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On Wednesday, September 30, 2020
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Q&As with Jeff Machcinski
Jeff, you've worked at AHT since 1995 and have held multiple roles over the years. Can you name some of those for us?
I’ve been a Maintenance Tech, Facilities Manager, Operations Manager, Plant Manager, VP of Engineering, Heat Treat Tech… I think I’ve done almost everything here except work in the lab.
How did you end up working at AHT?
My ex-father-in-law’s company, Echo Associates, was building our Monroe, Michigan AHT in 1994/1995. One day, he was talking with AHT’s CEO Gary Sharp and Gary asked if he knew any maintenance guys. My ex-father-in-law told me about Gary’s inquiry, so I came in and filled out an application and interviewed with Gary.
I was intrigued and a little overwhelmed as this (heat treat) was something that I had never seen or heard of before. I was actually shocked that Gary hired me. I felt under-qualified compared to the rest of the candidates, to be completely honest. Just a few years ago, I asked Gary why he choose me out of the others, he said “there was just something about you”. Lucky me!!
You’ve been at AHT for 25+ years. Why do you continue to stay?
I genuinely love what I do, it is my passion. I am techy by nature and love to figure out solutions to complex problems or do things that no one’s ever done before. I am able to use creativity and put out ideas that are fun, complex, and benefit AHT as well. I feel that this company genuinely cares about its employees, I am not just an employee number ###.
I think Sir Richard Branson said it best, “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don’t want to”. I think this is why you have such longevity with the people here at AHT. About half of us have been here for 10+ years - that’s not an accident.
RELATED: View all the employees that have been at AHT for 15 years or more.
Tell us about a few of the most interesting projects you’ve worked on over the years.
Early on, Gary mentioned he wanted a portable nitrider he could take to tradeshows, so secretly I began building one to show Gary that it could be done – the first of its kind. That portable nitrider is still used today. That project was extremely exciting and fun to do. It really will nitride parts off a household 110 volts.
Some other cool projects include:
- A 35,000-lb drive gear component for the military
- A 37-foot long tie bar for a large horizontal die casting mold press
- Designing and building our own control platform and Ion units. This was challenging and we have made leaps and bounds with power supply design, controls and vessel unit designs.
RELATED: View our size capabilities by clicking here.
When you’re not working, how do you like to spend your free time?
I enjoy riding my Harley. I like watching Ohio State University (OSU) play football, Redwing Hockey as well. Live music from local area musicians. Attending local festivals that are held. I love science and tech stuff, so I am always watching documentaries or reading.
You’ve been working on a project involving UltraOx® lately. Tell us what makes UltraOx® a great heat treatment?
I believe our product is far superior than any others out there. Part of the reason being is we produce a very specific form of oxide to resist corrosion. This in itself is a good product and is even better when coupled with our special RP addition to the parts after processing. Our state-of-the-art equipment allows us to control this process very closely so that it’s repeatable each and every time.
RELATED: View the video created as part of this project by clicking here or the "Play Video" image.
What is one thing people may not know about you?
In my youth, 7 through 17 ish, I took keyboard lessons. I was teaching my teachers and advanced quickly to professional teachers. When I was 16, I had an opportunity to play on a cruise ship line during the summer while out of high school, which I decided against doing. I also use to write my own music as well. I stopped playing/writing years ago.
What is one thing our customers may not know about AHT?
AHT has a vast resource of equipment sizes, knowledge and processes. I think we are the best out there in these fields. We have a few of the largest Ion units in North America down to some rather small ones for special projects. We can consult on projects and aid in failure resolution with our metallurgical teams we have.
REQUEST A QUOTE/CONSULTATION.
Now, a series of quick random questions:
First Job: Stock boy
Favorite Food: Pizza or pasta- it’s a toss up
Least Favorite Food: Anything seafood
Favorite Sport: College football
Favorite Team: OSU
Favorite Movie: Any oo7 movies
Favorite Concert: Def Leppard
Favorite Vacation: Key West
Hobbies: Anything techy/science, riding my Harley
Have a question for Jeff? Call him at 734-243-0063.
- meet monroe
- meet the team