Once upon a time when the earth was young drafting was done by hand. And one of Fred’s early jobs required him to do that drafting. AutoCAD was a wonderful invention.
Fred Engelhardt is a part of the Process Engineering and Project Management team and has been a member of the Pickering family for the past 11 years. Fred is an alumnus of The Ohio State University where he graduated with his Chemical Engineering Degree in 1979. Upon graduating school Fred got a job at Allen-Bradley where he worked with PLC programming while the technology was still in its infancy. From there Fred changed jobs a few times before moving to this area with Apex Engineering before joining the Pickering Team.
Always working as a consulting engineer, Fred has had an extremely diverse career when it comes to industries of work. He has worked in paper, steel, aluminum, lead, chemicals, food, and manufacturing. “I am always doing something different and that is the best part of the job experience, seeing how things are made in a wide range of industries.” PLC programming dominated his career for about the first 15 years, even sending him overseas to install a control system for an electric arc furnace in Aosta, Italy. But his favorite project will always be the candy. “Candy is more relatable to people which makes it easier to explain what you are doing.”
Fred was contracted by Leaf Candies, which later was purchased by Hershey, to automate the chocolate coating process for Milk Duds and Whoppers. “An interesting fact about the Whopper candy is that the malted milk center actually starts out the size of a pea and a vacuum chamber puffs the candy into the shape it is,” mentioned Fred. “The most satisfying part of any project is watching the machines working and knowing you “told” them to do that.”
On a personal note Fred has a wife (Paula) and daughter (Tanya). Paula is a financial advisor assistant at Peoples Bank in Marietta. Tanya was the training manager for Primanti Brothers Restaurants in Pittsburgh but is now the training manager for Yoshinoya Restaurants in the Los Angeles area in California. Yoshinoya is a Japanese company that specializes in fast food rice bowls. She was recently on the Price is Right and won about $10,000 in various prizes.
Outside of work Fred is an elder at his church and enjoys church related activities. He rings in the bell choir and sings bass for the church choir. He is a volunteer at his church’s Men’s Breakfast where he is the chief cook and bottle washer, preparing breakfast for all the attendees. Following breakfast, the men have devotions and then perform maintenance work around the church.
When asked what his favorite thing about Pickering Associates was, Fred responded, “It truly is a family-oriented atmosphere and they really care about their employees and their families.” Fred added, “I would just like to say how appreciative I am of everything I have had here at Pickering and the everyone I have been able to meet here!” Thank you, Fred, for your years of being a part of the Pickering Family!