Jenn Schmidt

Meet Jenn Schmidt, Senior Moldflow Instructor at the AIM Institute, recently sat down to share more about her life outside of work.

How were you inspired to get into the injection molding industry? Like a lot of engineers, I did really well in math and science in high school and my parents basically said, “If we’re going to help you financially with college, pick your favorite kind of engineering.” I think they would have been a bit more flexible in reality, but I was thankful for the guidance. I started out in chemical engineering, but in my first semester I was only taking general engineering courses (boring!). My freshman roommate was in the Plastics Engineering Technology program, and was constantly bringing home interesting plastic parts and explaining the basics to me. The fact that only weeks into our first semester she was already doing hands-on activities really piqued my interest in this field. I switched majors that first semester.

What are some of your favorite hobbies? Pre-kids, I would have said volleyball and homebrewing. But kids keep you busy and it’s been harder to carve out time for those. At this point in my life, I’d say traveling. I’m on a mission to get my kids to all 50 states, and as many National Parks as possible. This past spring break, we hit up the mighty five in Utah, along with a few others. That trip brought the family count up to 45 states and 24 National Parks!