Author: College of Engineering

Essity Bellemont’s Breanna Cornell to Receive Women in Manufacturing STEP Ahead Award from The Manufacturing Institute

Cornell to be recognized for contributions as an emerging leader in manufacturing

Bellemont, Arizona – March 7, 2018: The Manufacturing Institute announced that Breanna Cornell, Process Engineer at the Essity (formerly SCA) Bellemont, AZ paper converting site, is a recipient of the Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Ahead Emerging Leader Award. The STEP Ahead Awards honor women who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers and represent all levels of the manufacturing industry, from the factory floor to the C suite.

Upon her graduation from Michigan Tech University (BS, Environmental Engineering), Breanna was accepted into Essity’s Graduate Onboarding (GO!) Engineer program, which is an 18-month-long rotational employment opportunity in which the GO! candidates are exposed to multiple parts of the business. Following her experience as a GO! Engineer, Essity hired Breanna as a process engineer on the Napkin Resource Support Team.

In her role as a Process Engineer, Breanna is responsible for working with operators, maintenance, and others to develop standards, centerlines, and processes to improve the efficiency and lower the waste on the napkin machines in her group. During her nearly three years in this role, Breanna has already made a positive impact. She has become instrumental in creating a training program for machine operators. Her communications skills serve her well as a liaison for the operators, as well as in her other responsibility of onboarding machine operators on her team, using the training program that she developed. Breanna also serves as a GO! program mentor, as she herself is an alumna of the program.

According to Breanna, “I am honored to not only have been nominated for, but to be a recipient of, the Emerging Leader Award from the Manufacturing Institute. Since my arrival at Essity, it was clear that there are numerous opportunities for women in manufacturing to succeed here, and I am grateful for the contributions I’ve been able to make in training and mentoring. I am excited to be a part of the award event in April, to be among other women leaders, and learn as much as I can to bring back and share with my colleagues at Essity.”

“Breanna is a terrific role model for other women in engineering and manufacturing, both within Essity and as a representative outside of the company,” said Essity Operations Manager Dan Edwards. “She is motivated and goal-oriented, and well deserving of this award.”

“Companies across the U.S. agree there is a talent shortage in manufacturing. Through the STEP Ahead Awards, we hope to take another step toward closing this gap by highlighting the stories of successful women in manufacturing and giving them a platform to encourage other women to join the industry and be role models for the next generation,” said Carolyn Lee, executive director of The Manufacturing Institute. “The women being honored demonstrate what modern manufacturing careers are all about: making an impact in their communities with meaningful careers that offer significant opportunities for growth.”

The STEP Ahead Awards are part of the larger STEP Ahead initiative, launched to examine and promote the role of women in the manufacturing industry through recognition, research, and leadership for attracting, advancing, and retaining strong female talent. In five years, STEP Ahead Award winners have impacted more than 300,000 individuals — from peers in the industry to school-aged children.

Women constitute one of manufacturing’s largest pools of untapped talent. Women totaled about 47 percent of the U.S. labor force in 2016, but only 29 percent of the manufacturing workforce. Not only does the STEP Ahead initiative bolster manufacturing’s attractiveness to women, it also plays an important role in improving the perception of careers in the industry among younger generations.

On April 10, The Manufacturing Institute will recognize 130 recipients of the STEP Ahead Awards at a reception in Washington, D.C. The STEP Ahead Awards program will highlight each honoree’s story, including their leadership and accomplishments in manufacturing.

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About Essity

Essity is a leading global hygiene and health company dedicated to improving well-being through our products and solutions, essentials for everyday life. The name Essity stems from the words essentials and necessities. Our sustainable business model creates value for people and nature. Sales are conducted in approximately 150 countries under the leading global brands TENA and Tork, and other strong brands, such as Jobst, Leukoplast, Libero, Libresse, Lotus, Nosotras, Saba, Tempo, Vinda and Zewa. Essity has about 48,000 employees and net sales in 2017 amounted to approximately $12.8 billion. The headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. More information at www.essity.com.

Essity has nearly 140 employees in the area at its converting plant in Bellemont. In addition to Arizona, Essity has U.S. operations in Alabama, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

ABOUT THE MANUFACTURING INSTITUTE

The Manufacturing Institute (the Institute) is the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers. As a non-partisan organization, the Institute is committed to delivering leading-edge information and services to the nation’s manufacturers. The Institute is the authority on the attraction, qualification and development of world-class manufacturing talent. For more information, please visit www.themanufacturinginstitute.org.

A visitation is scheduled tomorrow (March 3, 2018) for Professor Emeritus George Alger, who passed away Tuesday (Feb. 27), at Garden View Assisted Living in Calumet. He was 84.

He was born in Saginaw and attended Midland High School, graduating in 1952. He served in the US Army during the Korean Conflict and was honorably discharged with the rank of First Lieutenant.

Alger earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from what was then the Michigan School of Mining and Technology (now Michigan Technological University) in 1956. He received a master’s from South Dakota State and his PhD from Colorado State University.

Following four years as an associate professor at South Dakota State, he returned to Michigan Tech in 1968. Alger served as a tenured professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department until his retirement in 2002.

Over the course of his more than 30 years at Tech, Alger pursued research in water resources, hydrology, sedimentation, erosion, snow and ice engineering, structures, dam design and mining.

Thoughout his career, he served as a consultant on these matters to several Federal agencies including the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Army Corps of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Great Lakes Basin Commission.

Whatever the subject, Alger loved teaching. His son Russell, project manager and research leader at Michigan Tech’s Keweenaw Research Center, said his father’s direct and to-the-point teaching style earned him the nickname “Easy-A Alger,” from his students.

“It wasn’t that he was easy at all,” Russ Alger says. “He just laid it all out there. He told you exactly what you needed to do to get an A in his class. If you did what he told you, you got an A. If you didn’t do it, then you didn’t get an A.”

In addition to teaching and consulting, Alger served for years on the faculty committee. “When he felt strongly about something he didn’t back down,” his son says. “He had a reputation among some faculty as being a bit obstinate, but it was that he stood by his beliefs.”

Alger is survived by his wife of 63 years, Elsmarie, sons Russ and Peter, daughter Christine, 10 grandchildren, 15 great-grand children and two great-great-grandchildren.

A visitation will take place from 10 a.m. to noon tomorrow (March 3) at the Erickson Crowley Peterson Funeral Home in Calumet.

By Mark Wilcox.

HOUGHTON — Kristen Mariuzza, Michigan Technological University alumna and Eagle Mine general manager, visited campus Monday to discuss mining and the company’s operations and case studies.

Mariuzza spoke to members of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department’s students, staff and faculty, as well as community members.

Professor Eric Seagren said the purpose of the seminar was to showcase the kind of opportunities that are available for students.

“It shows that you’re not just limited to the environmental field,” he said. “There are other opportunities as well.”

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Katrice Perkins.