Member Spotlight
Andy Kintz
Making Homes Warmer, Safer, Drier
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Andy Kintz
Sr. Staff Scientist
Open Tech Innovation
LORD Corp.
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Andy Kintz started his career as a Product Development Chemist for Mead Corporation and has held numerous management roles for large chemical companies. His work leads him to some of the most innovative, creative thinkers in global organizations, but there is one week a year where innovation takes a backseat to basic, practical solutions.
This is the week Andy ventures into the Appalachian Mountains with 40 youth, working to improve the living conditions of local residents through a program known as the Appalachia Service Project, or ASP, designed to repair and improve the buildings of low-income families throughout the region.
"I thought I was supposed to be teaching others, but I was learning so much it seemed impossible that I was the teacher," Kintz said of his first ASP trip in 2011. The work sites are typically in very rural areas with few amenities. Sleeping on school room floors and showering outdoors are the norm. The food is reminiscent of grade school cafeterias, but after a long day working construction, Kintz says, "The tater-tots and peanut butter sandwiches never tasted so good!"
Kintz was a bit reluctant to join the project at first; he knew he could handle the work environment but he was not sure how he would lead a group of teenagers. "I have traveled the world from China to India and Brazil. I have seen firsthand the poverty in those regions, but I have to say the thought of supervising teenagers with power tools seemed more frightening than anything I had experienced. Yet, this service project works on so many levels. The youth build self confidence, stereotypes about poverty are changed, families are transformed and human living conditions are improved."
Each week, progress is tracked through photos and task sheets. Roofs are removed and reshingled, sagging floors are repaired, tile is installed, walls are insulated and access is improved through ramps and revised doorways. Working in industry with long project timelines often blurs individual contributions to a project; during this week, Kintz says, "the results appear in front of your eyes in one week. The teens are amazed at what they have done!" ASP is life changing for the volunteer workers as well as the recipients of the work.
Andy was voted to the IRI Board of Directors in 2015. He is passionate about open innovation and its application to business growth. He is an active External Technology Network (ETN) member and serves as the IRI board liaison to all of the Networks.
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