After spending 10 years on active duty in the U.S. Army, living on bases everywhere from Missouri and Colorado to Japan and South Korea, Zachary Shinkle zeroed in on a new mission: coming home. Shinkle, 30, was born and raised in Louisville and has spent the last year and a half building new pieces of its skyline as a press operator at Padgett, Inc.
"I dipped my toes into a program that helps you transition from military to civilian," Shinkle says. "I picked a class on sheet metal fabrication, and it gave me a love for welding. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Just knowing that I can take a blueprint, do the math, use my brain, and build something--I take pride in what I do. I take pride in what I make."
At Padgett, Shinkle started out as a welder before quickly moving into fitting and machine operating roles. Now he does it all, helping wherever he’s needed and taking on any projects he can. He starts each morning by gathering his safety gear, heading to the day's workstation, and getting his machines up and running, checking that settings like calibration and oil levels are squared away.
"Then I just take the first job I see, grab the material, and bend it," he says. "I check that its measurements and angles are good to go, and then it's on to the next job."
Shinkle is also working toward a bachelor's degree in geoscience and hopes to become an engineer one day. He has instilled his hardworking and ambitious spirit in his son and daughter, who are only eight and six years old and already know how to weld.
"They were like, 'Dad, can I stick-weld? Can you show me how?' And I said, 'Yeah, here's a helmet, here are the gloves. Let's do this.'"
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This story is part of Visions in Steel: The People Who Bring Designs to Life, an AISC project that shines a light on the steel fabrication professionals our industry relies on every day to turn concepts into reality. Our next installment, focusing on North Carolina-area fabricators, will be on display at the AIA North Carolina Center for Architecture and Design from September 22 to October 24. Interested in attending the Raleigh opening reception? Register here!