Patti Engineering's first FedEx day led the way to our new "Engineer Chatter" blog. We recognize the way we communicate in today's world is evolving. This new blog is part of Patti Engineering's effort to keep pace by giving you direct access to our team of highly skilled engineers. In addition to responding to questions or comments posted, we will be posting insights and advice on control systems integration, automation projects, and industry news.

Our intent is for this blog to be informal and informative, a quick and easy way for our community of partners, clients, and colleagues to engage our engineers. Quick technical questions or more in-depth inquiries are all welcome. We enjoy sharing our areas of technical expertise.

Patti Engineering is a Siemens Solution Partner, an Authorized Mitsubishi Integrator, in addition to being in the integrator programs for Phoenix Contact, Iconics and Indusoft. We have a highly skilled team of engineers with experience in a wide variety of industries: powertrain manufacturers, automotive parts manufacturers, robotic paint systems in various manufacturing applications, textile mills, retail distribution centers, power plants, oil rigs, chemical plants, and damn spillways. We are a diverse group with a diverse set of skills.

The blog is open for anyone to post; the engineering team will respond to all posts within one business day. To engage with the Patti Engineering team, subscribe to Engineer Chatter here and follow @PattiEng on Twitter.

Jake Miles ready to hike the Pictured Rocks

At Patti Engineering, we pride ourselves on finding the best young aspiring engineers and hiring them as co-op students, with the goal of training them to be future engineering stars. Jake Miles just happens to be one of those rising stars; he began as a co-op student in October of 2007 after his first semester of college. He alternated between work and school at Kettering University every 3 months.

As a co-op, Jake mostly worked on LEID Product builds and support. LEID Products offers cutting edge biometric access control systems with the software and controls technology developed by Patti Engineering. In addition, Jake worked with Patti Engineering's internal IT department, helped to develop our new intranet and at times traveled to assist our engineers onsite.  

Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Kettering University in March of 2012, Jake was promoted to a full time engineer. He has hit the ground running, with impressive performances working on his first projects as a degreed engineer. 

"Jake is a talented young engineer. Mature beyond his years, he adapts quickly to project requirements applying great problem solving skills," said Sam Hoff, president of Patti Engineering. "Jake shows exceptional promise for the future to be a key contributor to our engineering team."

Jake hitting a golf ball off of a friends Humvee after an nice round of golf!

Jake lives in Davison, Michigan where he grew up. Fully enjoying the freedom of his youth, he loves traveling to new places especially when it involves backpacking, though that doesn't happen too often. His favorite place to backpack is the Pictured Rocks in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  

Most of the time when Jake travels, he and his friends pick a random place to go and just 'go for it'. In the past few years he has been to the Kentucky Derby, Las Vegas, Chicago, Mardi Gras in New Orleans and a few spontaneous trips to Canada.

When not traveling, Jake enjoys his leisure time playing ice hockey, golfing, water skiing, listening to music, and playing around with electronics and computer technology. He is currently developing a custom home automation app for his android phone. 

Jake shared his perspective on being part of the Patti Engineering Team:

"As a freshman in college, I didn't really know what to expect with the co-op experience. With plenty to do even my first day, I hit the ground running and was constantly learning new things. This put me at an advantage over a lot of my friends who were given monotonous tasks day after day at their co-op jobs and never really gained anything out of the experience. Now, as a full time engineer, there are even more opportunities to learn and gain experience. I also enjoy the atmosphere of a small company. I always find it easier to work with people after I get to know them on a more personal level."