ESCO Engages
Page Content Welcome to the ESCO Engages blog, a Weir Group publication! At Weir our people take pride in making a
difference around the world and in their communities. Our ESCO Engages blog will feature the unique perspectives of our employees who are passionate
about education, service and leadership.
Philanthropy is a Unifying Thread in the Weir ESCO Culture
January 19, 2021
Hear how Weir ESCO employees continued to keep the community spirit alive and well throughout 2020, despite pandemic challenges. Multiple generations of employees have lovingly nurtured this tradition of community giving through volunteerism, serving on nonprofit boards and giving of their own treasures, explains Steve Schad, philanthropy lead for Weir ESCO.
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Annual Engineering Challenge Becomes Fun Family Event During Pandemic
January 6, 2021
With in-person teamwork generally off limits due to the pandemic, organizers of the Weir ESCO 2020 Engineering Challenge had to get extra creative to ensure the tradition continued into its 17th year. Undeterred, they created the first-ever “home edition” of the Engineering Challenge, encouraging employees to involve their families in the fun.
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A Career Journey: From Young Engineer to Appreciative Leader
December 15, 2020
When we opened our state-of-the-art foundry in Xuzhou, China, a young engineer named Zhizhou Mu was one of the first employees on board. Mu has sought out and participated in many professional development opportunities around the globe to further advance his leadership and team-building skills.
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How Early Education in Computer Science Can Inspire Meaningful STEM Careers
December 1, 2020
Next
Monday, December 7, begins Computer Science Education Week (#CSEdWeek). This prompted us to think about how a passion for computers sparked in childhood might still be inspiring Weir ESCO employees in their work or hobbies. Meet two Portland, Ore., colleagues who caught the computer bug early.
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Weir ESCO Awards Two Oregon State Students Engineering Scholarships
Kevin Stangeland | November 17, 2020
In support of our partnership with OSU this year, Weir ESCO funded a scholarship program for engineering students.The first recipients of the Weir ESCO scholarships are two impressive mechanical engineering undergraduates.
Disruption Drives Innovation with new KiruWear App
Juan Arevalo | November 3, 2020
The KiruWear app was born from the voice of the customer. Meet Juan Arevalo, who began developing the KiruWear app before
COVID-19 hit in response to customers asking for a more direct way for shovel
operators to detect and address wear issues they observe during equipment
inspections.
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Five Lessons on Weir ESCO's Inclusion & Diversity Journey
Tracey Marsh | October 20, 2020
In recognition of Global Diversity Awareness Month, our Vice President, Human Resources, Tracey Marsh, offers insights and lessons learned along our journey to become more inclusive and diverse, where every employee feels they belong.
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Supply Chain Lessons Learned During a Pandemic
Mike Funke | October 6, 2020
Though supply chain disruptions are not uncommon, the uncertain and far-reaching implications of the pandemic quickly drove home the important business advantages of our integrated and digital capabilities.
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Weir ESCO Salutes Essential Workers for National Manufacturing Day 2020
October 2, 2020
Today we celebrate #MFGDay 2020 and celebrate the Weir
ESCO employees who are part of the critical infrastructure workforce and who
manufacture products for construction, mining and the production of critical
minerals and materials worldwide.
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Weir ESCO Partners with Portland State to Launch New Master's Degree Program in Applied Data Science for Business
September 22, 2020
This fall, five of
our colleagues will be among the inaugural cohort of Portland State
University’s (PSU) new master’s degree program in applied data science for
business.
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Future Engineer Gets Hands-on Experience at Weir ESCO
Erim Hur | September 10, 2020
Local high school student, Erim Hur, is heading into her senior year. She spent her summer interning with Weir ESCO in Portland, Ore. Once set on pursuing a career in the medical field, she says her internship experience changed her future path.
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Weir ESCO Children Experience New Cultures Through ESCO Youth Connect
Jane DeLuca | August 25, 2020
With the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are relying on our internet connection more than ever before. The internet is enabling remote work, online learning, virtual visits with family and friends, food and grocery orders, and much more. This summer, it also provided passage for 45 Weir ESCO children to participate in a unique cultural exchange through the new ESCO Youth Connect program.
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Centenarian Inspires New Generations of Community Philanthropists
August 18, 2020
If you live in Portland, Ore., you’ve probably heard the name Bud Lewis. Bud's "100 laps to 100 years" campaign and community spirit recently moved one of our colleagues to action.
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Insights Into the Paradoxical Partnership
Between Metals and the Low-Carbon Economy
Chris Carpenter | August 11, 2020
With
the continuing expansion of new technologies and the birth of Industry 4.0, metals
have never been more important. Our parent company, The Weir
Group, recently announced an ambitious sustainability
strategy that, in addition to
creating sustainable solutions for our customers, commits to reducing the
company’s carbon footprint 50% by 2030 and to net zero by 2050.
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The Enduring Benefits of Mentoring the Next Generation of STEM Leaders
Steven Hyde | July 30, 2020
As a 17-year Weir ESCO engineer, Steven Hyde has had numerous opportunities to mentor engineering students and young professoinals, and he continues to do so. Learn how he is paying it forward to future STEM leaders through a unique partnership with Saturday Academy.
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Never Stop Learning: A Front-Line Supervisor Shares his Professional Development Journey
Corrie Devereaux | July 14, 2020
When it comes to learning and growth, the sky's the limit, says Corrie Devereaux, manufacturing supervisor at our Port Hope foundry. Over 24 years with Weir ESCO, Corrie has gained valuable experience in just about every job on the shop floor and is honing in on his unique leadership skills as part of a new professional development program within the ESCO division.
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Leaning into Innovation with new Tech and new Talent
Chris Carpenter | March 5, 2020
With talented new team members like Xudan and Jason, and a whole digital group behind them, we have been able enhance our innovative, ground-engaging tools by creating digitally connected products designed to tackle our customers’ most challenging conditions.
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Weir's ESCO Division Committed to Increasing Access, Gender Equity in Oregon's STEM Workforce
Anna Thames | February 19, 2020
In recognition of Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day on February 20, Anna Thames, Vice President of North America Operations, shares an inside perspective on women in STEM at the ESCO division of Weir. Anna addresses the gender workforce gap in engineering and calls on all of us to encourage and engage girls in STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – from a young age. This piece originally appeared in the Portland Business Journal’s print edition in August 2019.
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Oregon State Graduate on the Power of Professional Growth and a Resilient Team
Tuong Hoang | January 22, 2020
With just a few months of experience at Weir, Tuong has leaned into many opportunities to build her skillset and expand her network as a member of Weir ESCO's dredge team. She's even taking her professional experiences outside the company to inspire the next generation of talent.
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A Look Back: Top ESCO Engages Stories in 2019
January 8, 2020
As we usher in the new year, we are looking back at some of the top ESCO Engages stories of 2019. These stories highlight the heart of the work our teams do at the ESCO division of Weir, and emphasize our values as a company and a team. Take a look at which stories most captured readers’ attention in 2019!
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Melody Glasgow | December 11, 2019
When Metallurgist Melody Glasgow began her master's degree program, she never thought her metallurgical engineering background and skills would take her to places like Chile, China, New Zealand, Australi, the U.S. and Eastern Canada for the ESCO division of Weir.
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November 20, 2019
Jessica Schmidt's vision to create an innovative and highly technical, sustainable solution has been easily transferred to her engineering work in New Product Development. Sustainability is at the heart of creating value for our customers, and Jessica's recruitment to Weir was well-timed with our renewed focus on sustainability.
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Steve Irvine | November 7, 2019
The opportunity to mentor someone as driven and talented as Lisa has shown Steve Irvine, director of blades products – and the rest of our team – just how much talent exists in our own backyard and how important it is that we continue to foster relationships with local colleges and universities like PSU.
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October 16, 2019
The opportunities for growth within the ESCO division of Weir are limitless, but our inside sales role stands out for the pathway it provides to a variety of other positions and departments.
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October 10, 2019
Each year on Manufacturing Day, thousands of companies and schools open their doors to students, parents, teachers and community leaders with the goal of featuring the highly skilled careers in modern manufacturing. Go behind-the-scenes at the foundries in Newton, Mississippi, and Portland, Oregon.
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Matthew Horn | September 18, 2019
Eric Estrada is no longer a hopeful 20-year-old applicant outside the red and white walls of Plant 3. Today, he is one of our strongest team leaders and is approaching his 8th anniversary with the company, all the while working to earn his bachelor’s degree in applied management.
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Yesenia Meraz-Torres and Mark Beatley | September 12, 2019
The
end of summer is bittersweet on our Portland campus as we await the return of
drizzly days and say farewell to our bright summer interns. This year, Weir
Portland hosted seven talented young men and women in engineering, data
science, advanced technology, supply chain and information technology.
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Misty Rogers | August 7, 2019
While you may never have met Stephanie Poppe, if you work in one of our remote
offices you’ve almost certainly been touched by her role in the Weir ESCO
Women’s Network-North America (WEWN-NA), where Stephanie and Misty Rogers share the
responsibility for involving WEWN-NA members from our remote sites.
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Ermanno Simonutti | July 25, 2019
Weir employees showed their steadfast commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) during a recent event in Portland, Oregon, led by Lillian Tsai, President of Tsai Communications and renowned leader on these important topics.
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Rachel Hanks | July 10, 2019
In a small New
Mexico town tucked away in the Four Corners of the United States with a vibrant
Navajo community lies a little known, five-person branch of Weir ESCO that
quietly performs a task as unique as their location: keeping the mines of our
customers running.
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June 26, 2019
This year’s leadership development conference was held in Stirling, Scotland, and included 21 rising stars from across the globe. Hear about the unique experience from Weir ESCO's Alyssa Potratz of Portland, Oregon, and Mateus Ribeiro of Betim, Brazil.
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Eugene Havenga | June 12, 2019
Eugene Havenga was an active member of Baja SAE during his time studying at the University of Pretoria. Now he is on the other side of the table, committed to giving back to the next generation of engineers.
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May 30, 2019
Louis Pridey remembers the sensation he had seeing castings hot off the pouring line and newly made by his own hands. Today he has a few more irons in the fire, in a new role and new team, and shares with us how his skillset has grown exponentially since joining in 2010.
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May 15, 2019
While the day’s activities vary each year, we always try to teach the kids about all aspects of our business and our products—from engineering to sales to manufacturing at Plant 3.
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Amir Ceric | May 1, 2019
Since 1998, Amir Ceric's role has taken him all over the world for Weir ESCO, inspiring a lifetime of paying it forward in his own community.
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Joe Huang | April 17, 2019
Diversity and inclusion are important aspects of a successful work culture that many companies are working to improve. Our colleague, Joe Huang of Xuzhou, China, is proud to be serving on the company's first inclusion and diversity committee.
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Steve Sester | April 3, 2019
When Becky Van Raden joined ESCO’s Dragline Products Group as a design engineer in 1979, she was the first female design engineer hired by the company.
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Heather McGee | March 20, 2019
Tima Peau has grown into his new role as methods technician, showing the personal growth we hope to see in each of our team members.
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Mike Funke | March 14, 2019
Weir has a long history of partnership with Portland State University (PSU), both in the college’s School of Business and its College of Engineering & Computer Science.
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Sun Cho | February 28, 2019
Last October, Sun Cho stepped into a new role with the ESCO division of Weir. She brought with her many valuable words of wisdom from her first experience with the Weir Oil & Gas team: adapt, take risks, learn and be vocal.
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Dustin Ashford | February 13, 2019
Weir sees the benefit of investing early in its employees, including engineer Dustin Ashford, who is currently serving on a six-month international assignment in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he gets to interact with the region's customers, improve designs and provide products to best serve our customers.
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Abram Hernandez | January 30, 2019
Yesenia
Meraz-Torres, a Senior Design Engineer based in Portland, became the newest
member of the ESCO Women’s Network (EWN) Steering Committee in February 2018 and
has big plans for expanding the EWN’s role to promote workplace diversity and
gender equality.
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Daniel Widlund | January 16, 2019
Our Principal Metallurgist Robin Churchill has over 38 years’ of experience helping to develop new processes and advance metallurgy, both within our team and for the industry.
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2018 Engineering Challenge Committee | January 10, 2019
Each
year, the Engineering Challenge gives our team members an opportunity to
highlight their creative and technical expertise, while bringing together our
teams across the world during the holidays. The addition this year of the new
teams from other Weir locations added to the fun and sense of collective,
collaborative celebration.
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Kat Robinson | December 12, 2018
Even though Allen Robinson retired at the end of 2017, his story continues to inspire his daughter, Kat, and her colleagues at Weir—not only to constantly seek new challenges and opportunities as Allen did, but also to be proud of the company they work for.
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Kevin Stangeland Kevin Stangeland | November 28, 2018
Throughout the semester, three engineers have visited a group of students at West Albany High School. Find out what happened when we gave the students a glimpse at a "day in the life of an engineer."
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Mike Funke and Kristol Cohn | November 14, 2018
On October 27, ESCO, a Weir Group Division, hosted the 43rd Harvest Dinner in coordination with Friendly House, a local nonprofit dedicated to creating a thriving community by connecting people of all ages and backgrounds.
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Chris Grewell | October 31, 2018
Did
you know what you wanted to do when you were 14 or 15 years old? Weir and Beaverton
High School are working to get kids thinking about their futures and the steps
they need to take to reach their goals earlier.
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Steve Sester | October 17, 2018
Rain or shine ESCO employees take on an ambitious project each year
along the Oregon Coast: the annual Boy Scouts of America Build at Camp Clark.
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Clinton Wood | October 3, 2018
It’s uncommon for people to connect mining with innovation or high-tech, but the small part Clinton gets to play in the industry allows him to actively contribute to the full product life cycle every day and be part of the continued success of a world-class brand.
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Eric Blackburn | September 19, 2018
ESCO fired up its casting booth at the annual OMSI Maker Faire held on September 15-16, 2018. While ESCO’s connection to OMSI is deeply rooted in the Swigert family, its legacy will live on and grow as our community and our society continues to focus on STEM education.
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Kat Robinson | September 5, 2018
Not many Portlanders know that Slabtown gets its name from the large quantities of slab wood. We’ve been designing and manufacturing innovative products in the neighborhood since 1913. Join us at the 2018 Slabtown Festival on September 8.
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Daniel Widlund | August 22, 2018
Portland State University students gain major support with their research-based projects in collaboration with the Oregon Metals Initiative. Learn why this type of initiative hits close to home for ESCO's Chief Metallurgist.
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August 8, 2018
Brothers Pha and Phai, and their cousin Hue, all started their careers at ESCO working in operations. Today they work in the Hank Swigert Center for Innovation, but the paths they each took to reach that point and find their passion for innovation and engineering varied.
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July 25, 2018
As one of few current ESCO employees who has worked for Weir in the past, Hamilton has the unique experience of watching his career co me full circle as the two companies become one.
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James Ritzman | July 11, 2018
LEGOs is a perfect medium for learning, because it is intrinsically modular, includes interconnectable parts, and you can easily use existing elements to build prototypes and test hypotheses. An ESCO colleague shows us how he is inspiring the future STEM leaders of tomorrow just as FIRST LEGO League seeks to do.
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by Steven Hyde | June 27, 2018
Oregon will have an estimated 40,000 new job openings per year in STEM-related fields by 2020. When looking at current and future STEM jobs in Oregon, it is ever more important that we continue to support all partnerships between industry and STEM programming like Baja SAE Oregon.
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by Nancy Schmugge | June 12, 2018
I recently joined the Board of Directors
for Camp Fire Columbia, a youth development organization that aims to build caring, confident youth and
future leaders. In serving as a Camp Fire board member, I recognized that a major part of our culture at ESCO is about supporting the communities where we live and work.
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by Beatriz Moraga | June 1, 2018
Beatriz Moraga shares how her days as a student attending Portland State University and ESCO's support to higher education led her to landing a dream job with our company.
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by Dan Kearsley | May 17, 2018
For our annual Take Your Child to Work Day event on April 26, we hosted a
fun, hands-on experience for children of
ESCO employees. This is a U.S.-based event best known for introducing careers to children of all ages. At ESCO we
offered a variety of activities showcasing what we do
as a company, as well as the educational and career opportunities
that exist in
different fields.
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by Dziugas Radzius | May 2, 2018
More than 30 ESCO volunteers dedicated their Friday afternoon
to wheel-barrowing 12,500 pounds of large rocks and gravel to be staged for
future trail work later this summer.
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by Todd Steimer | April 24, 2018
We have many
outstanding employees here at ESCO, but it is important to recognize the unsung
heroes—those whose contributions often take place behind the scenes. Misty
Rogers, our North American systems manager, is one of those unsung heroes.
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by Kevin Stangeland | April 4, 2018
I’d like to
highlight a group of high school students right here in our own backyard who
sought new opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
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by Brittni Beers-Branco | March 21, 2018
In
recognition of International Women’s Day, ESCO recently held an event for our
female employees both in Portland and across the United States based on the
book, Lean In, by Facebook COO Sheryl
Sandberg.
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by Sarah Heiner | March 7, 2018
Many industries, civic leaders and non-profits have wrestled with the question of how to bring more women into the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) workforce and support career advancement.
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by Anna Thames | February 21, 2018
As one of the leading engineering companies in the world, ESCO is dedicated to expanding student interest and access to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. But, with all of the noise and distraction in the world, how do we cut through the chaos and encourage students to engage with STEM education tools?
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by Jon Owens | February 14, 2018
For many companies like Esco, the question remains: What will we need our workers to do in the future?
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