Our Industry Person of the Week is Samuel Patrick. Samuel is a Product Manager for ABB.
Q: How did you get started working in your field?
Samuel: A flat tire! Out of college I was working in a retail management program that was focused around automotive repair facilities. One Saturday a customer came into the shop I worked at with a flat tire. I helped them get their tire fixed and back on the road. I suspect they liked how I presented myself to customers because they later asked me to come interview at the district office for ABB motors that they ran. I started managing their inside sales department shortly after. In the subsequent ten years I have been in a number of different roles within ABB and have spent a lot of time asking silly questions about how motors work, the applications they are used in and the businesses that rely on them.
Q: What do you love the most about your job? What are you most proud of?
Samuel: Every single day brings a new challenge. Electric motors are electrical and mechanical machines so you have to have a good understanding of both aspects to put forth a well designed product. Add on top of that the wide range of applications for motors and you are always encountering something new. Short of a sudden loss of curiosity I don’t see myself every getting bored of this business.
As for what I am proud of that would have to be the people I work with. It takes a talented group of people with a wealth of knowledge and experience to be successful in this business and we have put together a team of driven individuals that know how to have fun along the way.
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering this line of work or new to the field?
Samuel: I have kind of alluded to it in each of my last answers but I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to be curious. Early on in my career I found that my pride kept me from asking questions. At some point I realized it was better to risk looking a little foolish to get the answer than to keep quiet and limit how much I would learn. On top of that, I have often found that other people in the room might have the same question so you are helping others by asking those questions too.
Q: Can you talk about a project you recently worked on?
Samuel: At the start of 2021 we had decided to make a shift to using pre-engineered designs of large motors to build an inventory of finished machines in the US. I wish I could claim credit for that amount of foresight but I only came into the team working on this project towards the end of last year. That team has done a terrific job of specifying and designing a product (the ABB NXR US) that meets the market needs and now I have been able to help bring the result of that work to market. It is a proven design and we have a market strategy that will make it the perfect solution to many of our customers’ needs.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
Samuel: The future is being electrified so motors will be playing a big part of it. At ABB we have great solutions for the applications of today and exciting plans for the world of tomorrow and we look forward to working with you on both!
Connect with Samuel on LinkedIn.
THANK YOU, SAMUEL! WE LOOK FORWARD TO KEEPING UP WITH YOU THROUGH THE #PUMPTALK COMMUNITY!
KNOW AN AMAZING PERSON WHO IS MAKING VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS WITHIN INDUSTRY? NOMINATE THEM TO BE AN “INDUSTRY PERSON OF THE WEEK”!
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