Application and Design Assistant Donna Radika has witnessed and shaped 36 years of technological changes at L&M – but the reasons why she stays at L&M have remained the same.
Hibbing, Minnesota – In February of 1989, the Berlin Wall was mere months away from falling, “Straight Up” by Paula Abdul was flooding through car radios, and L&M Radiator in Hibbing, Minnesota was introducing its first-ever computers.
To help with the transition, Donna Radika was hired to input the plant’s data to get the computer system rolling. As one can imagine, things were a bit different back then.
“When I first started at L&M, drafters were still drawing models by hand. I remember we had file cabinets upon file cabinets of hard copies of drawings,” said Radika, Applications and Design Assistant at L&M. “We would even manually run blueprints on a big blueprint machine.”
At the time, L&M was only just implementing its first one-dimensional CAD (computer-aided design) software. Now, of course, L&M uses 3D modeling software. But the means of design isn’t the only thing that’s changed – it’s the designs themselves.
If you had told Radika three decades ago that she would be assisting with the production of thermal management systems for battery and fuel cell-powered vehicles, she’d find it hard to believe.
“It’s just crazy where we came from to where we’re at today,” said Radika.
Radika has been there through it all. As a consequence, she knows absolutely everything about anything that goes on operations-wise at L&M Hibbing. The joke at the office is that Radika has a secret career as a Crime Scene Investigator (CSI) agent. If anyone needs to find something, Radika is sure to find it, not only because of her experience and knowledge but also her perseverance. She won’t stop until it’s found.
It all comes from a true ability to see how every piece of the puzzle connects, which means knowing what’s going on in every department at L&M.
“I touch on almost every department at L&M,” said Radika. “I don’t ever have tunnel vision in my job. I like to know all of my customers, why I do something, what I’m doing, and how that affects others down the line. I think that’s a really important skill for many, many positions here.”
Leveraging the Past to Build the Future
Throughout all the years of change, Radika says there are a few things that have stayed the same at L&M Radiator. One of those is the people.
“I work with great people. I’ve been here a very, very long time. And it’s always been that way,” said Radika. “L&M as a whole, in all the years from beginning to now, they do what’s best for their employees. It’s always been like that, and it’s nice to see that tradition continued on with Wabtec. It’s a great company to work for. My 36 years prove that.”
Radika has loved watching the younger generation join L&M, take the foundation she helped establish, and run with it.
Outside of work, Radika does all of the things a life in the Minnesota country demands – side-by-side UTV riding with her husband, fishing in the summer, cooking venison that her husband brings home, cheering for the Minnesota Vikings, and closing out the day with a great true crime book.
Plus, of course, a great end-of-winter vacation. Radika loves to save all of her vacation time for one long month each year. This year, she and her husband went to the Bahamas for the entirety of March. Next time you see her around, ask her where she’s off to next year!
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