CDME student ready to make his mark

When Cole Wecker visited the Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME), his eyes opened to opportunities that he didn’t know existed.

As a high school student, Wecker was unaware of how wide-ranging and innovative the manufacturing industry was. A CDME student invited him to visit to introduce him to different manufacturing technologies and opportunities. While on the tour, Cole took a particular interest to the welding equipment.

“The tour really caught my attention and made me consider new career opportunities,” said Wecker.

When he decided to attend The Ohio State University, Cole chose to major in welding engineering due to the interest he discovered at CDME. He had just completed his freshman year when he spoke with Pete Schupska, research specialist at CDME, who told him about an open undergraduate position. Cole immediately decided to apply.

Cole was hired as a student research assistant to work on a variety of industry projects. The vision of CDME is to prepare the next generation workforce, offering undergraduate students the hands-on experience they need to make an immediate impact after graduation. While employed at CDME, students work on real projects alongside industry experts also employed by the center. These experts execute projects while supervising and mentoring student employees.

Cole has been in his role for a few weeks and is learning how to run equipment and assisting CDME staff by creating CAD drawings. He is working on designing a protective shield for pulling apart welds and evaluating the shield with numerous stress tests. He has also worked on the installation of new equipment in the labs.

Wecker has big goals for his time at CDME, even if he is just getting started.

“I want to learn how to use every machine,” he said, “I have three years here and I want experience in everything.”