Josh Chuha has been selected as Brookville Equipment Corporation’s Employee of the Month for April.
Josh has been employed at Brookville Equipment Corporation for the past eight years, starting out as a Mechanical Engineer, which had led him into his current role of a Senior Mechanical Engineer.
As a Senior Mechanical Engineer, Josh’s duties include taking on a higher level of a leadership role. He is presented with more responsibilities compared to when he started as a Mechanical Engineer. He has also taken on the responsibility of mentoring the new engineers who have joined the department. However, aside from his leadership role at Brookville Equipment, Josh also works from conception of the project, all the way through testing and delivery of the final product. Prototyping, fabricating, final assembly, testing and accepting, are all parts of the puzzle that Josh has a hand in. He also has to continually research to ensure he is meeting the standards involved in the equipment he is designing, as well as keeping communication with multiple departments at BROOKVILLE to ensure customer satisfaction.
Josh doesn’t have one particular favorite type of equipment to work on. Each type of equipment has its ups and downs and varies in its own way. He really enjoys working on historic streetcars, as he takes great pride in restoring the historical element of each vehicle. He also really enjoys the engineering process of working with the cool, modern technology of a modern streetcar. With mining, he enjoys the ability to be a little bit more creative, not have so many hoops to go through, as well as the flexibility and ability to forge your own path on some things. Above all, no matter what Josh is designing, he wants to make sure it is safe for whoever may be riding it.
When Josh was asked, “How do you keep yourself motivated at work?,” he said “It is all internal for me. I really don’t find satisfaction or motivation from outside sources. I really like to go home at the end of the day and knowing what I accomplished through the day. And this is somewhere I strive to get to everyday: happy with my end result. Something else that helps push me, is shipping units to our customers and getting objectives approved to be able to keep moving through the process.” Through Josh’s eight years at Brookville Equipment, he has learned a lot of new knowledge regarding welding, framing, electrical assembly, fabrication, etc. and he has also been able to sharpen his existing skill set when it comes to Engineering programs. Josh says, “Being able to walk out of the office and head down to production to actually put my hands on the equipment I am designing is a huge benefit. Not all companies build their equipment onsite, and that is a huge benefit to working at BROOKVILLE.” Josh also discussed some of the challenges he has faced since starting his employment. He said the challenges usually come on a weekly basis. You never know what a client is going to ask for, or what novel challenge will arrive. Josh expressed, “Usually this is something we have never done before and have to learn a whole new system on how to integrate it.” Another challenge of being an engineer at BROOKVILLE is that our engineers aren’t a “master” on one particular thing. We don’t have one engineer who just designs doors and that is all they do every day. Each engineer has to have a level of working knowledge of how to build the entire unit. While being an engineer at BROOKVILLE, each person needs to work to not pigeon hole yourself in being super specialized in one particular area, because the company needs everyone to have a wide range of knowledge on each product we produce.
Josh’s favorite thing about his job is the fact there is something new every day, BROOKVILLE is always working on a variety of projects. It is really easy in the work force to get tunnel vision, but with the variety of equipment that is offered at BROOKVILLE, it keeps you growing. There is always a challenge that needs to be overcame. Josh really enjoys the fact he can walk to the shop and see the equipment he is designing and talk directly to the people who are building it. He also enjoys the size of the company, as well as, there is always someone to learn from at BROOKVILLE. Josh commented to always strive to learn off of the next person and never to act like you know everything. If you have the opportunity to talk to someone who has more knowledge than you on a subject, he suggests to listen to what they are saying and retain the knowledge to better yourself. At BROOKVILLE, Josh said “you aren’t just a number, people know who you are and your hard work is recognized.” With the work that Josh does at BROOKVILLE, he said “I feel like I am making a difference” and that is his favorite part about working for Brookville Equipment.
During his free time, Josh enjoys spending time with his son and wife.
They are expecting their second child to arrive in August. He loves spending time with family. Originally reigning from Johnstown, PA, he often travels back home to spend time with family. He also enjoy lifting weights and playing the guitar, piano, and drums.