Dakota Harrison

I began my search for college during high school when my class from Cumberland Perry Area Career & Technical Center toured Penn College. I was at votech for precision machining technology and wanted to find an environment where I could continue developing my skills in the trade.

The hands-on teaching methodology of Penn College was by far the most alluring aspect that I noticed when touring for the first time. Like many who gravitate towards Penn College, I am a hands-on learner.

I do my best work when the fruits of my labor are a product that I can be proud of. The samples of class projects along with the number of machines available made it clear to me that Penn College could provide an excellent outlet for my passion in this trade.

When I first entered the MTC, even as it was before it was transformed by Larry Ward, I was in awe of the scale of the shop and the number of machines available. I had been in industry and seen other machine shops, but I had never expected an educational institution would be working with such a great number of machines. Between manual equipment, a few CNC controls, and the EDM area I could tell very quickly that the Penn College machine shop was somewhere I could become a well-rounded manufacturing engineer. 

Of course, speaking of my impression of the College would be incomplete without mentioning the Baja SAE team. Seeing the car and the Baja team at work during my first tour had me immediately convinced that before I had even decided where I wanted to go to college, I knew I wanted to participate in a Baja competition. It did not take long to see that Penn College was my best choice for my major, and my passion for racing.

My experience at Penn College has shifted the scope of my goals from a desire to develop skills and begin a career as a machinist, to establishing a manufacturing company and race team in the powersports aftermarket. While my initial machining classes built a solid foundation for the rest of my college career, the later adjacent classes in subjects I was unfamiliar with helped me get better at stepping out of my comfort zone. After being exposed to some basic hydraulics, PLC programming, and lean manufacturing principles I was experienced in evolving with my subject matter just in time for my greatest challenge at the College. 

Helping lead the Baja team has by far been the most influential experience in the foundation of my career path. In this position, I am not only met with a great deal of my own adversity, but I regularly help lead others through theirs. When bearing the weight of this responsibility, along with the pressure of the Baja competition, there is no time for self-doubt. Thus, the single most crucial lesson in my time at Penn College: the relentless elimination of self-doubt. Not simply the belief that I CAN do anything, but the refusal to accept that I CAN NOT. Even if my goal is something I am not currently capable of, the only thing preventing me from growing to the point in which I am, is myself. It was with this mentality that I realized my dream career path stretched further than I had previously imagined.

My favorite professor is John Upcraft, the faculty advisor to the Baja team. I may not have had any classroom instruction from John within the curriculum, but he is easily the faculty member who I have had the most time with. John is certainly a harsh critic which makes his feedback incredibly valuable as he will not hesitate to tell you when something you are doing is wrong.

Even if your passion drives you towards something which can not form a career, follow it anyways. Not blindly, but with an open mind looking for ways in which that passion can drive a career. While I do love manufacturing, my passion is truly driven by a love for motorsports. Racing is far from a viable career. It’s a rather expensive hobby on its own. However, through constantly keeping my eyes open for ways in which to apply myself creatively to motorsport, I have found a way to channel that into something valuable enough to form a company to produce.

When I first entered the Baja team, there was a very talented group ahead of me and I spent my first two years learning as much as I could from them. After COVID-19 brought the spring 2020 semester to an early end, all of a sudden I was one of the board members on the club I had yet learn how to run. Instead of showing up looking for instructions on what to work on, it was up to me to determine my own actions and drive the club forward. Now instead of just contributing, my actions defined the club.

I struggled a lot with the burden of expectations that came from the group before me. I looked up to that group in a way that made it seem impossible to fill their shoes when it was my turn. It was through this struggle that I finally accepted myself, not as one to follow in someone else’s footsteps, but to forge my own path towards our team's goal.

I view leadership not as individuals filling roles left behind, but as driven members of a team recognizing their own talents and where they can be applied. No one on this team leads alone. We are a collective of pillars in our community who bear the weight of our team. As each generation takes over for the last, new pillars are inspired by those before them. Bearing the same weight that their predecessors did in their own unique position. As the club and the number of people becoming pillars grows, the potential of the team as a whole grows as well.

After graduating I plan to begin working full time for my current employer, Flex-Cell Precision, Inc. I started my first internship with them the summer following my freshman year. Starting with basic undercut setups and operation, I worked my way up learning something new from every job setup until I was working on more advanced projects and lining myself up to make the jump to five-axis machining shortly after graduating. It is at this point when I will be able to direct my focus more towards automation and lights-out machining, utilizing concepts from “industry 4.0” to improve the way the company handles automated production.

It is to establish a company manufacturing parts for the powersports aftermarket. Starting small by purchasing machines one at a time to build my home shop alongside my day job, until through racing, prototyping, and forging a reputation of excellent quality, I am able to produce enough to make it my full-time job. This company would include custom manufacturing along with tube frame fabrication, and maintenance to form a one stop shop for anyone looking to join the powersports community.