Spotlight on 40 Under 40 Alumni

Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 was created to bring recognition to young professionals in the industry, giving names, faces, and words to the rising generation of industry professionals. In this original content article, released on the final day to nominate someone to Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2022, we caught up with exemplary classmates from past years to hear where they are now and what comments they have about the industry.

Justin Powell

It has been 15 years since, "at the age of 19, I started working for a company that serviced high temperature furnaces and industrial combustion systems. I cut my teeth in the industry by doing burner retrofits and turnkey system installations."

Since being nominated to receive Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 award, Justin says he has "started a company called MP Combustion with my very good friend, Ryan McClain. We literally started the company working out of our basements in 2019 and with the support of this wonderful industry have since grown to a team of six with hopes to expand to more employees soon. Our team works hard to support the heat treat community by supplying the best combustion equipment and technical support in the industry." Justin notes that starting MP Combustion is "easily the highlight of my career so far."

When asked what his favorite thing about the industry is, he commented, "The never-ending learning curve. I love to learn, and this industry has a seemingly endless supply of new skills to learn and hone. I also have a great admiration for the people in this industry, they are always willing to help teach and learn from one another. It's an amazing community to be a part of!"

As a final word of advice for the winners being selected to Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2022 this summer, Justin encourages them, saying, "My friends, this is only the beginning. I wish you all great success throughout your career and hope that our paths meet along the way!"

Read more about Justin here.

Jaime Sanchez

Jaime got involved in the world of heat treat seven years ago, seeking "a job opportunity in Engineering and Project Management and in automotive, power generator, or automation." Since receiving the award, Jaime has "received a promotion from Engineering Manager to Operations Manager in MATTSA FURNACE COMPANY, expanding my area of responsibilities to equipment manufacturing without [fully] leaving engineering and project management."

His aptitude to pivot is evident in what he finds most exciting about heat treating: "Every day is a new challenge for me, from receiving and managing new projects to helping our clients to solve issues or coordinate the activities of MATTSA plant with all the personnel involved. All these activities and the way I solve them make me excited every day when I arrive at my workplace."

"Receiving this nomination is an honor," Jaime shares, "it is a way of showing the world the talent you have, in addition to showing that being young is not synonymous with being inexperienced, but that our generation can do great things with a lot of dedication and effort. Never stop fighting for what you want and show that your talent is world class."

Read more about Jaime here.

Miguel Humberto Fajardo

For Miguel, it has been six years of service in the heat treat industry. "I started in 2016," he commented, "with an internship program, in the John Deere materials laboratory. I had the opportunity to collaborate in the development of suppliers, certify the quality and mechanical properties of treated parts, participate in the design of new heat treat recipes and the introduction of new processes. Those were the first steps in the world of heat treat. After the internship and thanks to that experience, I was hired as the engineer in charge of John Deere's heat treatment lines."

Over the past few years since nomination, Miguel notes that his role in heat treatment "has changed a lot. My position evolved to a Sr. level with more responsibilities and challenges, including renewing the technology of our lines, implementing improvements to make processes more efficient and achieving cost and expense reductions. I was awarded trade secrets for these upgrades." He continues, saying, "I am currently working on fully exploiting the capacity of our equipment, focusing on cost reductions, reducing gas consumption, and improving emissions."

It's the science paired with experimentation in heat treat that continues to interest Miguel: "What I like the most is that it is a true science, it requires a lot of experimentation and generating hypotheses. My colleagues tell me that they are like occult arts or magic, since two parts that look the same can be completely different inside."

To the upcoming 40 Under 40 Class of 2022, Miguel offers a challenge: "Although the literature on HT is many years old, there is always an opportunity to innovate and create different things and different ways of doing things. Experiment and ask yourself many things. and this will become more than a job, a different experience day by day. Very challenging and fun."

Read more about Miguel here.