Mike Inglis

Mike Inglis is a Product Developer at Bogden & Gross (BG) Furniture in Walkerton, Ontario. He began his career with BG on a co-op term during the three-year Woodworking Technology Course at Conestoga College. Mike participated in two co-op terms at BG. The first co-op was working in the plant experiencing different jobs, and the second was in engineering, which is where he is now. He decided to continue on this route as he enjoyed how work is different every day and he is able to do a lot of problem solving.

Mike feels that the program at Conestoga had a large impact on his ability to do his job well. He learned about the drafting component, which is a large part of his current role, allowing him to minimize the amount of training required in that area when he started with BG as an employee.

As a product developer, Mike works with the owner on new concepts to help them come to life. He sources new hardware, requests sample making and draws the furniture in a drafting program. He also does programming for the machining centre and prepares production cards or route sheets before the furniture goes into production. Mike enjoys using the software and seeing a product develop. He likes working with different woods and takes the opportunity to do hands-on work whenever he can.

According to Mike, those who are very dedicated and enjoy the work would do well in this type of role. He says that an individual really has to like the work to succeed in this industry in order to get past the frustration and stress that it sometimes brings.  As for Mike, he sees himself moving into a Production Management role, or maybe even becoming an owner one day.