Page 32 - Skills - 2024

CHOOSING A CAREER
Why I Work in Advanced
Manufacturing:
Marc Panzenhagen, PLC Controls Designer, Magnetic Analysis Corporation
Marc Panzenhagen is part of the team at Magnetic Analysis Corporation in Elmsford. The 95-year-old company is a leading manufacturer of equipment for nondestructive testing (NDT) of metal. Customers purchase its NDT systems to inspect and test for flaws in pipe, tubing, wire, cable, and other material used in a variety of industries ranging from automotive and chemical to medical and aerospace.
“Our machines test nearly everything in any field that requires high-quality metal,” says Panzenhagen, who primarily works with an industrial computer known as a programmable logic controller, or PLC.
“I do the controls design and PLC programming. It basically controls when actions happen along the manufacturing process,” says Panzenhagen.
“We don’t do the actual metal testing here; we build
the machines to customers‘ specifications based on what they need, and they do the testing at their site,” he explains. Equipment that’s built at Magnetic Analysis can range in size from table-top rotary testers to full-size assemblies. “Some of those are close to 100 feet long,” Panzenhagen says. “A customer might tell us they need equipment to test 3-inch welded tubing, so we design and build the machinery and deliver it to them. Then, at the customer’s site, after the tubing goes through their welder, they would send it through one of our machines that tests the welded area for any flaws or defects.”
After studying electrical construction design at Alfred State College, Panzenhagen, 23, recently moved from another company to join Magnetic Analysis. “I came
with a pretty solid electrical background, so it was a fairly easy transition.”
He adds: “I work with more than 10 people in the mechanical engineering department. We also have electrical and software engineering, manufacturing, and several other areas in the company; a lot of people work on each product.”
What’s most interesting to him about his job? “Every machine is pretty much custom-made for the customer according to what their needs are, so there’s always something new and challenging to do.” Panzenhagen says he and his team might work on creating five or six machines
over the course of a year. “It can take a while, because some of the equipment that’s ordered is pretty big and complex.”
He adds: “If you want to do this kind of work, I’d say
you’ve got to be interested in electrical and manufacturing processes — and that you always [have to] like to be learning.”
30 2024 SKILLS What’s Hot. What’s Next. What’s Needed.
Marc Panzenhagen works with an industrial computer known as a programmable logic controller, or PLC. His company, Magnetic Analysis Corporation, builds equipment to help customers test the safety of metal used in a variety of industries, ranging from automotive to medical and aerospace.
© Mike DiSciullo