Get to know our productivity experts!
Name: Jake Crowley
Title: Mechanical Engineer
Length of service: 2.5 Years
Q. Favorite place you have traveled to and why?
A. Negril, Jamaica. It is pretty tough to beat leaving the cold winters in Iowa behind to go enjoy a week of sun and warm weather on the beach or at the poolside bar with friends.
Q. Biggest fear?
A. Kayaking in the ocean and having a large whale swim around / right underneath the kayak. A very strange fear since I have never kayaked in the ocean before but Youtube videos have made me never want to try as unreasonable as that might be
Q. What is the weirdest job you have ever had?
A. I used to get to play golf with some junior golfers and travel around to various courses in the area just so they could watch how I play and try to learn some things along the way. Not necessarily super weird, but it was pretty awesome to be paid to essentially just go play golf at fun courses
Q. What would you be doing (for a career) if you were not working here?
A. Probably something in the sports industry. Sports have always been a big passion of mine whether it would be an Athletic Director somewhere or General Manager / Teaching Pro on a golf course but I am very glad I ended up in the automation field.
Q. Tell us something surprising about yourself.
A. I started designing my own golf clubs (mainly just putters) in the last couple of years and it has been a pretty cool hobby to work on in my free time, although I have way too many golf clubs now.
Q. If you could learn from any mentor, who would it be?
A. Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. Just their demeanor and mentality have always been intriguing to me. I have always been a big fan of reading about sports psychology, how the mind works, and how it can impact performance.
Q. What kind of music is on your playlist?
A. Pretty much anything and everything. I get tired of certain genres if I listen to one kind for too long so I usually listen to a playlist with all kinds of music on it to keep things fresh.
Q. Who has influenced you the most at RMH?
A. Tough to choose between Jim Metz and Pat O’Brien. Jim is someone that is always willing to go out of his way to help out on a project and has a ton of knowledge/experience that he is good about passing on to others. Pat is one of the smartest people I have met. He is always coming up with unique ideas and new ways of thinking about a solution that most people don’t consider. Pat is also always willing to help out on a problem even though he is very busy with his own projects.
Q. What is one thing that surprised you about working at RMH?
A. I love how the working environment is structured. Everyone has their own role and is trusted to get the things that they need to do. There is no one looking over your shoulder telling you that you should be doing something differently, everyone just knows the others will get their work done well and on time.
Q. What behavior or personality trait do you most attribute your success to and why?
A. I would say I am pretty good about staying calm no matter the situation. Whether that be good or bad, it takes a lot to get me frustrated about something, which I think helps when issues come up in projects.
Q. Describe RMH using 3 words.
A. Riekes Material Handling.
Q. Highlight your biggest accomplishments at RMH.
A. I would have to say that my biggest accomplishment is being the Self-Proclaimed best ping pong player at RMH. I know Ryan Howard, Chad Howard, Mitch Bruckshaw, and probably plenty of others might dispute this but quite frankly, they do not want the smoke when it comes to ping pong. Can’t wait to prove this at the next company outing.
