Mike Evans’ interests that would eventually lead him to pursue a career in physics and mechanical engineering started in a place you may not expect: his family’s beef farm, located at the end of a gravel road in Manitowoc County.
Growing up, Mike helped his father (also his physics and chemistry teacher in school) around the farm on projects of all sorts, including fixing up parts and machines in need of repairs.
From a gravel road to now a Mechanical Engineering Associate at Pearl Engineering, Mike works within the mechanical engineering department running projects and coordinating and assisting other managers.
More often than not, you’ll find Mike running projects on location. Working with many pulp and paper mills, he helps perform maintenance and reliability testing, reviewing efficiency, evaluating assets and replacing equipment.
Mike really enjoys the field work that makes up a good amount of his job and has always considered himself a “people person.”
“My job presents me with different challenges, jobs and people every day,” Mike said. “I really enjoy building relationships with our customers and finding unique solutions to their problems.
“When you go in to replace equipment or alter and improve processes, it really requires you to think outside the box in a lot of cases. When it was first done, someone decided that this was the best way to do something, which is obviously no longer the case. You need to consider current technology, business processes and even where the organization is going when you make these kinds of changes.”
Officially graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a degree in Applied Physics with an emphasis in mechanics, Mike brings a unique understanding of theories and has a broad spectrum of problem-solving skills.
With his family still living on the farm, Mike says he often returns home to visit and help his father out. That’s just one of the many outdoor activities he enjoys doing when he is not working. Mike, along with his wife, consider themselves very outdoorsy and frequently mountain bike, hunt, camp and fish in his spare time.
Have a complex situation that requires an innovative solution? Contact us to work with Mike Evans and the rest of the Pearl Engineering team.
