REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION
May 15, 2023
Special Report by Jordan Vitick
Adam Arruda, 35
Plant Engineer
Teknor Apex Co.
Adam Arruda joined Yushin America Inc. in 2009 as a mechanical engineer designing automation equipment for molding and thermoforming machines.
He started working for Teknor Apex Co. in 2011 as a mechanical engineer in the corporate engineering department, where he was responsible for new equipment installations and upgrades in company facilities around the world. Arruda then became the plant engineer for the materials firm’s Leominster, Mass., plant in 2016 and then the plant engineer for the Pawtucket, R.I., facility in 2020.
“As plant engineer for Teknor Apex, I am actively involved in the manufacturing of plastics compounds. I’m also on our company’s Operation Clean Sweep team, which aims to eliminate powders, pellets and flakes that escape the facility, and I am part of the selection team for our company’s Innovation Campaigns,” he added.
“I get to work with all different machines, processes and people. I never feel like I’m doing the same thing day after day, and that keeps me interested,” he added.
Arruda graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA. “I think my greatest achievement was getting my MBA. It opened a world of possibilities for my career, and I’m happy to say I did it while working full time, balancing my personal and professional life,” he said.
Arruda said his current challenge is managing a project to install a new compounding line while simultaneously maintaining existing equipment.
“Ultimately,” he said, “I would like to become a vice president, but my immediate goal is to become a plant manager.”
Reprinted with permission from Plastics News. © 2023 Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
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