Brandon Schafer, 29
Mold Designer
Franchino Mold (Lansing, Michigan)

Brandon was hired at Franchino Mold in 2012 while attending the Manufacturing Engineering Technology/Design Associates program at Lansing Community College. He continued his studies while working full-time and completed the program in 2013. Brandon quickly took his school learning and applied it to his daily work and took the initiative to ask questions and learn the entire process of mold building beyond the scope of design. In addition to embracing knowledge beyond his job title, Brandon is always eager to help future designers and toolmakers and regularly volunteers to speak about the design process to students on tours from local-area talent centers. He took a leadership position to help his fellow designers with program-specific support and with computer support. Most recently, Brandon was asked to contribute to an in-house committee tasked with shaping the way that the design department uses and shares files within a network to reduce redundancy and increase uptime. Brandon regularly works overtime to meet customer expectations, possesses an excellent attendance record and refuses to shy away from a tough project. In short, Brandon finds a way to get things done and does it while creating productive working relationships with co-workers and customers.

Steven Kronenberger, 25
Associate Mold Designer
Wepco Plastics (Middlefield, Connecticut)

Steven joined Wepco Plastics (Wepco) one year ago without injection molding experience but with a strong product design background, which enables Wepco to offer customers product development and design work. He currently designs 90 percent of the molds that come through the shop, designs all the electrodes for new molds and assembles the projects for the moldmakers. He essentially manages each mold project by tracking the time from design to completion. Since he has become a part of the team, Steven has worked very closely with the moldmakers and toolroom workers to understand the company’s capabilities and goals better. Steven has quickly become an integral part of the team. In the future, he will be learning programing, machine setup, grinding and many other skills. He also serves as part of the communication chain as products move from a design to a tangible part. He provides a means for moldmakers and customers to interact and to understand each other’s needs better, which strengthens customer relationships and improves the end product. Steven’s can-do attitude and ability to learn and adapt quickly earns him a very bright future at Wepco.

Brian Goda, 28
Mold Design Engineer
Aptiv (Warren, Ohio)

Brian is a results-driven engineer who has been in the injection molding industry for five years. He is a graduate of the plastics engineering technology program at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College and started at Aptiv (formerly Delphi) in 2017 as a mold design engineer. Brian also was a member of the Army National Guard where he served in the A-BTRY 107th as a field artillery tactical datum systems specialist for six years. He was honorably discharged from the military in 2015 with the rank of E-5 (sergeant) and was the leader of his squad.

Brian has a successful track record in new tooling project management (both domestic and international) and overall program management. His process-engineering and program-management experience exposed him to thermoplastic and thermoset applications in the medical, automotive and consumer products industries. This experience affords him a broad perspective and a unique skillset for becoming a top tool designer. Brian takes an interest in new technologies and is always seeking to learn and implement new information into his daily and long-term goals. He is hungry to learn, and his attention to detail is evident in his work. He is always willing to go above and beyond to complete a task.

Rebecca Kluever, 21
Design Engineer
Mantz Automation (Hartford, Wisconsin)

Rebecca is exactly what the tool and die industry needs. As a high school senior, she already had all the technical education classes under her belt, solidified her welding skills and held a part-time job at a local metal fabricator running a brake press. Rebecca also wanted to become an engineer, so she took some college courses. At Mantz Automation (Mantz), she did mold teardowns for maintenance and repair for a few months. She also worked with toolmakers to pound out inserts, ground pins and make slide components before moving to the CNC department to set up blocks and run programs. Next came EDM, polishing and sampling. Rebecca now has a solid overview of what it takes to make a mold. It was then on to design, where her natural enthusiasm took over. Although there were struggles, Rebecca stuck with it, and today she is a solid member of the design department, designing her molds and taking a leadership role in the department helping others. She gained friends and respect. The effort Rebecca put forth and the questions she asked proved that she was serious about learning the trade. Rebecca also works with Mantz high-school and tech-school recruitment, encouraging women to enter the trades and giving shop tours to parents. Her speaking skills and enthusiastic personality maker her a perfect fit for this role.

A1 Tool Corp. (Melrose Park, Illinois)

Gregory Zaucha, 27
Design Engineer 

Gregory attended East Leyden High School and worked summers at A1 Tool Corp. (A1 Tool). He then went on to Triton College and later to the University of Illinois–Chicago for engineering. He worked as he earned his degree in 2015, and then he became a design engineer at A1 Tool. Gregory has worked on the design, mechanics and implementation of multiple organizational improvements at the company. He has not been able to implement all his leadership efforts yet, but there are many more to come as he continues working in the design engineering department, improving mold designs and complex mold-action capabilities.

Both the industry and his peers have recognized Gregory for his efforts. He won the TMA High School Student Award and the American Mold Builders Association Apprentice of the Year Award. He won second place in the University of Illinois–Chicago Senior Design Project to improve manufacturing processes at Magenta LLC, and A1 Tool awarded him the “Employee of the Year” title.

Rafal Kras, 26
Design Engineer

Rafal started working part-time at A1 Tool Corp. (A1 Tool) while attending Triton College full-time. He then transferred to the University of Illinois–Chicago for engineering, where he went to school full-time and worked part-time until he earned his degree. Rafal has been working as a design engineer since 2015. During his tenure at A1 Tool, he has worked on the design, mechanics and implementation of multiple organizational improvements.

Rafal won second place in the University of Illinois–Chicago Senior Design Project to improve manufacturing processes at Magenta LLC, and in January 2018 he decided to continue his education by attending graduate school at University of Illinois–Chicago.