Final thoughts from Michael Deren

As you likely know, I’ve been in manufacturing a long time—actually, for over 42 years. I started out loading trucks for a steel supply house in Chicago back in 1977. Not too long after, I learned how to run manual saws and power hacksaws. I picked up how to use manual mills and lathes shortly thereafter. Subsequently, I learned how to run turning centers and machining centers. Those were the days of paper tape and punch cards.

After the early years, I became a CNC programmer, applications engineer and robotics programmer and dabbled in design engineering for a short time. All this was in a five-year time frame. I then was hired as a technical applications engineer for robots and thermal spray systems in Wisconsin. I worked with clients in the medical and dental fields, aerospace, offshore oil platforms and even automotive.

From there, we moved to Maine where I worked as a metal fabrication designer in the medical field. While in Maine, I also worked at a general machine shop programming various parts for different customers. As a manufacturing engineer, I then went to a company that machined parts for the energy field, and I also did more aerospace work.

We came back to Wisconsin after 16 years, and I took some fill-in contract work for a year. I then worked for a company in Illinois while living in Wisconsin. I was the manufacturing engineer and later the machine shop manager.