NOVEMBER 2011
cvbusinessmonthly.com
CEDAR VALLEY BUSINESS MONTHLY
THE COURIER
PAGE 19
Jesse Knight Engineer connects with kids, showing them new possibilities By JEFF REINITZ jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com
WATERLOO — The task seemed easy: Tell a robot how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The middle school students instructed Jesse Knight — the flesh-and-blood stand-in for the robot — to start by putting the peanut butter on the bread. He picked up the jar and placed it on a slice. Not like that, came the response. Then the wheels started turning. Students were considering the details and individual steps between having a jar and a loaf and having a completed PB&J. Knight, a 37-year-old hydraulics design engineer from John Deere, sees speaking to students about applying themselves in science as a way to get them to steer clear of other influences. He also coaches young people in sports and is a regular chaperone at Westminster Presbyterian Church’s middle school dance. “This is how can I give some of the things I’ve been blessed with back to the community,” Knight said. Growing up in rural Kentucky, Knight had few opportunities. Aside from dangerous work in the coal mines, the possibilities were limited. Higher education wasn’t a family tradition. His parents had split up, and Knight was largely raised by his grandmother. But as he began to plan for his future, a cousin encouraged him to apply himself. You’re smart, she told him. Go to college. He enrolled at a community college, took out student loans and worked his way up to earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1997. He credits his high school wrestling training with keeping him disciplined.
■ JESSE KNIGHT ■ AGE: 37 ■ OCCUPATION: Hydraulic design engineer at John Deere ■ VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES: Coaching football for the Youth Sports Foundation and flag football, softball and tee-ball for Waterloo Leisure Service; Parent volunteer with the Wahawk Wrestling Club and West High Wrestling; mentoring through Big Brothers Big Sisters; teaching Junior Achievement at elementary schools; supporting John Deere Engineering Week at Hoover and Central Middle schools and Webster County High School in Kentucky; church volunteer activities. ■ EDUCATION: University of Kentucky — B.S. in mechanical engineering. ■ FAMILY: Wife, Tasha; four children: Cole, Victoria, Alexandria, Cameron. ■ A MOMENT IN YOUR PAST THAT HELPED SHAPE YOU: My graduation day from the University of Kentucky was a milestone 22 years in the making and helped set the stage for opportunities that I have today. ■ A MENTOR AND WHY: My great-aunt, Anna Lou Price, has been one of my strongest influences. She continues to be a positive and active role model for me.
“The amount of work and training involved in the sport, it just helped solidify me,” he said. Knight worked in a hydraulics manufacturing in Kentucky. It was a job with a 70-mile commute each way, and it wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life. So after three years, he looked for other work and found an opening at the John Deere plant in Moline, Ill. He later moved to Deere’s hydraulic operations in Waterloo and liked
BRANDON POLLOCK / Courier Staff Photographer
Jesse Knight outside the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo. He recalled running into a stu- day. I thought that was great,’” the community. In addition to raising four dent from his robot presentation Knight said. “The kids are starting to see a children — including a special- after school. Someone had told needs son — with his wife, Tasha, him the child, who did a good connection, so I know I’m reachKnight coaches youth flag foot- job in the activity, was in a gang. ing them. But it also feels like ball, softball and tee-ball and vol- Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. I reached a kid that maybe we “He said, ‘You’re Mr. Knight. can alter his life down the line,” unteers with the local youth and high school wrestling programs. You were in my class the other Knight said.