Think global, act local. This largely forgotten political catchphrase from the late 80s hasn’t officially found a new home with Phoenix Mecano, but perhaps it should. While obviously a global player in the enclosures and industrial components market segments, the Swiss-based company always strives to connect locally and make its presence keenly felt, wherever and in whatever community it physically sets up shop in.
This is clearly the case with the company’s Frederick, Maryland manufacturing location, just ask new Phoenix Mecano intern, Lucas Sasaki. “I’ve been here about three months,” says Sasaki. “I earned my master’s degree in management information systems (MIS) from Hood College and am a part-time intern here. Phoenix Mecano was a regular presence on the Hood College campus, always keeping an eye out for potential hires at career fairs. The company’s commitment to the local community is a big reason why I’m here today.”
On the subject of Phoenix Mecano thinking globally, Sasaki’s story also nicely fits the bill. Sasaki is a native of Brazil. He moved to the United States about eight years ago, first landing in Franklin Springs, Georgia to attend Emmanuel University, where he earned his undergraduate degree. He moved to Frederick from there to get his master’s. Sasaki: “I had the opportunity to become a graduate student at Hood while serving as the tennis coach which allowed me to continue my higher education at almost no cost. I love tennis so it was a complete labor of love. It’s been a long journey from Brazil to Georgia and now Maryland, but definitely a worthwhile one.”
By the time Sasaki started his internship it felt like he’d been in school, if not quite forever, close enough. One of the things he’s had to adjust to working at Phoenix Mecano is getting used to, well, working. Corporate culture. No matter how fabulous a student you are, in any field of study, there’s a marked difference between learning to do a job and actually doing it. “Psychologically, I’m academically oriented,” says Sasaki. “I’ve been in school for a very long time. Any corporate culture would take getting used, no matter the organization. Luckily for me, Phoenix Mecano has a good corporate culture. People are helpful. I have a mentor who’s always ready to stop what he’s doing and answer a question. So as I’m learning the work, I’m in a good place to be learning to work.”
That work is twofold: enterprise resource planning (ERP) and optical character recognition (OCR). These twin tasks put Sasaki’s MIS degree to good use. Sasaki: “I’m in IT. Our work touches every department at Phoenix Mecano. I started out creating templates for each of our vendors in the OCR software, making sure it could accurately recognize fields in invoices and order confirmations. Now I’ve been transitioning into the automation space, helping to create workflows in Power Automate. The work is challenging, but good. I aspire to learn as much as possible every day here.”
Speaking of aspirations, Sasaki is enjoying his experience enough at Phoenix Mecano to hope for an eventual full-time position. “I like it here. I like the work and the atmosphere I’m doing the work in,” says Sasaki. “I also like Frederick. It has genuine smalltown charm. There are great restaurants, lots of nearby nature to explore, and I’ve gotten very plugged into the tennis scene. Big cities can be too much for me, but Frederick feels just right.”
