University of Wisconsin Stout | Wisconsin's Polytechnic University

Camila Checa

Major: Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Management
Co-op Company: Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa
Company Supervisor: Jay Dahlke
Faculty Mentor: Edward Harris

Student 
“I wouldn’t change a single moment about this Co-op experience. The diversity of the experience and environment allowed me to develop both my professional as well as my personal skills in many different areas. I was grateful to meet people who have left a mark in both my professional and personal lives. Ultimately, this experience proved to me that I am in the correct industry.”
 
Employer
“Camila was a ray of sunshine in all of the departments that she worked in.  She made a noticeable impact at the Resort in a short amount of time.  She was a big help to the team during the summer of 2011.  She asked to cross train at the Front Desk during her days off and at night.  Camila along with the other 10 Stout Students we had at the Grand during the summer of 2011 made a positive and lasting impression on our Staff and our Guests.  We appreciate all of Camila’s efforts and wish her continued success in her future endeavors.”

Kerstin Johnson

Major: Professional Communication & Emerging Media
Co-op Company: Alliance Laundry Systems
Company Supervisor: Julie Socha
Faculty Mentor: Matthew Livesey

Student
“This Co-op allowed me to grow professionally and adapt to company culture. Going into this position, I had a solid foundation of Project-based learning from UW-Stout and a desire to learn and excel in this field.  I individually managed and tracked over 150 projects. This experience allowed me to perfect my organization and customer relations skills.”

Employer
“Kerstin stepped into our department as if she had always been with us. She caught on quickly; within a very short time period we had enough confidence in her abilities to start loading her up on projects. In 3 months, she started and completed 115 projects! We treated her and depended on her as if she were another technical writer in our department. We definitely felt the loss when she left us to go back to school. Kerstin is the employee that every manager wishes they had. Congratulations to Kerstin!”

~ Julie Socha (Supervisor)

Kyle Pieters

Major: Construction
Co-op Company: Miron Construction Co., Inc.
Company Supervisor: Dave Voss III
Faculty Mentor: Tim Becker

Student
“While working for Miron Construction Co. Inc., I have never been so satisfied with something I have worked on. Watching hundreds of people walking through the building I put so much time and effort into was incredibility satisfying. Watching the attendees of the grand opening pointing, smiling and enjoining was rewarding. These experiences solidified my decision obtain my Construction degree. This Co-op changed how I operate as a professional, and even more so as an individual.”

Employer
“Kyle, better known as "Red", came to the UW Parkside project as a shy Co-op student willing to learn. His assignment was to assist the project Superintendent with behind the scenes day to day paperwork while having an opportunity to see a $30 million construction project taking shape.  Kyle left the UW Parkside project as a daily decision maker involved in every aspect of the project as well as solely running another project at the campus that was acquired while he was onsite. Kyle was a huge asset to the projects and far exceeded all expectations.”

~ Dave Voss III (Supervisor)

Emily Willman

Major: Apparel Design & Development
Co-op Company: Kohl's Department Stores
Company Supervisor: Kari Dudash
Faculty Mentor: Gindy Neidermyer

Student
“While having the opportunity to be a Co-op student at Kohl’s, their tagline of “Expect Great Things” rang true not only for the product I worked on, but for my overall experience. This Co-op was phenomenal; I am ecstatic to say upon graduation, I will be returning to Kohl’s Technical Design area.”
 
Employer
“Emily Willman is a remarkable person who has shown great talent and ambition for Apparel Design and Development. She will influence the design world greatly with her hard work and willingness to succeed. Emily's contributions were greatly appreciated and she has strengthened the program here at Kohl's for other Co-op students. With Emily's cheerful and upbeat attitude we are excited to have her back with us at Kohl's!”
 
~ Kari Dudash (Supervisor)

Wendy Woessner

Major: Packaging
Co-op Company: Great Northern Corporation - Twin Cities
Company Supervisor: Jeremy Stimpson
Faculty Mentor: Robert Meisner

Student
"At the University of Wisconsin-Stout, there are many avenues with which a packaging career can take off. I learned a lot about myself during my co-op experience. I will carry what I learned with me throughout my life. Now that I am back at school, I am able to apply what I learned in my packaging courses."

Employer
"Wendy Woessner brought curiosity, intelligence and dedication to her Co-op with Great Northern Corporation - Twin Cities, and utilized these skills to exceed our expectations. Wendy was able to gain a solid understanding of what a packaging engineer does in a multi-market sheet plant, and we were able to receive from her a consistent level of performance and a mature approach to her opportunity every day she worked with us. Thank you Wendy!"

~ Jeremy Stimpson (Supervisor)

Jesse Pischlar

Major: Manufacturing Engineering and Plastics Engineering
Co-op Company: Medtronic, Inc.
Company Supervisor: Enrico Westenberg
Faculty Mentor: Adam Kramschuster

Student
"This co-op work experience had a profound, positive impact on me as a student and a professional. Getting up and going to work every day knowing that my knowledge, intelligence, and expertise was helping to keep someone alive and a family together filled me with satisfaction and a sense of purpose. I have committed to return to the same group at Medtronic for this summer, and am genuinely looking forward to my next co-op experience."

Employer
"When Jesse started with Medtronic we saw him as a Canadian hockey enthusiast who wanted to learn more in medical devices. We quickly discovered that Jesse is a very industrious and clever collaborator who showed feasibility of some processes beyond expectation. We are very happy that Jesse will be returning this summer on a different but equally challenging project."

~ Enrico Westenberg (Supervisor)

Weston Schilawski

Major: Engineering Technology: Mechanical Design and Plastics
Co-op Company: Harley-Davidson Motor Company
Company Supervisor: Brian Lau
Faculty Mentor: John Petro

Student
"Once I received the call to complete a co-op at Harley-Davidson, I knew my skills would be challenged. These skills included leadership, team building, manufacturing processes, meeting and exceeding Harley-Davidson’s goals and reputation, along with working in a professional environment. Throughout my co-op as the Assembly Engineer, I felt these goals and skills were met and exceeded."

Employer
"The quality of work delivered by Weston, while on his Co-op at Harley-Davidson - Tomahawk Operations, allowed new technologies to be implemented that have benefited the manufacturing processes within our windshield department. Weston’s contributions are greatly appreciated and have strengthened the Co-op program for other students to be part of the Co-op program from UW-STOUT."

~ Brian Lau (Supervisor)

Elizabeth Fuss

Major: Manufacturing Engineering
Co-op Company: Amron, LLC.
Company Supervisor: Mike Heiny
Faculty Mentor: Richard Rothaupt

Student
"I’ve learned confidence is key, especially being a woman in the engineering field.  Even if you have no idea what you’re doing, if you are confident enough to believe in yourself and know you can do it, you’ll be able to.  You’ll find ways to get things done and most importantly be able to learn something new in the process."

Employer
" In addition to the design effort, Elizabeth put forth a tremendous effort in her role at Amron during the summer of 2009. She became involved with our guarding committee. Her efforts included design and implementation of updated guards on equipment. Elizabeth also took a "Hands on" approach to Throughout the entire process, we have come to realize that Elizabeth Fuss has the educational background, work attitude and professional skills that we feel are necessary to become an outstanding engineer and professional. Thus we are not surprised to learn that Elizabeth has been chosen to receive UW-STOUT'S "Co-op Meritorious Award". Congratulations go out to Elizabeth from the Staff and Employees at Amron, a division of AMTEC. We are excited, yet not surprised."

~ Mike Heiny (Supervisor)

Colt Ekblad

Major: Business Administration
Co-op Company: Great River Energy
Company Supervisor: Holly Blake
Faculty Mentor: Bill Kryshak

Student
"While at Stout, I took a number of courses that I feel provided me with the skills I needed to accomplish many of my projects at Great River Energy.  While I believe I have discovered a number of useful skills from the previous courses, I believe I can acquire even more skills that will help me become more successful in any marketing or communications career."

Employer
Colt was by far the best co-op student I've worked with in my 20 year career. He brought not only energy and an interest in learning, but also had the best "Get It Done" attitude. Every time I gave Colt a responsibility, he would apply marketing concepts and deliver more than I expected, sooner than I expected it! Colt lived the co-op values as he executed his daily job – which came very easy to him because he's such a down to earth, kind and generous person. I would hire Colt in a second ~ and only hope that someday when he's leading a successful company, because he will be, that he will give me a job if I need one! There's nothing but great things ahead for you Colt – congratulations and best of luck! "

~ Holly Blake (Supervisor)

Thor Damerval

Major: Golf Enterprise Management
Co-op Company: The Los Angeles Country Club
Company Supervisor: Eric Gregory
Faculty Mentor: Howard Samb

Student
"Living/working in Southern California, Arizona, and Southern FL has exposed me to diverse cultures and environments unlike what we have in the Midwest.  It has broadened my horizons personally and professionally while working with people of different origin and ethnicity: that in itself is an education that I wouldn’t trade for anything."

Employer
"Mr. Damerval handled himself with the utmost level of professionalism, not only during his co-op here, but also in the previous and subsequent times which I have been in contact with him. Thor has a maturity that is well beyond his years, and possesses a knowledge of the industry which is unparalleled for a young man of his age. These qualities will serve him very well in what is sure to be a very bright career in the Club Management industry. I congratulate Thor on this achievement, and look forward to following his career with a sense of great pride."

~ Eric Gregory (Supervisor)

Laura Montgomery

Major: Retail Merchandising & Management
Co-op Company: JC Penney, Co.
Company Supervisor: Angela Swanner
Faculty Mentor: Nancy Murray

Student
"During my co-op I realized just how much I have learned in my courses at UW-Stout and that I have not only retained it but am ready to apply it to real world scenarios. It helped me bridge the gap between theory and practice. This experience confirmed that corporate retail is definitely where I want to start my career."

Employer
"Our first impression of Laura was her maturity, enthusiasm and professionalism that she brought for her summer co-op. I have asked many people to describe Laura and the impressions that she left: energetic, intelligent, aggressive, creative thinker and great team player were just a few. Laura stood out above others in her hard work and total understanding of the retail process. She worked tirelessly with everyone from designers, sourcing partners, allocators, planners and the buying team. We are all proud of Laura and this great accomplishment. She will be an asset to any team and we are excited to have her back with us at JCPenney! Tell her congratulations from all of us!"

~ Angela Swanner (Supervisor)

Leah Wetzel

Major: Applied Mathematics & Computer Science
Co-op Company: Thomson Reuters BETA Systems
Company Supervisor: Tim Serwe
Faculty Mentor: Joy Becker

Student
"Nearly every day, I was able to draw connections between what I did at my co-op and in my major coursework.  During my time at BETA, I was able to see the flow of an entire industry standard software development life cycle, which put many of the things I learn in my computer science courses into perspective."

Employer
"Leah Wetzel participated in the Thomson Reuters Wealth Management co-op program during the summer of 2009 working in the Quality Assurance area. She was involved in all aspects of the QA analyst position including testing software enhancements, researching and tracking issues, and working with the business and development teams to resolve defects. Leah has shown excellent initiative and has proven to be a quick study. In a short period of time, she assimilated herself from both a productivity and team member standpoint. She has an excellent blend of technical and personal skills, and possesses the critical thinking skills necessary to be effective in the information technology industry. Leah has displayed many of the characteristics that an employer looks for in new employees: motivated, organized, bright, insightful, and collaborative. It was a pleasure to have her part of our team."

~ Tim Serwe (Supervisor)

Alyssa Klinkenberg

Major: Apparel Design & Development
Co-op Company: Target Sourcing Services New York, NY
Company Supervisor: Alka Chopra
Faculty Mentor: Gindy Neidermyer

"During my first few years of college I would sometimes feel discouraged after a bad grade and for a while I was worried that I wouldn't be a very good worker in the corporate world, but after my great reviews from my manager and team members, I realized that I am completely able to achieve the goals I set for myself, and that I am a dedicated worker. Of all the things I took from my experience, the most important thing to me is my new sense of pride in the tasks I complete, and the humility I have to ask another's opinion."

Jane Palakeel

Major: Food and Nutritional Sciences (M.S.)
Co-op Company: Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company Chippewa Falls, WI
Company Supervisor: John Buhrow
Faculty Mentor: Carolyn Barnhart

"My internship has helped me a lot as I would call it the stepping stone to my success this year. I was chosen as a graduate assistant for the Food & Nutritional Sciences and the main reason behind it was my internship experience. I was chosen to assist two professors in the Principles of Food Industry course where I was given wonderful opportunities to share my learning experience with the undergraduate students."

Laura Hamilton

Major: Retail Merchandising and Management
Co-op Company: Crate and Barrel Wilmette, IL
Company Supervisor: Becky Harmsen
Faculty Mentor: Nancy Murray

"All of these things I learned during my Co-op have led me into the entry level position I will be taking in Crate and Barrel this coming June. It is such a great opportunity and I am so proud to say that I have a full time job in my field waiting for me after graduation. I feel I owe all of it to my experience with my co-op. I feel that my Co-op experience was above and beyond what I expected it to be and it did exactly what Co-ops are meant to do. It enhanced my learning experience here at Stout to its fullest potential and provided me with a great opportunity to pursue a career path that I love."

Mike Lawson

Major: Engineering Technology
Co-op Company: Hoffman Enclosures Anoka, MN
Company Supervisor: Ron Malles
Faculty Mentor: Dave Brenholt

"My work was of the highest quality, projects were well documented and anyone could look through the information and find what they needed. When I was asked to stay an extra two weeks to aid in additional projects, I gladly accepted. The two interns before me were from Stout and the next three are also from Stout. Hoffman prefers to hire interns from Stout because of the knowledge and hands on experience the University offers. All of the interns I know that have worked at Hoffman enjoyed the experience and learned more than what can be taught in the classroom."

Steve Anderson

Major: Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management
Co-op Company: The Inn on Biltmore Estate Asheville, NC
Company Supervisor: Charles Thompson
Faculty Mentor: Brian Bergquist

"The co-op experience impacted me by demonstrating our capabilities as students. I still feel compelled to communicate my experiences with other students, especially underclassmen who can advantageously gain from my story."