About the company:
For 38 years, Acrotech Inc has served over 13,000 customers, casting K•Prene urethane products for a wide and diverse client market. They specialize in working with pre-polymers that have high performance properties and can produce products as hard as a bowling ball and as soft as an erasure.
It’s been the vast variety of industrial clientele that’s helped this small manufacturer in Lake City keep busy during the pandemic, enough so that they still brought on an intern to help them this past summer.
About the intern:
Austin O’Flaherty is a mechanical engineering major at Minnesota State University Mankato. This was O’Flaherty’s third year interning with Acrotech through the SciTech Program. “From my first year here, I’ve liked all the people in the office and I’ve enjoyed the variety of projects that they give me,” O’Flaherty said. “Whether it’s a design project or some of the more tedious organizational projects, it keeps me on my toes.”
One of the highlights of his internship this summer, he said, was getting hands-on access to the mold designs. From brainstorming a complicated part, to designing the mold on the computer, to seeing it physically printed, O’Flaherty was part of every step of the manufacturing process.
“Austin is easy to work with,” said Joe White, the Plant Manager at Acrotech. “I appreciate the fact that I can give him something and I’m very confident that it will get done correctly. I feel that he’s comfortable enough that if he does have issues, he’ll bring them to my attention. He also has a great demeanor and works well with everyone on the plant floor. He’s a great team member.”
Reflecting on his past experiences, O’Flaherty said, “I think coming to Acrotech and working at a small company really helped me. The variety of projects is way more than what I would get at a bigger company and I like being able to work closer with everybody and know everybody. I value the experience more than they probably know.”
Get involved
Make an impact on a future STEM professional’s life and strengthen your talent pipeline. Start planning your internship today at scitechmn.org. At least 200 wage matches are available on a first come, first hire basis between now and August 2021.
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