Welcome to Levi Erickson's Project Page

Hi, I am Levi Erickson, thank you for visiting my portfolio page!

I am currently working as a Process/New Model Devlopment Engineer at Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA). SIA is the only manufacturer of Subaru cars outside of Japan. Since I started working here about a year ago, I have been foturnate enough to visit Japan twice and see three of our facilities there. My current responsibilities include support for current production models, but about 85% of my time is spent on new model development. My area of responsibility is in the Body Shop, Loose Parts area, where we manufacture the doors, hood, and rear gate of the vehicle. I am supported by a small team and we manage everything from jig installation to robot teaching, cycle time measures and improvements, part quality/accuracy improvements, lineside layouts, PLC programming, pokayoke and yokoten activities, and more. All done while upholding stringent safety policies, enforcing safe working practices, and creating safe working spaces. SIA is one of the safest automotive workplaces in the US, and the first zero landfill automotive manufacturer.

Prior to joining Subaru, I earned my MS in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. While pursuant of my degree, I conducted research with the C Design Lab and TA'd for ME 444 CAD & Prototyping (2 years) and ME 270 Statics (1 semester). In my research, I was able to work with a great team where we explored the possibilities and applications of VR, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and learning science. We worked with partners in manufacturing and aerospace, and were excited to be published in the top HCI journal, CHI. Working with the CAD & Prototyping class, over the four semesters the class size grew from around 60 to 160, over which I personally instructed around 140 junior and senior engineering students. For my dedication and impact in the class I was honored to be nominated and awarded the Estus H. and Vashti L. Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Going back even further, I started my professional engineering career at Nippon Steel Pipe America shortly after graduating from North Dakota State University (NDSU) with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, International Studies, and a minor in Physics in 2017.

Thanks again for visiting. I've written this website with little more than a text file and some html/php, but I hope the content is worthwhile nevertheless.

Please check the different tabs at the top of the page, and feel free to reach out to me for any reason!

Thanks!

-Levi Erickson