ABOUT MY COMPANY
Project Engineer Jerome Foods, Inc 1975-1986 Barron, WI Project Engineer Foster Farms 1987 Turlock, CA Plant Engineer Hubbard foods, Inc 1987-1989 Altura, MN Office Mangr./Engineer Halvorson Electric 1989-1994 Ridgeland, WI Design Engineer BLM Custom Fab. 1995-1996 Barron, WI
Mechanical Design Engineer Pactiv Corporation 1997-2013 Chippewa Falls, Wi
Programming Analyst and Mech Designer Pactiv Corp 2013-2014 Winchester, VA
I decided to go into Mechanical Engineering with an Automotive option. This turned out to be a great learning experience, but a very difficult one.
After I graduated, I didn't have trouble deciding where to go next. Uncle Sam decided for me. But instead of going in the Army, I enlisted into the Air Force. I spent the next four years working for Uncle in Tucson, Arizona. I was happy to do my part for my country.
In 1975 I returned home to Barron, Wisconsin and my mother. My Dad had passed away while I was in the service. Mom was by herself. I found a job with Jerome Foods in a short time. I was asked to be a supervisor for one of the smaller departments for a year while the engineering department was reorganized. During that year, I learned a lot about how the plant operated. When a new chief engineer was hired, I went to work as his assistant. Now things began to get more interesting.
Jerome Foods was and still is (recently it was sold to become Jennie-O Foods) a major turkey processor right in the small town of Barron. When I was younger and growing up, I had no idea what was really going on in the plant. I lived just down the street most of my life. I guess I didn't really want to know what was going on. I just saw turkeys going in and trucks coming out.
My first project as an engineer was to work on an electrical distribution project. I was assigned to manage the change over of the plants primary distribution system from the city of Barron to our own system. Up until this time the city provided power to the plant through it's own transformers and primary wiring. It was in definite need of updating. My job was to manage the change over. This was the first time I worked with high voltage systems. It was a 12470/7200V Y primary from a new substation and all to be in conduit. Various transformers tapped onto this line and fed the plant needs.
My next project was on a major expansion. We were changing and up sizing the first day processing part of the plant. This was a 35,000 square foot building and all the support systems inside. I was responsible for various systems inside the building. I also got involved with the electrical distribution. We had to add put in two new transformers to feed this area. This meant we had to build two new service rooms for the mains and the distribution equipment. I also began learning about lighting. I was assigned the task of getting the lighting systems installed.
This project lasted about 16 months. It was a real learning experience for me in many areas. The main one was learning to work with people.
Over the next 10 years with Jerome Foods I worked on many projects, big and small. After awhile my main responsibilities became more focused. I took care of the electrical, the ammonia refrigeration, CO2 refrigeration systems, ventilation, plumbing, lighting, and material handling. Depending on the schedules, I was also given various machine design projects and process flow layouts. Because we were growing very rapidly and our office was not growing as fast as we wanted it to, I got involved in almost anything that came up. I designed and built buildings. I worked with the waste water handling systems. I was responsible for updating USDA drawings and for filing the state air and water discharge reports. No area of the plant or its operation was left untouched. My time spent at Jerome Foods was an invaluable experience.
Because of family problems, I left Jerome Foods and took a job in California and worked for Foster Farms during 1987. I headed a $3.5 million expansion project at their turkey further processing plant in Turlock. This involved architects, building design, building construction, refrigeration, electrical, computers, lighting, plumbing, conveyor systems, material handling systems, and all other systems and sub systems. I am happy to say the project went very well. After the project was completed I decided to leave.
My family and I moved back home to Wisconsin.
I took a job as the plant engineer for Hubbard Foods in Altura, Minnesota. The plant engineer was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the plant. The maintenance department worked for me and I was responsible for expansions and new projects that might come up.
I left Hubbard Foods in the Fall of 89. I found a job working as the office manager and electrical engineer for Halvorson Electric. They are a contractor that specializes in commercial and industrial wiring and control systems. When I was at Jerome Foods, Halvorson did the majority of the electrical work for me. Here, my knowledge in the electrical field grew greatly. I also got involved in CAD systems. I coordinated projects and made the work as easy as possible for the men and my boss.
After five years with Halvorson, I decided to leave.
In February of 1995, I started work with BLM Custom Fabrication. I knew the boss from various projects he had done for me a few years before. We had an idea, that with me on board, BLM could expand into a few new areas. Mainly these areas were to be consulting and designing equipment and systems for the food and dairy industry. We also looked into possible overseas markets. The overseas thing never panned out because of our lack of time and the boss's early lack of interest. I became a proficient CAD operator and designed and coordinated the building of various pieces of equipment. I enjoyed the work and I enjoyed working with the men and they enjoyed working with me, but due to various and many extenuating circumstances in the company, I left in September of 1996.
Currently I am gaining more experience with mechanical design and AUTOCAD in the plastics industry. There I am designing and drawing in 2D and 3D what ever the company needs. I started using AUTOCAD R14 and am now using AUTOCAD 2012. I design and build items from stairs to complicated machinery parts and assemblies. The company is Pactiv Corporation. Its home office is in Lake Forest, Illinois.
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