In his own words: Luke Aaron, Electrical Project Manager, Onex Inc
What or who fueled your interest in manufacturing?
My interest in manufacturing was first fueled in college by one of my professors who taught a PLC & Control Systems course. The professor often taught outside of the curriculum, telling stories about his 20+ years of experience in manufacturing. Those real-world lessons always gripped my attention in a way the white board never could.
What is your current role in manufacturing?
As Electrical Project Manager, my role is both design and implementation of hardware and software of industrial furnaces. This includes the design of electrical schematics, hardware selection, control system and operator interface programming, as well as project installation and commissioning. I am involved in each project from start to finish.
Describe your path to get to where you are today.
My career first began at Onex inc. with an internship during my senior year of college. I was lucky enough to not only get an internship, but to get one in manufacturing. At the time, I wasn’t quite sure what industry of manufacturing I was interested in. However, working at Onex gave me a first-hand look into the world of metals manufacturing, particularly steel. I have been in the metals manufacturing industry ever since.
What is your Superpower?
One trait I have always noticed I excel at is my ability to stay organized. I am the type of person that has a place for everything I own and needs to write everything down. I always considered this to be my greatest strength, because in manufacturing, specifically engineering design, precision is key. If you skip, forget, or miscalculate, it can result in the failure of a project, or even the physical injury of others. Measure twice cut once is a good rule to live by.
Why is your role important to others – like to customers or end users?
The importance of my role is tying everything together. Projects rarely ever start with electrical. Mechanical engineering is usually the primary design to meet the requests of the customer. It is my job to take what the mechanical team builds and make it “run”. Some things simply require electricity to operate, while others require sequencing and computing. I like to consider electrical as the nervous system of the project.
What do you think the future holds for your career or others you inspire?
Lots of learning. In my career there is endless opportunity. There will never come a day where I have seen, read, or designed it all. Even if I were to come close, technology would evolve and there would be yet again more to learn. I have worked with many brilliant and experienced people over the years, and I’ve had the chance to see all of them come across something they did not know.
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