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Engineering Week Spotlight: Aaron Bridge

Aaron Bridge has always considered himself a DIY-er. His interests led him to study mechanical engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Aaron Bridge has always considered himself a DIY-er. From shop class and drafting courses in high school to fabricating at home, he has always had a niche for building. Aaron's interests led him to study mechanical engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

As a project engineer at our Koch Fertilizer Beatrice, Nebraska plant, Aaron saw an opportunity to apply some of his skills and interests to “add more value to the business” by bringing some outsourced tasks in-house.  

“I enjoy CAD and modeling,” Aaron says. “We have the software to work with point clouds in house. In most cases, it’s faster and more economical to bring small design work in house. It also fosters strong relationships with our original equipment manufacturers by streamlining dialogue and collaboration.”

Aaron designs small parts for jobs and sends them out locally for fabrication. For large jobs and capital projects, he works with the manufacturers directly and evaluates their designs for fit and installation. He says through laser scanning technology, he’s been able to demonstrate his comparative advantage.

“Koch encourages employees to find their comparative advantage,” Aaron says. “It creates a fulfilling role and adds much more value to the business. I DIY outside of work, so I can’t help but have a similar thought process at work. I think it creates tremendous value and develops more capability at our plant.”

Aaron’s advice to students interested in an engineering career is to “be the person who delivers results.” He says also recommends networking with people in different engineering fields and learning how you can work together.

“Collaboration is a huge part of engineering,” he says.