2021 30 Under 30 Honors Program: Mentoring in the Next-Generation of Moldmaking Professionals

Superior Tooling Inc. (Wake Forest, North Carolina)

Isaac Wier, Apprentice Moldmaker

Isaac is a breath of fresh air to the organization. He is now in the third year of his apprenticeship. However, he is already perceived as one of our “go-to” employees.

After Isaac’s summer internship, he was not offered an apprenticeship under the NCTAP program, but he was offered the opportunity to work part-time with the potential to be selected the following year. Isaac happily seized this opportunity. Anytime he was not in school (even on snow days), he would come into the shop to do whatever was permitted. He always did an excellent job, which cemented his future selection. The following year, he became an apprentice.

Isaac excelled in the coursework and on-the-job training. He quickly takes to whatever machine tool he is assigned and has an excellent sense of proper setup techniques, quality and accuracy. He has already demonstrated the ability to setup, operate and troubleshoot three-, four- and five-axis CNC mills, and program and operate three different CNC lathes, as well as coordinate-measuring machines (CMMs). He also calibrates measurement equipment.

Isaac is proficient in setup and operation of any of the manual equipment in the shop. The only equipment he cannot operate are the machine tools that he has not been introduced to yet. He really wants an opportunity in EDM, which is happening soon.

Isaac also assists with training younger apprentices and displays exceptional patience. He admits to learning new skills of his own during this training.

Isaac has a very positive attitude and truly enjoys his work, which is crucial to being successful in this trade. He has a magnetic personality and is respectful, trustworthy, accountable, confident and exhibits a very high level of integrity. He always has a smile on his face and when presented with an opportunity to learn a new skill, he is like a kid in a candy store. These attributes are just a few that set Isaac apart and are integral to plotting his course toward much higher levels of responsibility and leadership.

Ben Johnson, Journeyman Moldmaker

Ben completed his apprenticeship at Superior Tooling in 2019 as one of the original inductees into the NCTAP apprenticeship program that began in 2015. He chose Superior Tooling due to the wide range of skills and career opportunities as well as its family-oriented, small business culture.

He has been most intrigued and challenged by the skills required to build an injection mold. Ben quickly moved through his training and became a resource for training and knowledge as well as a participant in planning discussions, even as an apprentice. He exhibited mature communication skills and was respected as a model apprentice for those following in his footsteps.

Ben enjoys mentoring apprentices with whom he freely shares his knowledge. He has accompanied recruitment teams to area high schools, harvesting the next class of apprentices. Ben also worked the Superior Tooling exhibit booth at Amerimold while an apprentice.

He is capable of designing and machining complex electrodes, reverse engineering, programming and operating three-, four- and five-axis mills, as well as multiple sinker and wire EDMs and CMMs. He also manages our ISO 9001 calibration records and participates in internal and external ISO audits.

Ben aspires to further his knowledge in tool design and hard milling programming. He has shown interest in the management side of the business as well as customer-facing activities, and tasks involving purchasing and quoting. He is only in his sixth year in this trade, but the team views him as a valuable resource.

Action Mold & Machining (Grand Rapids, Michigan)

Zachary Glascock, Additive Specialist/CMM Technician

Zach is a graduate from Western Michigan University with a degree in manufacturing engineering & technologies. During his senior design project, he began working with Action Mold, focused on variable density parameters and applications in molds. After graduating, he joined Action Mold and has been a key contributor to the additive manufacturing (AM) team, helping to continue developing and educating customers on what AM is and what it offers to the industry.

He has been a very quick learner of the ever-changing AM industry and brings great enthusiasm to our team. He is well versed in laser powder-bed fusion technology and sees the whole manufacturing process after printing, and so understands how to plan for that from the beginning.

Zach also helps to run the CMM to measure traditionally manufactured tools but also AM tools. He is versed in both contact probe measurements as well as blue light scanning measurements. He has recently started using the shop’s new microscope to gain deeper insight into a printed part’s density, microstructure and surfaces and the impact of changing printing parameters.

Zach very clearly sees where AM fits into the manufacturing environment overall, and how it fits specifically in the tooling industry. This makes him an invaluable resource to Action Mold and the industry as AM gains greater adoption.

KTM Industries Inc. (Richfield, Wisconsin)

Rebecca Kluever, Program Manager

Rebecca was an honoree in MMT’s inaugural 30 Under 30 Honors Program in 2018 when she was a 21-year-old design engineer at Mantz Automation (Hartford, Wisconsin). She is now part of the KTM Industries team as a program manager. Her role uses her prior tooling, programming, design and organizational experiences to effectively manage customers’ development and production projects. Rebecca is responsible for integrating internal and supply partner resources and communicating project deliverables between the KTM mold shop and customer engineering. She continues her educational pursuits and has begun formal CNC programming training.

The last year has seen Rebecca spend most of her time at a KTM customer facility, coordinating an extensive new product development project. This experience has broadened her manufacturing perspective, as she has been involved with nearly every phase of the project.

Rebecca is a prime example of the opportunities available for the current and next generations in U.S.-based manufacturing. Combining her attitude, ambition and willingness to learn with work environments that support her growth will ensure she enjoys a successful career path.

Pyramid Molding Group, Industrial Molds Division (Rockford, Illinois)

Sasha Stojanovic, Mold Designer

Sasha learned how to overcome adversity at a young age, which molded him into a hardworking, dedicated young professional. He immigrated from Serbia to the U.S. in 2005 at the age of eight. English was not his native language, but he adapted by immersing himself in his education. As a senior in high school, Sasha’s mother passed away, and his father’s profession as a truck driver kept him away from home. Sasha balanced his grief while staying focused on his goals and learning how to deal with change and pressure.

Sasha remains driven. He completed his mechanical engineering degree from Northern Illinois University in 2019 and then joined the Industrial Molds engineering team. His strong work ethic, desire to succeed and professional demeanor became the benchmark for the type of young professionals Industrial Molds wants on the team. Sasha is the right mix of talent, hard work and dedication. He does whatever it takes to get the job done, and no task is beneath him.

Sasha is often the first to arrive and the last to leave. You will frequently find him on the shop floor working alongside our machinists and tool builders. Sasha is motivated to develop as much industry knowledge as possible. He inquires with insightful questions and is not afraid to ask when he needs more information.

Sasha has a sense of fearlessness for a young man. He is not afraid to offer his suggestions even with our most veteran employees. He has proven to “hold his own” concerning the types of projects he has completed during his tenure. One example of Sasha’s leadership and innovation was his gear strength calculator, which included the processes to calculate more efficiently.

Sasha quickly understands challenging concepts and applies what he has learned to every task. He has a clear focus on deliverables and demonstrates reliability with his attention to deadlines. Sasha’s goal is to become a master at moldmaking and design.

Westminster Tool (Plainfield, Connecticut)

Hillary Thomas, Account Manager and Vice President

Hillary Thomas rejoined her family business at Westminster Tool in 2017 after working in international sales in Australia. Since returning, she successfully rebranded the company as a solutions-focused manufacturer and leader in cultural innovation. Her leadership extends to service on the American Mold Builders Association (AMBA, Indianapolis, Indiana) Emerging Leaders Board, PLASTICS FLiP Engagement Committee Society of Plastics Engineers and the (SPE, Brookfield, Connecticut) Foundation’s Marketing Committee.

Hillary has expanded her technical knowledge to serve her customers better and her abilities to drive strategic improvements in the company. Her goal is to sell a product and remain intimately involved in a project from beginning to end to be a better customer resource.

Her goal is to always set her team up for success. She accomplishes this by working closely with each employee on an individual level, by looking closely at sales and engineering goals and diligently tracking performance metrics to find areas for improvement. Hillary also has a natural talent for growing leaders within the company and providing them with the support needed to improve.

She is also always looking for ways to innovate and help the community and the industry. Her passion for people extends outside the company, where she sees the value of spreading awareness of manufacturing and its benefits to our community.

The transformations directed by Hillary’s leadership can be seen across the company. Her advancements in sales made a direct impact on company revenue and the type of complex work brought in. This has opened opportunities for investments in technology, equipment and talent development.

Matrix Plastic Products Inc. (Wood Dale, Illinois)

John Ziegenhorn, Moldmaker

John is a third-generation moldmaker. His grandfather and uncles started the business in 1978, and his father is the chief financial officer (CFO). While John follows in their footsteps, his career path affords him a unique perspective.

When he was 16, John started cleaning machines, performing shop maintenance and learning the basics of workpiece setups. An Eagle Scout, John is naturally a self-starter and hard worker who enthusiastically attacks any project. During his college years, he worked in the molding department and was involved with everything from material handling and inventory, to mold setups and automation.

As a chemistry major, John was very interested to learn about the injection molding process and the behaviors of different materials from the process engineers. After graduating with his Bachelor of Science degree from Bradley University, he took on additional responsibilities, making himself more valuable on the production floor.

John completed systematic molding and processing courses with RJG (Traverse City, Michigan) and Sodick (San Jose, California) as he stepped into a supervisory role. He quickly became instrumental in setting up production runs and creating operator work instructions to implement a new enterprise resouce planning (ERP) system.

John also learned how to troubleshoot molds from the tooling engineers and mold designers. Watching them diagnose tooling issues inspired him to be part of those solutions too. He then chose to complete a formal moldmaking apprenticeship and graduated from TMA’s three-year program.

John is a leader by example. He trains our tooling apprentices and interns on preventative maintenance (PM), repairs and safety. He takes great pride in actively promoting the trade with high school students, participating in local career fairs and association events and helping host field trips to our facility.

He is our laser welding expert. John also researches and purchases new equipment, never says “no” to a challenge and never misses the opportunity to keep learning from his mentors.

Precise Tooling Solutions (Columbus, Indiana)

Trenton Ford, Wire EDM Operator

At only 21 years old, Trenton has the ambition and drive of moldmakers twice his age. With an unexpected departure of his mentor earlier this year, Trenton has taken the reins of our EDM/wire process, met the harsh demand the trade requires and has made a tremendous impact on our business.

He always works as hard as possible with anything thrown at him, including this new role, with increased responsibility. Trenton has gone from mounting, machining and running one EDM to three EDMs, plus a wire EDM. He has an abundance of good old-fashioned ambition, and the team has complete faith that under his management that the EDM department will flow efficiently.

Trenton has recently completed extensive training in the shop’s new CAD/CAM software in addition to these responsibilities. He will start designing and programming electrodes, making his department a one-stop-shop. Trenton has a bright future in front of him, and we look forward to seeing what he can accomplish.

Accede Mold & Tool Co. Inc. (Rochester, New York)

Kyle Joseph, Design Engineer and Project Manager

Kyle has been a design engineer and program manager at Accede Mold & Tool since May 2018. He started after graduating from Gannon University with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.

He is currently managing 11 mold builds for the medical and consumer packaging industries, including multiple 24+24 stack molds and a 16+16 two-shot cube mold system. Customers are quick to praise Kyle for his excellent leadership and communication skills and steady project management style from design launch through mold install on their production floor.

Kyle embodies Accede’s culture of continuous improvement and moldmaking excellence. He is smart and conscientious, with strong attention to detail and a focus on quality. Kyle goes beyond his day-to-day responsibilities of mold design and project management. He is the internal champion and Accede representative for SPE while staying up-to-date on industry technology advancements and representing Accede at trade events.

Kyle can regularly be found on the shop floor, rolling up his sleeves to work side by side with experienced moldmakers, building and assembling the injection molds he designs. At just 25 years of age, Kyle’s competencies, initiative, drive and self-motivation are helping to make a difference in moldmaking as a leader and an innovator.

Alliance Specialties and Laser Sales (Wauconda, Illinois)

Courtney Ollendick, Laser/TIG Welder

Courtney is a talented, dedicated and valuable member of the Alliance team. She came on board as a TIG welder specializing in the delicate process of aluminum welding. Since then, she has continued to learn and grow and is now a laser welding professional. She has even saved the day on some occasions. Courtney’s ability to tackle every task with a smile makes her an incredible asset.

Courtney is always grateful for the opportunities provided to her. Whether learning a new technique or being assigned a new challenge, she embraces each one and excels positively. She is a true team member and has built strong relationships with other members of the company. 

Courtney asks questions and helps others to learn, displaying integrity in all that she does. She is eager to share her knowledge and is tenacious in her work ethic, always pushing to grow her skill set and find new ways to benefit the company.

The company feels extremely fortunate and blessed to have Courtney as a member of the team.

MMD Medical (Brooklyn Park, Minnesota)

Daniel Schuler, Mold Builder

Daniel's can-do attitude, solid mechanical aptitude and exceptional expertise and skills for his level make him a promising young mold builder. He is a strong contributor to the high-performing team at MMD Medical.

Operational excellence drives our business, where we are tenacious in discovering the absolute best, most cost-effective and innovative solutions for the medical device industry. Daniel has repeatedly proven that he is more than capable of helping us meet the critical technical demands in the Class II and Class III medical device markets.

Drawn to mold building and machining because of the variety of work, the hands-on nature and the challenge of figuring things out, Daniel graduated from Dunwoody College of Technology in 2015 as a member of the Dean’s List with a degree in machine tool technology.

Before MMD Medical, Daniel honed his craft as a general machinist working with multiple machines, inspecting products using GD&T, running CNC mills and machining components.

When he joined MMD Medical as a machinist six years ago, Daniel exhibited an outstanding work ethic and knowledge of machining and CAM programming. Interested in applying his skill set to other business areas, he applied to the mold building team when a position became available. He quickly progressed from a beginner to a valuable team member.

We knew Daniel would bring valuable contributions to the mold building team because of his background at the company, his proven skills and ability, his demonstrated mechanical aptitude and his machine trades certification. Daniel has grown from apprentice to Level 1 mold builder to his current role as a Level 2 mold builder.

Today, Daniel works in multiple areas of the shop floor. His many responsibilities include building and repairing new molds for the medical industry, performing revision modifications and conducting continuous improvement to existing molds. Some of his specialties are high-speed milling final cavity detail, cutting electrodes, final grinding, assembly and PMs of our existing fleet of medical molds.

Along with his day-to-day responsibilities, he has taken the lead on several new mold builds and built his first tool on his own last year. Daniel is a positive example to his peers because he continues to learn and expand his capabilities. Since toolmaking is a craft requiring robust technical skills, he elected to attend a three-day training at MoldTrax (Ashland, Ohio) in 2019 to earn a certificate in mold maintenance and repair to expand his knowledge.

As his career as a mold builder continues to advance, we are confident Daniel’s ambition, dedication and expertise will propel him on his journey of becoming a Level 3 mold builder and beyond.

Matsuura USA (St. Paul, Minnesota)

Nicholas Mitchell, Application Engineer

Nicholas is an innovator and thought leader who is helping to shape the future of moldmaking and AM. He graduated from Dunwoody College of Technology, earning an Associate of Applied Science degree in engineering drafting and design. What separates Nicholas from the rest is his determination and resolve to be a part of emerging technology. He quickly realized how different and transformative 3D metal AM can be in moldmaking.

Nicholas initially learned about hybrid AM technology and moldmaking throughout his classwork, but then followed that up with researching Matsuura and its metal laser sintering/CNC milling hybrid technology. His interest grew and eventually led him to Matsuura’s internship program, where he generated fresh ideas in moldmaking and demonstrated enthusiasm to gain real-world experience.

As an intern, much of his role was taking work off our busy Matsuura Lumex Team’s plate to facilitate projects. Nick was doing the actual work and doing it well. We have the utmost trust in Nick, as he took the internship at Matsuura USA as seriously as he would a full-time job. Showing dedication, he always met deadlines and exceeded our goals.

Nick quickly realized how transformative 3D metal AM in moldmaking could be. He has become integral in training and supporting distributor engineers and customers in the operation and application of the Lumex product line within mold manufacturing. He empowers innovation by connecting with partners and customers to share information and collaborate. He is the first in the morning to arrive for a moldmaking project and the last to leave. He not only seeks to find the answer, but he also enjoys problem solving along the way.

He is continuing with his education and is a candidate for a B.S. in industrial engineering technology. Nick also earned his Certified Solidworks Associate (CSWA) certification, Certified Solidworks Professional (CSWP) certification, and certifications from the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS, Fairfax, Virginia).

Valeo (Seymour, Indiana)

Mason Day, Plastic Toolmaker

Mason is a talented, motivated young man with a desire and willingness to become a very good moldmaker. He has completed a two-year associate program and a four-year apprenticeship with Valeo.

Mason is eager to learn and works well with senior-level moldmakers. He is continuing his education to earn his degree and become a tooling engineer. Working in the automotive lighting industry has taught Mason critical thinking and the value of working smart, fast and efficiently.

Mason works very well on a team and independently. He is working an off-shift, so he must be versatile and excel at time management to complete the tasks at hand.

F&M Tool and Die (Leominster, Massachusetts)

Matt Lizotte, Wire EDM Lead

Matt finished his studies at Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School and started at F&M three years ago after a few years working for another shop. During his first few days at F&M, he was disassembling and cleaning molds for repair jobs and then worked his way through CNC milling setups.

Matt trained alongside a skilled moldmaker in the wire EDM department, who then left the company. Matt stepped up and is now singlehandedly programming and running four wire EDMs—essentially the whole department. It is not unusual for Matt to clock in 55+ hours per week.

He also spearheaded the introduction of Esprit in the wire EDM department, significantly reducing programming time. Also, to keep the wire EDMs running, Matt learned how to program and run a Kellenberger cylindrical grinder.

The team believes our business could not exist in its current form without Matt’s initiative and abilities. We have one major customer who depends on F&M for its wire EDM capabilities, and all of that work goes through Matt. This is in addition to the standard mold-related wire work we have to do.

He is hardworking and conscientious, continually proving wrong the many stereotypes of today’s next-generation workers. If we could clone Matt, we would.

YakAttack LLC (Farmville, Virginia)

Nick Kellogg, Engineering Manager

Six years ago Nick started at YakAttack as an entry-level manufacturing employee with no engineering experience. His first job was gauging and sorting non-conforming product. In less than two years, Nick was rapidly conquering a steep learning curve through an extreme engineering apprenticeship boot camp. Ownership realized he could do pretty much whatever he put his mind to, no matter how unlikely it seemed.

The company started injection molding about the time Nick came on board. Quickly realizing that the cost and leadtime of tooling was a major barrier with our low-volume market, the company ventured into making its own tooling on a Robodrill VMC and created a modular mold base with which they could create simple molds in less than a day for a few hundred dollars.

Four years ago, Nick fully transitioned into engineering. Within a year he assumed the position of engineering manager and has advanced the primitive tooling system significantly. He has designed and built over 200 molds, and manages a two-person team that currently builds 75-100 molds per year—simple line of draw molds, action molds and hot sprue molds.

Nick also purchases the shop’s heavy equipment, handling selection, installation and startup and training. In 2020, Nick purchased and started two Milacron Roboshot molding machines, the company’s  third Robodrill (with a fourth axis), a resin recycling line and a CNC EDM that is taking moldmaking capabilities to a new level.

M&M Tool and Mold (Green Bay, Wisconsin)

Kyle Paternoster, Toolmaker

Kyle joined the M&M Tool team in January 2013 as a journeyman apprentice, which he completed in March 2018. Since becoming a journeyman, Kyle has been more than willing to step up to any challenge that he is presented with, and is currently the team leader for one of our internal build teams.

As a team leader, he shoulders additional responsibilities, including shop input on all projects assigned to his team, scheduling work through support departments and negotiating with other team leaders to alleviate potential workflow bottlenecks. He also monitors all team projects regarding purchased components, services and shop hours invested in the build versus estimated hours.

Kyle has proven to be quite creative in his approach to moldmaking. He is not afraid to propose new manufacturing methods to become more efficient, which are sometimes incorporated into the company’s general build culture.

Other times, the ideas do not work. Either way, the team learns through Kyle’s initiative—his idea introduces a new technology or process or sometimes validates the original process. It’s often the failures that prove most valuable, as they can open the door to additional possibilities for process improvement. Once the creative approach has been validated to be a better method, Kyle is always available to share the lesson learned with others and explain why.

Digital Moulds GmbH (Sierning Austria)

Andreas Reinthaler, CEO

Andreas is a former apprentice of Austrian moldmaker Haidlmair (Nußbach, Austria) and worked a few years in the assembly and CAD departments. After he finished his industrial engineering studies, he became the Mold Monitoring system project manager, a monitoring system for injection molds. This innovation served as the basis for a spin-off company, Digital Moulds, for which Andreas became the first CEO.

In the following months, he played a vital role in the evolution of the products and was a key player involved with developing the Mold Monitoring system into a product ready for the market. Andreas is a technology expert in his field and a wonderful man to have on the team. We believe this new company would not have made such good progress throughout the last year without him.

Kingson Mold and Machine (Brea, California)

Austin Ramos, Junior Moldmaker

Austin is one-of-a-kind. He has been a huge asset to the Kingson Mold family ever since we recruited him back in 2015 while working at a grocery store. Austin was looking for a career, and despite his lack of experience in manufacturing, his attitude and willingness to learn matched what we were looking for in an apprentice.

During Austin’s apprenticeship, he demonstrated that he possessed the characteristics needed to be a successful moldmaker. He is a sponge when it comes to learning. He takes his job very seriously, yet can also be the life of the party. Austin takes ownership of every job he is assigned and any task thrown his way. He programs all of his jobs and manages three to four machines simultaneously. Over the past year, Austin started to project manage his molds and expanded his capabilities into finishing.

Austin is a true leader. His mindset to improve everything he touches has had a positive impact on the entire team. His shop floor colleagues look up to him and lean on him for advice daily. His organization and attention to detail leave little room for error.

Anytime you need something done, the team knows to go to Austin. He will make it happen.

Westfall Technik (Wakefield, Michigan)

Anthony Fabbri, Moldmaker Apprentice

Anthony came to Westfall Technik (formerly Extreme Tool) as a young man with no machining or toolmaking experience but with the right amount of ambition and work ethic. His character and integrity set him apart. He is an all-around good person. Day in and day out, Anthony is a great example to those who work around him.

Very early on, it was evident that Anthony was a natural in the shop. He is a quick learner and never afraid to go the extra mile to make a project successful. Anthony is on track to complete his apprenticeship (8,000 hours of shop time with online schooling) this July, resulting in his journeyman card in moldmaking, die-cast and plastic molding from the United States Department of Labor (Washington, D.C.) as well as AMBA. Upon completion, Anthony will be well versed in all processes from mold design to mold sampling. As the time comes for Anthony to move onto the next department, leadership mentions that they want to keep him. Anthony has become a very important asset to the company.

Metro Mold & Design (Rogers, Minnesota)

Nebyou Demessie, Toolmaker

Since joining Metro Mold & Design in 2016, Nebyou has spent time at both the medical and industrial facilities. He has worked as a precision machinist, thermoplastics setup technician, and now a full-time apprentice in our industrial facility toolroom.

Nebyou is quickly gaining the knowledge necessary to become a master toolmaker while continuing to service MMD and its customers with machine setup, process flow, tool maintenance and troubleshooting.

Nebyou is a highly dedicated employee who leverages his cross-training to assist multiple parts of the organization. He loves a challenge and can be counted on to handle them individually with minimal supervision and direction. Nebyou works hand-in-hand with manufacturing and toolroom leadership to improve processes and then demonstrates great leadership while implementing these processes to meeting customer deadlines and expectations.

The sky is the limit for Nebyou as his dedication and passion for the industry prove invaluable to MMD and customers.

Harbour Results (Southfield, Michigan)

Cara Walton, Engagement Manager

Cara has been a critical member of the Harbour Results team by helping to build a culture of inclusion, curiosity and customer service. She collaborates across the team to ensure we can help our clients and all those in the industry.

She is responsible for growing HRI’s Harbour I.Q. product, which was developed to provide moldmakers with data and insight to make intelligent business decisions. She is the main liaison with the Harbour I.Q. clients, ensuring they get access to the information they need.

Cara also built the organization’s economy/tariff/trade competency to ensure we know how these factors impact manufacturing today and tomorrow. She played an important role in the company’s effort to put tariffs back on China-made molds. We worked together gathering data and interviewing shops to help draft messages and case studies to share with key decision-makers within associations and local and national government.

Cara has positioned herself as a thought leader in the industry through one-on-one interactions, presentations, events and bylined articles.

Erwin Quarder (Grand Rapids, Michigan)

Nick Dupree, Toolmaker Apprentice

Nick started at Erwin Quarder four years ago as a production floor helper and then worked his way to the toolroom. He has experience with EDM, CNC machining, milling, grinding and laser welding. Nick has a special drive and can-do attitude while working in the toolroom.

He enjoys working with his co-workers, sharing his input and expressing his ideas to resolve issues. Nick also thinks outside the box when working through challenges for which traditional repair methods are not applicable.

He is not afraid to step up, go the extra mile, work late or come in early to ensure a repair or project is completed on time. Nick is an excellent role model for the next up-and-coming apprentices who will follow in his footsteps.

Wepco Plastics (Middlefield, Connecticut)

Jacob Arsenault, Moldmaker Apprentice

As a young professional in our apprenticeship program, Jacob has undoubtedly stepped up to the plate and excelled among his peers. He has filled a role at a young age (new high school graduate) that far exceeds the title of “apprentice.”

Jacob is very hands-on and adaptive. He contrives solutions to difficult problems, whether in day-to-day operations or more complex matters with machinery and/or tooling. His “street smarts” go along with his education in moldmaking, and he is willing to do anything and everything asked of him. His attitude shines in the shop, and he is far beyond his years when it comes to matters of respect, drive and willingness.

Jacob is referred to as “Little Denny,” which references a long-term, recently retired, first-ever employee and friend of Wepco Plastics. Denny’s shoes are hard to fill, and Jacob is learning to fill them with grace and grit.

Edro Specialty Steels (Conshohocken, Pennsylvania)

Katherine Pistorius, Project Engineer

After graduating from Penn State with a degree in industrial engineering, Katherine joined Edro as an apprentice learning the fundamentals of the specialty steel industry. Her strong ambition for future growth, good work ethic, interest in innovation and determination were evident immediately.

During her three years with the company, Katherine has shown outstanding leadership potential, excellent communication skills and the ability to apply herself to various tasks and projects focused on mold steel production, internal manufacturing processes and distribution activities.

Katherine is currently working in a project engineer role, tasked with leading several key lean projects on improvement and waste reduction. She completed her Six Sigma Green Belt qualification.

X-Cell Tool and Mold (Fairview, Pennsylvania)

Rob McMaster, Process Engineer

Rob is a graduate of the Penn State University Plastics Program and earned the RJG master molder 1 and 2 titles. He interned at X-Cell in 2020 before starting full-time upon his graduation. Rob took advantage of a unique opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of mold sampling and validation for newly constructed plastic injection molds, preparing him to be very successful and a major contributor to the future of the plastics industry.

X-Cell builds multi-cavity, high-precision molds with complex actions for the medical device, consumer product, electronic and automotive sectors. X-Cell also samples its molds before shipping. This work exposes Rob to different engineering and commodity resins and additives like foaming, slip and nucleating agents and colors (pellet and liquid). He has also learned about mold designs that include actions and functions such as slides, lifters, hydraulic core pull, collapsible cores, unscrewing tools, servo actions, two-shot, in-mold closing and hot runners (hot tip, valve gate and sequential valve gate).

Currently, Rob performs scientific injection molding to establish centerline processes and runs design of experiments (DoEs) and validation protocols based on customer needs. Rob uses injection molding technologies such as Roctool induction mold heating, iMFLUX process, Mold Vac vacuum systems and sequential valve gate systems during product development and prototyping. Rob also contributes in the production area when he is not sampling new molds. Rob’s ability to sample any tool design with any material has made him a true asset to the X-Cell team.

Rob also reaches out to the local community by working with the Penn State New Kensington COMETS STEM Program for middle school students to get exposure to industry and manufacturing. COMETS supports and guides middle school students, mostly young girls, to develop impressions of their abilities in science, engineering, math and technology. This program is a fun and exciting way for students to discover the career pathways available to them in these fields and promote diversity in STEM-related fields, education and careers.

Innovation Mold & Design (Germantown, Wisconsin)

Hannah Lautenschlaeger, Tool & Die Apprentice

Hannah is a student in a tool and die program at a local technical college and previously worked onsite at Innovation Mold & Design, mounting electrodes on a sinker EDM. She mentioned that her goal was to become a tool and die maker in the plastic injection mold building trade.

The team quickly noticed she was mechanically inclined, excelling with time management and eager to learn the trade. She then accepted the opportunity to enter the tool and die maker apprenticeship program in the wire EDM department at Innovation Mold & Design. Today, Hannah has transitioned into the full moldmaker apprenticeship program.

Hannah is a pleasure to work with and a true asset to the team. Her positive attitude, attention to detail and ambition for continuous improvement are perfect for the company’s environment, culture and colleagues. Hannah has a great future at Innovation Mold & Design, and the team feels blessed to have her as part of the company.

MGS Mfg. Group (Germantown, Wisconsin)

Jake Wade, Toolmaker

Jake has been a member of the MGS family since 2012. He was the first employee to participate in the “School to Work” program. Jake would come to work right from school every afternoon and work in the electrode and wire departments, where he maintained electrodes and cleaned wired components.

During the summer after he graduated from high school, Jake learned how to run the electrode-cutting cell and obtained some experience in the hard-cutting cell. During his first year in tech school, Jake worked at MGS at night, doing setups and running the electrode and hard-cutting cells. In his second year of tech school, he worked with toolmakers on the drill press and basic components on the Bridgeport machine. During that time, Jake took the initiative to find ways to improve his skills.

Jake began his tool & die apprenticeship under the lead toolmaker’s mentorship in 2016. During his apprenticeship, he and his mentor worked on several complex tools, and Jake always portrayed a positive attitude. He completed his apprenticeship earning the journeyman toolmaker title in 2019. Since then, he has led and built many complex tools, from rotating cube molds to two-shot indexing molds.

Today, Jake continues to find ways to better himself and his craft as a toolmaker. He is a team player driven to positively impact his colleagues and customers, and the overall industry. Jake is an important influence and role model for training new, young talent for the company. He is a big part of MGS, and he continues to grow and be a leader in the tooling industry.

University of Massachusetts Lowell, Plastics Engineering Department (Lowell, Massachusetts)

Michael Shone, Teaching Assistant, Ph.D. Candidate

Currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Plastics Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Michael has been providing invaluable contributions to undergraduate plastics engineering students' training and education in the area of moldmaking and engineering as a teaching assistant for plastics mold engineering.

Since taking the class as an undergraduate in 2014, Michael has helped faculty members by supporting the class with great passion and enthusiasm. In 2015 and 2016, he was an undergraduate teaching assistant, helping students with their mold designs, generating toolpaths, machining and molding. From 2017 until 2020, Michael stepped up as the lead teaching assistant, taking more responsibility for students’ project success. His expertise, leadership and devotion has helped 200+ students design, build and test their injection molds. Every year, his contributions make possible the realization of 8-10 injection molds from undergraduate students in just three months.

Through the years, Michael has mastered part/mold design, simulation, CAM, machining, polishing, assembly and molding. He has also created video tutorials to assist students with difficult concepts like CNC programming. Michael was awarded the Henry Thomas Design Excellence Award in 2016, Outstanding Teaching Assistant in 2018, and Russell Ehlers Processing Excellence Award in 2019.

Michael has also done extensive research on powder injection molding for an industrial sponsor as part of his Ph.D. work, which has resulted in the design and production of multiple research molds. While his research is still in progress, he presented his injection molding simulation work at the 2019 Moldflow Summit and the 2020 Connect conference, as well as his powder injection molding rheology work at the ANTEC 2018 and PPS 2018 conferences.

Tri-Par Die and Mold Corp. (South Elgin, Illinois)

Adem Talic, Apprentice Moldmaker

Adem found his passion in the world of manufacturing when he started producing zinc components on an A2 press machine. Although he liked this work, he quickly realized the importance of expanding his knowledge and skills if he wanted to excel and grow in machining. Because of this, he joined the Technology and Manufacturing Association (TMA, Schaumburg, Illinois) training program at his own expense. This training introduced Adem to the world of plastics and moldmaking.

He joined a mold shop apprenticeship program and quickly discovered that he wanted to learn more. After staying on for a year, he was given the opportunity to join Tri-Par Die and Mold’s program. Adem joined Tri-Par Die and Mold two years ago.

He has been an enthusiastic member of the moldmaking team with a can-do attitude. He has an eye for detail and continues to build up his skills. He enjoys the hands-on work of creating with a special interest in milling and grinding. Adem is also in the Army Reserves after joining in July 2019. He is well on his way to becoming a lead moldmaker.

M.R. Mold & Engineering (Brea, California)

Valeria Magadan, Technical Center Manager

Valeria came to M.R. Mold as a press operator but has become so much more in a short amount of time. She shows great potential for becoming an effective leader by always leading by example. She always lends a hand to her coworkers, looks for ways to gain more experience and expand her knowledge base, and takes on challenges beyond her original job description.

Valeria is a valuable asset in the testing center. She uses a variety of inspection equipment for checking molded product, developed procedures for parts handling and removal during production molding and participate in mold installations and removals. She also disassembles, cleans and reassembles cold runner systems, which has given her a better understanding of injection-mold construction.

Valeria seeks more responsibilities. Her ultimate goal is to learn processing. She is intrigued by moldmaking and sees the challenges of generating molding processes and preparing molds to be production-ready. Her strong work ethic, attention to detail and willingness to work with others make her a positive addition to the company.