When Evan Czarnezki began Enerquip’s mentorship program as a high school senior, he never imagined he would soon be modeling complete heat exchangers.
His first complete heat exchanger model took about a week to finish. The project involved dozens of parts and a full set of drawings. When he added the final component and saw everything line up as intended, he knew he had found the kind of work he wanted to do.
“It felt so rewarding to finish it up and see everything fit together perfectly.”
His interest in this type of work, however, began well before that first full-unit model.
It Started With Wanting to Know How Things Work
“I’ve always been really intrigued by how things work in the world, so I think that naturally led me to being interested in engineering and CAD.”
He followed that interest through high school, filling his schedule with engineering and CAD courses and learning his way around Inventor and AutoCAD. One project stayed with him. “I modeled a tape measure in one of the courses and really enjoyed it.”
Learning About the Opportunity
Evan first learned about Enerquip’s mentorship program through local career fairs and by hearing about it in the community. It caught his attention as a way to explore engineering and CAD beyond the classroom.
“I wanted to gain real work experience, and this was a great opportunity to do that.”
Once he joined the program, Evan found that the experience involved much more than shadowing. From early on, he contributed to work the shop floor depended on.
“I learned the basics of SolidWorks and got my SolidWorks certification. I got to model units and do drawings for parts so the shop could produce them.”
Support From the People Around Him
As projects grew more complex, Evan had support from experienced designers ready to answer questions and help him improve.
“My mentor taught me a lot about attention to detail, and he’s extremely advanced in SolidWorks so every question I had, he had an answer.”
His manager built the work schedule around his classes, so he never had to choose between school and the shop. When his mentor was unavailable, someone else was always willing to step in and help. That willingness to help made a lasting impression on Evan.
“Everyone who works at Enerquip is extremely kind and willing to help.”
From Mentee to Apprentice
When his mentor saw the progress he was making, he suggested they talk with management about an apprenticeship. The answer was yes.
For Evan, staying was an easy decision. The people were part of it. So was something simpler: “I truly enjoyed what I was doing and wanted to keep doing it.”
His work looks different now than it did at the start. “My responsibilities have increased. I do COMPRESS calculations, revisions, and I create whole units start to finish.”
The workload grew along with the trust placed in him, and he’s the first to say he’s glad it did.
“I’m grateful for the increased workload because each day I come to work there’s a new problem I get to solve, and I look forward to it every day.”
What Comes Next
When Evan talks about what he has learned, he doesn’t begin with software. Instead, he points to how his approach to solving problems has changed.
“I used to get hung up on something and ask for help right away, but now I look things up and try to figure it out myself for a while before I ask. I feel like that helps me remember the solution better than someone just showing or telling me how to do it.”
Evan is studying Mechanical Design Engineering Technology at Northcentral Technical College, and the apprenticeship has made the coursework feel familiar.
“Doing this apprenticeship makes my classes a lot easier because I already have exposure to a lot of the engineering processes and programs.”
While attending school, Evan continues working at Enerquip during breaks, allowing him to keep building real-world experience alongside his education.
Explore Mentorship and Apprenticeship Opportunities at Enerquip
Evan’s path began with an interest in how things work and an opportunity to explore that interest at Enerquip.
If you’re a student interested in engineering, design, manufacturing, or skilled trades or you know someone who is contact us or your school’s guidance office to learn more about Enerquip’s mentorship and apprenticeship opportunities.