Garrett Corneliussen

My grandfather had a 40-year automotive career at Chrysler. I grew up learning from him in the garage and getting my hands dirty. I really enjoyed welding but knew I didn’t want to only weld every day. I wanted a broader challenge. Welding engineering was a segue from something I was really comfortable with, that seemingly had a wide-reaching scope.

First was the heavy hands-on emphasis, which was the main reason I chose Penn College. Second were the endless opportunities that were presented to me as I went through college, which I had no idea would propel my career like they did.

Ryan Good was and remains the most influential educator in my life. His standard was excellence and his drive to step away from the status quo was infectious. He advised me to embrace the opportunities and challenges that led to where I am now.

I was fortunate to receive a full-time job offer at Tesla while doing my internship, prior to graduation. Internships are really long job interviews. I know a lot of folks whose first jobs came from internships.

Thanks to my education and prior internship experience, I was able to contribute at Tesla from day one. The main reason I was offered the internship was because I had hands-on welding experience in addition to robot programming that I learned from both Penn College and internships.

Honestly, my current role at Reframe Systems is the highlight of my career. Being a part of an early-stage start-up gives you agency over your role. I get to work on problems that inspire me and add new skills to my toolbox. We are building a team that is incredibly kind, intelligent, and made up of leaders in their professions. The impact potential of our mission is a motivating force that lends a true feeling of fulfillment.

I know I would not have the life I have today if not for each of the opportunities presented to me after high school. Penn College was a key part of that. It’s also worth mentioning that my best friend to this day was my freshman year roommate at Penn College. We were placed together randomly. Since then, we studied abroad in Austria together, interned at the same companies, and were in each other's wedding parties. I can’t imagine taking a different educational path.

There are many career paths out there. College isn’t for everyone, but I truly believe that gaining technical skills is the easiest way to enter a career with numerous possibilities. Getting a two or four-year degree from Penn College is a guarantee to open many doors.

Reframe Systems is a start-up on a mission to build and retrofit net-zero homes for all, at massive scale. We are driving down the cost and delivery time of net-zero multifamily residential buildings by leveraging design automation, modular building components, and digital manufacturing in robotic microfactories. We are operating out of our first microfactory, north of Boston, and are on track to deliver our first customer home this year.

As a start-up, we wear many hats. I am focused on driving design for manufacturing, defining our production processes, and implementing automated and augmented workcells. One day I am swinging a hammer and the next I am running future factory simulations.

I was connected to the founders through a previous leader from Tesla and Rivian, whom I greatly respect. I quickly realized that Reframe Systems is approaching the construction and manufacturing industries from unique perspectives they gained from Amazon. Flexible microfactories allow for the benefits of manufacturing technologies while remaining adaptable to the variable nature of construction. I wanted to be a part of the small and passionate team that is trying to coalesce decades of learnings from these different industries to positively impact humanity.

Our vision is to unlock climate-friendly human progress. In my job, I am able to apply the skills and knowledge I’ve gained from manufacturing to make more housing that is attainable, better for human wellness, and preserves the environment. This job is a culmination of all of my previous roles in automotive manufacturing, where I was exposed to industry best-practices as well as atypical and forward-looking methodologies. Each of these positions trained me to use first principles thinking for solving problems that could be applied to any industry.