employees to find their comparative
advantage,” Aaron says. “It creates a fulfilling role and adds much more value
to the business. I DIY outside of work, so I can’t help but have a similar
thought process at work. I think it creates tremendous value and develops more
capability at our plant.”
Aaron’s advice to students interested in an engineering career
is to “be the person who delivers results.” He says also recommends networking
with people in different engineering fields and learning how you can work
together.
“Collaboration is a huge part of engineering,” he says.