Inside Spark:  Machining Manager Ethan Marcoux

Words and Interview: Dan Ventura

Few at Spark have a longer tenure than our Machining Manager, Ethan Marcoux. He is the epitome of the work hard, play hard mentality that is common here at our HQ in Bozeman, MT. During the winter Ethan puts as many days on snow as just about anyone in the shop. His love of the shred becomes obvious by just spending a few minutes with him. The passion he has for splitboarding shows through in his willingness to get out in a variety of conditions and is accentuated by his general prowess with a board beneath his feet. Like a good engineer, when he's on snow, he's almost always testing new or prototype equipment. His gears are always turning, pun intended.

Ethan has developed a deep knowledge of manufacturing during his time with Spark R&D. He navigates between complicated computer programs and hands-on shop work with ease throughout his work week. How did he get to where he's at, and what does a day or week look like for the E-man? Keep reading or check out the podcast to find out.

***Note, Ethan's title changed from Assistant Machine Shop Manager to Machining Manager between the recording of the podcast/interview and the publishing of the blog.

What is your job title?

My job title is Machining Manager and I'm also one of the tooling and design engineers here at Spark.

How long have you been working here at Spark R&D? 

I've been at Spark for a little over six years now.

Are you the longest tenured employee besides Becca or Will?

We have one other engineer who's been here a year longer than I have.

What is your degree in? 

I got a degree from Montana State University in Mechanical Engineering Technologies.

How did you become interested in engineering? 

I was always, from a really young age, interested in mechanics and things like that. I used to take apart my parent's VCRs, I destroyed a couple of those as a kid. I'm sure they weren't too happy with that. At a certain point, they just started giving me broken things that I could take apart instead of having me destroy the working stuff.

You were in school when you began at Spark, correct?

Yes, I was.

Did you find that working in the machine shop helped you with school having a real-life application of what you were learning?

A little bit. I think the biggest thing it did for me was it made me realize that I did not want to be in school anymore and that I needed to finish my degree. I think working here pushed me to work a little harder and not just be a ski bum. I think that helped me finish school.

Could you give me a description or elevator speech for your job?

On a day-to-day basis, I make sure machines are running properly. I make sure the proper parts are coming off of the machines. I also manage six employees. We have three shifts - a morning shift, a night shift, and then a full graveyard shift. During peak production, we are running twenty-four hours a day. So, I have to make sure we have stuff for all six guys to do, especially for the graveyard shift because I never see those guys. I also do a lot of quality control. I make sure we have materials in stock. I don't actually do the ordering but I make sure we're not running low on important things.

Some of our machines have interesting names. Can you speak to that?

Our machines, other than our newest one, are all named after Flintstones characters. It was just kind of a funny way to do it at first. First, we had Betty, then Wilma, then Pebbles and Bamm- Bamm, and finally Dino. Just an interesting way to put a little fun in the shop. It's also a little easier when they're named like that, to know what machine people are referring to when they come to me with a problem.

You've been here for six years.  How has your role changed since then?  

When I first started I was essentially assembling bindings. I came in early on, the shop was small and we didn't have a lot of employees. As we got into full production and running more machines, I worked my way into running machines. I was always excited to learn how the machines worked and how to actually program the machines. When the time came that Ryan, our single programmer, didn't have time to run all the machines, I moved my way more into my current position working my way up as the years went on.