2012 Leader Under 40: Scott Burns, 31
Engineering Team Leader, Pella Corp., Pella, Iowa
Plant Engineering
Scott Burns, 31
Engineering Team Leader, Pella Corp., Pella, Iowa
Years at Pella: 10
Education: BS Agricultural Engineering, University of Nebraska
Scott’s contributions
“Scott currently serves as an engineering team leader at Pella,” said Michael Kugel, engineering manager at Pella Corp. “In this role, he leads a team of engineers responsible for product development and maintenance of Pella’s highest volume product line. Among his recent accomplishments, Scott led a new window introduction, executing the project in record time with a high degree of success. In the prior year, Scott successfully led an introduction of a premium vinyl sliding door. He is a strong technical leader, recognized as one of Pella’s best in terms of technical judgment, business sense, and speed of delivery.”
Why a career in manufacturing?
“Growing up, I always enjoyed taking things apart to determine how they worked. During my first factory tour at age 16, I was amazed by the seamless orchestration of people, material, and products. I was fortunate enough to earn a co-op experience at Pella Corp. when I was 19 years old, where I worked in the Continuous Improvement office. Every day I work to improve processes, quality, ergonomics, and throughput. Driving efficiencies using creativity over capital was the most exciting challenge for me when I was 19, and still is today.”