Rebekka Neumann Age: 19 EMAG LLC
Farmington Hills, MI UNDER THIRTY H
ands-on from an early age, Rebekka Neu- mann liked to take things apart and rebuild them. But it wasn’t until she joined her high school’s FIRST (For Inspiration and Recogni-
tion of Science and Technology) 862 Lightning Robotics team that she really knew she’d make a career in the manufacturing field.
Neumann, who just turned 19, is now working as a mechatronics technical apprentice for EMAG LLC (Farmington Hills, MI, and Salach, Germany), a builder of machine tools for cutting and grinding gears and other com- ponents, while going to school
A 2013 Plymouth Salem High graduate, Neu-
“Young adults such as Rebekka are the future of our industry and
at Henry Ford Community College (Dearborn, MI). She’s in the first class of the new Michigan Advanced Technical Training program where students study technical programs while working at a sponsoring company like EMAG. “Young adults such as Rebekka are the future of our industry and prove that there is a place for highly skilled talent in manufacturing,” said Kristal Kilgore, marketing manager, EMAG LLC, in her nomination of Neumann. “Foregoing a traditional four-year university, she is participating in a joint educational-working pro- gram that allows her to gain both college credits and industry experience. In three years she will graduate with an advanced associate’s degree and with real- world working experience.”
Already proficient in AutoCAD, as well as fluent in German and conversational in Spanish, Neumann is still eager to learn as much as she can about how machines work, and how to build and repair them, noted Kilgore. “Rebekka is worthy of this nomination because young adults like her are essential to filling the growing skills gap in manufacturing,” Kilgore added.
prove that there is a place for highly skilled talent in manufacturing,”
mann’s team won the FIRST Robotics district cham- pionship in her senior year. A good student in math, Neumann found that the robotics competitions stirred her interest in manufacturing. “I always liked draw- ing and I would always take things apart, things like pens, and I was interested in mechanical things. On the FIRST robotics team, you build a robot to com- pete in a different game each year, like shooting Fris- bees in a goal,” she said. “It’s a wonderful program because they don’t focus on winning— it’s more about the teamwork.” In high school, Neumann
took a class to learn AutoCAD and also became profi- cient using the Autodesk Inventor design program. Her father works as an engineer in automotive, designing lighting products for Hella Electronics. A native of Her- zebrock, Germany, Neumann moved with her family to Michigan in 2006. “My dad’s an engineer and I’ve always been lean- ing toward that,” Neumann said. “I only joined the robotics team in my senior year because I didn’t know about it before that. Once I did, that really changed everything.”
Her hands-on work also includes pitching in with working on home remodeling projects for her family’s business. She and her younger brother have worked with her parents on refurbishing homes, doing work including carpentry, electrical, and plumbing. For the future, Neumann’s working toward estab- lishing herself in a technical career, learning mecha- tronics at EMAG and attending classes at Henry Ford. “I definitely want to stay in manufacturing and I really like working at EMAG. But I want to own my own com- pany someday.” ME
July 2014 |
ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 125
THIRTY UNDER THIRTY PROFILES
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208