GLENAIR • Volume 26 • Number 4 Publisher Christopher J. Toomey Managing Editor Marcus Kaufman Art Director/Editor Mike Borgsdorf Graphic Designer George Ramirez Editor Meghan Taylor Technical Consultant Jim Donaldson Issue Contributors Greg Cameron Mathias Nakatsui Distribution Terry White To subscribe or unsubscribe, please contact Terry White: twhite@glenair.com QwikConnect is published quarterly by Glenair, Inc. and printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2022 Glenair, Inc. A complete archive of past issues of QwikConnect is available on the Internet at www.glenair.com/ qwikconnect
Interns in Our Midst Most weeks throughout the summer, the Glenair Internship Program hosts a forum where participants present on the major projects they have completed during their time with the company. We host quite a few interns each year— mostly students from area universities and vocational schools, but also young scholars from more distant climes, including this year from Notre Dame and Purdue. The presentations I witnessed were amazing and confirmed my confidence in the value of the program for both Glenair and the students. Outlook readers may be interested to know that Glenair’s Internship Program is quite unique in the industry and does not follow a “one size fits all” model for its participants. Rather, each intern’s placement is selected to fit their individual skill set and learning goals. In this way, we hope to ensure their time with Glenair is well-spent, but also that their particular strengths compliment the team’s in which they work. Workgroup members are briefed on the intern’s background and educational focus, but are otherwise encouraged to treat the student as a full-fledged member of the team. The purpose here is to create as realistic a work-experience as possible, helping student’s build confidence in their ability to hit the ground running in their chosen field after graduation. Most of our interns are engineering students and so get placed in one of our many engineering or operation groups for the duration of their time at the factory. But we also host students focused more on marketing, business administration, and entrepreneurship. In these cases, we sometimes hook students up with a series of mentors and shadowing opportunities to expose them to a broader range of job functions and perspectives. Regardless of placement, students are expected to roll up their sleeves and contribute to the company in meaningful ways. While the program demands considerable shared commitment and effort on Glenair’s part, I sincerely believe our company culture benefits from this unique activity of mentoring young people. At the end of their stay, students fill out an evaluation form designed to help us keep the program on target. Here is a paragraph from a letter one student appended to his form. The incredible part of having a “real” role was the chance to build relationships with the people I worked alongside. The groups I worked with were all diverse and most of the time we were in very different stages of our lives. Yet, I always felt like I was one of the team and that I belonged. Especially during my time in the shipping department, I made friends with my co-workers. We talked about sports, their kids, plans for the weekend, etc., but these conversations weren’t frivolous. They were what made me excited to come to work each day. Becoming a part of the team, caring about their well-being, and knowing that they cared about mine, I was inspired to work harder and give it my all every day. As I said, this program takes significant time and commitment from everyone on the Glenair team to support. I hope you can appreciate, as I did reading this student’s letter, that this is time well spent.
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