Meet Our Volunteers

Our small staff relies on our 100+ volunteers to serve on committees and task forces, provide chapter and board leadership and to share their talents as technical writers and speakers. Learn what our voulnteers have to say about their experience.

Volunteer Spotlight

Mike Nowakowski, TechTeam Member

How did you get started in the industry? It was 1991 and my friend’s father owned a die shop.  I was working as a bellman at a hotel in Milwaukee, but had to jump into steel rule dies because pay started at $7.50 per hour!

What has your IADD participation meant to you? It has provided great networking opportunities and opened me up to different areas of die cutting.  
What is the best advice (career or other) you ever received? “We become what we think about every day.”  Earl Nightingale the Strangest Secret.

What do you do when you’re not at work? Golf. Read everything. Any volunteer work or charity work I can find.

What is one technical thing you wish you had know earlier? Don’t ever overlook ejection.  It is not just to make the die pretty.  Learn all the types and benefits of rubber.  

What’s your hidden talent? I can cook pretty well and I can make anyone laugh at anytime.  Anywhere.