Growing Engineers
We aren’t in the business of hiring engineers just to squeeze as much work out of them as possible. We’re here to grow and develop engineers, and we consider ourselves lucky when they choose to stay with us. It’s a two-way street. We need to invest in each other so both sides have a positive takeaway. Growing engineers is critical to the success of our business and the larger industry.
Design Ready Controls is different than many others in the industry. We know that we have to invest a certain amount of training into each person new to our engineering program. We can’t just go out and find people that have experience with APE ® and AME® since they’re our exclusive programs. And the best candidates aren’t always the ones with the most stellar GPA or the most impressive accomplishments. When we look back at all of the successful engineers who have come through our doors, they all have one thing in common: drive. We want to know they’re willing to get their hands dirty, push to improve themselves and keep learning.
Growing engineers means a lot of different applications on different fronts. The Design Ready Controls engineering internship program helps students gain industry experience and skills. We’ve created a Training Program for our exclusive systems, APE and AME. We offer tuition reimbursement for qualifying education programs and do our best to bridge connections with the PIPELINE Project and other tuition assistance programs.
I just went back to school through the PIPELINE Project, and the Design Ready Controls engineering internship program is part of my capstone project. While we are teaching interns, our engineers are also learning—a kind of internship in management. We can’t sit still. The Future of Manufacturing is changing and we have to adapt. Learning doesn’t stop when you get hired. We aren’t looking for the end point of growth. We define ourselves by innovation, and that’s always out on the next horizon.
Growing engineers doesn’t always mean developing technical skills, either. It’s equally important that we develop solid relationships within the department. You’ll see a lot of us sitting together in the break room or going out to lunch together. Ping pong matches are common. We encourage team building events—Whirlyball has been a favorite. Diversity and the exposure to new ideas, new ways to look at processes and innovate solutions come when we’re working together.
Really, that’s what all of this is about—getting people to work together and do great things. Innovation doesn’t come from people who are stuck on repeat. We invest in growing our engineers because they give us great things in return.
