Every Tuesday and Thursday after third block, senior James Caughran scans out of ETHS and heads over to C.E. Niehoff & Co. to start his workday. Niehoff and Co. is a manufacturing company that produces Alternators (generators that convert mechanical power into electric power) for Military vehicles, trains, and automobiles.
“I work in their tool room,” explained Caughran. “I make small parts and drill holes.”
Before working at Niehoff, Caughran had a summer job working for Ward Manufacturing, a company that primarily stamps metal parts for other companies. He got this job through the ETHS “iKIT” workforce development program.
“I originally started at Ward when I did a spring break internship last spring using the IKit Program here at the school, ” mentioned Caughran.
iKIT places sophomores, juniors, and seniors with internships with Evanston businesses. If the businesses find the students’ performance adequate, the internship may lead to employment.
“So the whole week of spring break, I was at Ward. Then, before summer break, Ward reached back out and said they would want me back as an intern for two weeks, then after my intern time, I was allowed to keep working for a few more weeks after the internship ended.”
Using connections from Ward, Caughran emailed directors at Niehoff for a job opportunity, which he got. So far, working at Niehoff has been a success for Caughran, who was a little anxious about starting at a new company.
“I was kind of expecting it to be similar to what I was doing at Ward Manufacturing. I was feeling excited about starting at a new manufacturing company, but also a little anxious because I was not really sure what I would be doing or how the rest of the people would react.”
As a freshman, Caughran discovered his passion for manufacturing by taking some of ETHS’ many classes related to the field.
“I took Intro to engineering design with Miss Curtis, and then I took Manufacturing Technology and Metal Sculpture, which kind of sent me down the path of this is pretty cool, it’s my thing, I want to look into it,” said Caughran.
Caughran is currently in Manufacturing and Robotics, building robots and coding them to do a certain job or follow a specific path. Instead of continuing in the workforce like most iKit users, who go into the military or a trade, he plans to go to college and study engineering, or another major that his current work can translate well to.
