2017 has been a year of growth for Ball Systems and because of that growth we have added quite a few new team members.

You can learn a little bit about each of them below:

Dave Platts – Engineering Manager

Dave is the newest member of our management team working as the design engineering team manager. Dave graduated from Purdue University with a degree in electrical engineering and is primarily responsible for the management of the design engineering team’s day-to-day activities, the technical approach to system designs, and the project work efforts, timing, and costs associated with meeting customer requirements. Dave has a history working in test system engineering and managing multiple engineering groups.

Dave played on the golf team in high school and still plays today. He is also very interested in classic cars and has restored a 1970 Cutlass convertible. Dave also enjoys listening to vinyl records on vintage hi-fi equipment but has been experimenting with digital audio as well. He has said that he is a constant learner. Dave enjoys working around the house and in the yard as well as playing Euchre. He enjoys Sam Adams and most dark beers and a good Merlot. He loves to go to beach - Sanibel Island, FL is one of Dave’s favorite places.

Spencer Allan – Project Engineer

Spencer is our newest team member to the project engineering team and he has a degree in electrical engineering from Olivet Nazarene University. Spencer grew up in Illinois but calls Indy his home now and is enjoying getting to know the area. Spencer’s primary role at Ball Systems is project management. He is responsible for working directly with our customers to make sure we are meeting deadlines and completing projects on time. Spencer is a people person and he has said that those skills have helped him a lot in this role as there is a lot of communication needed between different areas – operations, engineering, and the customer.

Spencer is an avid hiker and camper – in fact, two years ago he hadn’t been to a single National Park and now he has been to 13. This past summer, he took a road trip to Utah and visited five National Parks in that one trip. He also swam from Costa Rica to Nicaragua. Spencer is a huge Star Wars and Lord of the Rings fan as well as many other movies. He really enjoys hanging out with his friends and playing board games. Spencer noted “also I love puzzles. I'm not a grandma, but there's nothing quite like doing a cool puzzle with a movie on in the background.”

Ron Radzwion – Inventory Supply Technician

Ron is a very important team member especially to our production team and to our project engineers. Ron’s primary responsibilities include: checking in orders (verifying package contents with Ball Systems purchase orders), receiving items into our inventory system against a job so that the project engineers know what items we have received for their jobs, picking up/dropping off parts, pulling parts from inventory for new jobs, packaging and shipping orders to customers. To be successful, Ron must be organized and thorough and we truly think he is.

Ron has lived in four different states (Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky and Michigan) over the last four years, but now calls Indy home. He is a self-proclaimed beer enthusiast and enjoys playing video games in his spare time. He also enjoys projects that keep him busy and working out regularly.

Melanie Verburg – Marketing Specialist

Melanie received her bachelor’s degree from Ball State University in communications. She now calls Indy her home and she loves it. She was raised in Fort Wayne and has four younger brothers. Melanie currently manages and coordinates all marketing efforts for Ball Systems – a first in the company’s 50-year history. She has been tasked with bringing her marketing knowledge to a team full of engineers. Melanie says that her favorite part of her job is being able to educate the team on marketing practices but also being able to learn everyday about what this team does in the engineering world.

In her spare time, Melanie enjoys reading and hanging out with her dog (Finn) and cat (Zola). She also really likes to be outside and knows more about human anatomy than the average human because of her fascination of Grey’s Anatomy and her history of working for a health system. Melanie is a Riley Kid and used to speak at Dance Marathons across the state of Indiana to encourage students to raise money for Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Melanie is an alumna of Phi Mu Fraternity and is currently an adviser with the Delta Alpha chapter of Phi Mu at Indiana University.

Joe Miko – Business Development Manager

Joe has a degree in business from Eastern Michigan University and is based in the Detroit, MI area. He is in a newly established position for Ball Systems which is responsible for new business development and sales for the upper mid-west region of the US. Joe believes that it's an exciting position because he can use his 20 years automotive related commercial experience in this same region to independently navigate Ball Systems towards new opportunities and potential growth areas. Joe said that he believes in what we do here at Ball Systems and that it resonates with our core target customers and they appreciate not only our competence and long standing 50 years’ experience in this area, but also the strict adherence to straightforward and honest business values that go along with everything we do.

Joe loves history and is a true believer that understanding the past is needed to guide us through the challenges of today. And that passion takes him in several directions. Currently, he is restoring a 1943 Ford GPW jeep, and is very proud to show pictures and to boast about the project. Feel free to ask him any questions about it, but fair warning – he says you might get an ear full in return. Joe also enjoys sports and as a native Clevelander he even admits being a lifelong Browns fan. Now if that's not loyalty......we aren’t sure what is! In his spare time, Joe really enjoys taking hikes in the beautiful MI State and National Parks with his wife, Tanya, and two dogs, Gunther and Gretel. Their youngest, (Gunther) is in the process of becoming a veteran's service dog.