The World Economic Forum’s 2018 “Future of Jobs Report” ranks “analytical thinking and innovation” as the No. 1 growing skillset for 2022. (Closely related, “creativity, originality and initiative,” is ranked third.)
Developing ideas that are “meaningfully unique” is key to innovation.
Innovation, in turn, has been called the most critical skill of the 21st century.
2017 welding and fabrication engineering technology graduate Christopher Tkatch is leveraging both of those concepts to fill an essential role in industry as a sales engineer for Lincoln Electric, a global manufacturer of welding products.
But being “meaningfully unique” has long been part of Tkatch’s modus operandi.
“I was looking for a degree that there would always be a market for,” he said. “My top schools were Pitt and Penn State for mechanical engineering, civil engineering or architectural engineering. But I was looking for something different that not a lot of people do.”
That quest led him to Penn College’s bachelor’s degree in welding and fabrication engineering technology. And his wish for a thriving market for his skills has come true, as he graduated with not just one job offer, but several.
“Even through tough times like we’re going through now (due to the pandemic), there’s still a high demand for this degree,” said Tkatch, who has been with Lincoln Electric since graduating.
His pursuit of a Penn College welding degree further led him – with influence from faculty member Ryan P. Good, assistant professor of welding – to a minor in applied innovation.
The minor is offered to those seeking any Penn College bachelor’s degree. The college also offers a professional certificate to associate-degree students and the public at large.
“I was supposed to graduate in three years, but I felt like I wouldn’t be prepared to enter the workforce at 20 years old, so I added the innovation minor,” Tkatch said.
The driven student still graduated in three and a half years by applying credits he had taken in high school, plus taking 12 credits each summer while working. He was in the first cohort of bachelor’s degree students to graduate with the minor.
“I was focused on my education,” Tkatch explained.
Still, he managed to find time for activities he loves: namely, competing in three to four triathlons a year and helping to found the Lycoming Triathlon Club.
“That was all I did while I was at college, trained for triathlons and studied,” he joked. In reality, he also served as president of the college’s Ski and Snowboard Club and as a member of Cru and the American Welding Society.
Soon, his studies and his hobby meshed as the Innovation Project course, the capstone for the applied innovation minor, challenged him to apply concepts of earlier classes to create a real project proposal.
Tkatch focused on a problem he’s witnessed while bicycling. (Cycling is one of three events in a triathlon, along with swimming and distance running.)
“One of the challenges we face is grabbing a water bottle while riding a bicycle,” Tkatch explained.
Focusing on racing bicycles, and factoring in aerodynamics and safety, Tkatch developed the idea for a water bladder that can be inserted inside the tubing of a bicycle frame and has a retractable straw that extends from beneath the seat.
“I have been in many close calls with riders dropping water bottles,” he said.
Tkatch secured a patent provision for his invention. The work also earned him an Innovation Engineering Black Belt certification from the Eureka! Ranch, making him the first recipient of the minor to attain it.
The college’s applied innovation coursework is offered in connection with the Eureka! Ranch and the Innovation Engineering Institute and teaches a scientific approach to inspire the spontaneity of creative thinking, as well as skills in communicating, testing and implementing new products, services and processes.
Appropriate to any field, the concepts are based on the continuous-improvement principles of W. Edwards Deming, who is credited with helping to rebuild Japan’s economy after World War II. Deming taught that in order for companies to remain competitive, they must develop a practice of never-ending innovation to meet customers’ evolving needs and tastes. The concepts were refined into a system by corporate innovator Doug Hall, founder and CEO of the Eureka! Ranch.
“It gives you a new way of thinking when you are dealing with projects,” Tkatch said. “It gives you a new approach. It might not seem like it will work at first, because of the unique way of getting the ideas, but it really brings a lot of different people together, thinking in different ways.
“They were fun classes to go to,” he added. “One of the parts I really liked about the program was there were various students from different backgrounds and different degrees who took these courses, so it was a diverse group. When you’re with students in your degree, you think one way, but when you bring in other students, it brings in different perspectives.”
As the cohort moved through the courses together, they got to know one another – and the faculty, all Black Belt-certified.
“We had a lot of attention from the instructors,” Tkatch said. “It was a refreshing class to go to, because you never felt intimidated, and you felt like your ideas could flow freely.”
Today, his innovation and welding studies are working hand-in-hand for Tkatch and his clients.
“I learned to come up with meaningfully unique ideas,” he said, “so I use that to help customers come up with meaningfully unique ideas to improve their processes. You have to go to market in a unique way, because there’s a lot of competition out there.”
It’s also helping his resume stand out.
“It’s more attractive in the marketplace when you’re competing for a promotion or a new position,” he said. “One of the vice presidents (for Lincoln Electric) has the same Black Belt; it gives you another talking point, another competitive advantage because you have knowledge of a specific topic that others don’t.”
When he runs into other Penn College welding graduates at conventions, it reinforces the value of his “meaningfully unique” degree.
“When you see your classmates out in industry working for big companies, it shows the impact that Penn College has on industry.”
From a scholarship from a plastics-industry leader, to industry-standard classroom equipment and internship opportunities, Olivia C. Ferki, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in plastics and polymer engineering technology, has experienced the impact of Penn College’s inherent relationship with business and industry. “The scholarship meant the world to me,” Ferki said. “Knowing that there was a company willing to support me in the industry was really important. I’ve pushed myself harder because I’m so grateful for what they have done for me.”
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