Meet Jordan Engel

My career in the drives business started the week after earning my degree in Electrical Engineering 16 years ago. Immediately following my graduation from Michigan State University, I accepted a position as a Field Sales Engineer with TB Wood’s. One of the principal components of their product portfolio was a line of harsh duty drives. Although a top-tier product, TB Wood’s never had a full drive portfolio, stopping at only 200HP. In spite of the product limitations, I grew my Michigan-Northwest Ohio sales territory and a couple of years later transferred to the Boston market living in New Hampshire where my wife and I have been ever since.

Shortly after our move, TB Wood’s was sold and the mechanical and electrical product divisions were separated. I had an opportunity to go in either direction and chose to follow my interest in drives by joining Vacon, the company that purchased the drives division from TB Wood’s. My time at Vacon was a very fast-paced, dynamic experience where I handled OEM business and helped facilitate the development of custom drive solutions for key customers. In 2011 I made the transition to a manufacturer’s representative, continuing to represent Vacon and then Danfoss after they purchased Vacon.

Throughout my career, I continued to see an increased market presence by Yaskawa and found their customers fiercely loyal. One large customer even told me that Yaskawa was their top supplier – not only of drives but out of all their vendors and by every measurable metric. This overall image of quality, strength, and integrity stuck with me and in 2017 I had the opportunity to join the company and haven’t looked back. At Yaskawa, we make it personal, and our interactions with channel partners and customers mirror those expected of good neighbors, family, or friends.

One of my favorite responsibilities is to be the trusted advisor to both our channel and customers. This expectation has driven me to adopt a continuous learning model in order to stay current on products and technology. Everyone is busy, now more than ever, and we need to share our expertise most efficiently and be prepared to effectively assist customers when needed. Helping customers solve problems is one of the most rewarding parts of my job.

Outside of work I am equally engaged. Brenda and I have two sons, Nolan and Neal who are both negotiating the socially-distanced elementary school experience this fall. We are an avid outdoors family and outside of work, we enjoy camping, mountain climbing, and skiing. Both boys play soccer and the violin; because his older brother was such a good student Neal got a waiver and was allowed to start lessons at age five instead of the mandated age six. The boys enjoy hearing about my work and all the places I travel, I look forward to the day when they are old enough to join me on some customer visits to see how Yaskawa drives are used.