POSITION; Electrical
and Instrumentation
Maintenance Engineer
EDUCATION BS,
Engineering, Louisiana State
University, 2006
IF I COULD HAVE ANY
SUPERPOWER, I'D PICK: the AWAD JAVED completed a
ability to fly, so I could cut
through traffic! co-op at Monsanto while he
was in school-he had been
drawn to the company because of
its forward thinking. Once he started his program, he loved how
approachable, knowledgeable, and down-to-earth everyone at
Monsanto was, and was thrilled to receive an offer for full-time
employment when he completed his co-op. Maybe it was the
excitement of knowing a job at the company awaited him upon
graduation, but Javed scored all A's in his final semester.
Why did you decide to work for Monsanto? I met a Monsanto
recruiter my junior year in college, and a comment he made
stuck with me: The world's population is growing, so the demand
for food is growing-but farmland is limited. In the future, the
companies that do well will be the ones that help us use the
land we have to meet demands. That's something Monsanto is
working on, and there's a lot of potential here.
What do you do? I'm an electrical and instrumentation
maintenance engineer for the Monsanto Luling plant. My job is to
maintain reliable operations and provide technical support to my
assigned area: utilities and environmental operations. The plant
never sleeps and my job is to take care of any electrical problems
that may stop production at the plant as soon as possible.
Has the job met your
expectations? It really has.
Matter of fact, in some cases
it has exceeded them. There
are plenty of opportunities
here and the company itself is
in a stable condition and has been for years. I started my co-op
in IT but always wanted to pursue a career in engineering. When
I shared that outlook with my manager, he encouraged me to
try it while I was working as an IT co-op. I liked the job, applied
for it, and got it even before I went back to school to finish my
last semester. The great thing about working for Monsanto is
that if you show your potential here, they're very supportive of
letting you explore avenues that may suit you-and therefore
the company-the best.
Describe Monsanto in three words: Fair, opportunity, growth.
What are you most proud of in your work? I've worked a lot
on preventive maintenance. Monsanto is trying to be more
proactive than reactive, and I've helped come up with different
programs that help us accomplish that goal. I'm very proud of
the work I've done-some of it has been plant-wide, as well.
Do you have any parting advice for students considering working
for Monsanto? When I first started as a co-op at Monsanto, my
then-future-boss was addressing all of the co-ops and he said:
"Your future in this company is only limited by what you want
to accomplish." That was one of the very first things I heard
when I started here, and I really took it to heart. It's great advice
and it is true to the bone.
JUN E C A PU FALL 2008 17
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