nathan durham

In a special Heat Treat Radio series, 40 Under 40 winners from the class of 2020 respond with their stories and insights of their life and work in the heat treat industry. This episode features the stories of Luke Wright, Nathan Durham, and Alberto Cantú.

This episode in the series also features an update from a past alum; in this episode, Kyle Hummel of Contour Hardening  shares his journey over the last several years and how he has grown as a person in heat treat.

Below, you can listen to the podcast by clicking on the audio play button and read a few excerpts from this episode.

Luke Wright

“So, we had a void in the heat treating department. We had three new hires — 2 others including myself at the time. They kind of shuffled us around: one went to assembly and I got put in heat treat with one of the others. They figured heat treat was difficult enough for two green engineers. I kind of picked it up as I went along.”

“I guess that’s kinda what I really like — sort of this black box science that everyone wants to talk about, and there’s so many things we have to just say, Well, I’m not really sure. We turn this knob and it tends to work better that way. But then, there’s also really detailed science and theory that kind of guides you and that gut feel, twist-that-knob practical application.”

“Something that I’ve been trying to do more lately in my job is to explain more about what I’m doing, what’s going on with the others around me — maintenance workers, furnace operators, or supervisors — instead of just keeping to myself or pushing them out of the way to just do the thing myself if they don’t understand: Doing a little more to work alongside people.”

Nathan Durham

“As we near the end of 2020 and reflect on the many, many challenges that arose, I’m truly motivated by the diversity and resilience of our industry[…] We’ll persevere through this pandemic, and push forward into 2021.”

“During my tenure at Ipsen, I’ve realized how important it is to always remain flexible within a career and adapt to what your company and what your customer are asking you.”

“Thank you again, as I’m truly humbled to be a part, and associated with, such great company, and the future of our industry.”

Alberto Cantú

“I started as an R&D manager. I had completed a PhD on the computation of fluid dynamics and used these tools to design new furnaces. But lately, I’ve been more involved in sales and business development.”

“On the one hand, the computation of power has been increasing — I’m going to say since the birth of computers, but lately more and more — but then the internet and the whole internet of things and Industry 4.0 coming together… You can do a lot of things with both the calculations and the ability to have the information in real time. I think many of these operating procedures that were mainly based on ‘rules of thumb’ and heuristics will change[…] to be based on machine learning…”

“I would suggest [for young heat treaters] to get involved in tradeshows, subscribe to newsletters, make sure you read all the news in the magazines available and in companies so that you get up-to-date in all things happening in the industry because, as I said, it’s vey exciting and I see a bright future.”

Kyle Hummel

“Professionally, I’ve been honored to accept a promotion and am now responsible for overseeing our operations. And on top of that, I’m currently studying for my very last finals to get my MBA in which I’ll graduate May.”

“The heat treatment industry is such a broad field of processes and technologies that anyone can get really excited about. I also think that heat treating can offer the perfect balance of hands-on work experience as well as quality and process improvement that can keep you engaged for years as you continue to grow your career.”

“I’m personally excited to see how the heat treat industry adapts to the next five years as electric vehicles sales continue to rise in the US. I believe this will be an opportunity for heat treaters to start thinking about  how to broaden their service offerings and expanding into other industries as well.”

To find other Heat Treat Radio episodes, go to www.heattreattoday.com/radio so see all of the episodes.