From Tinkering to Trained

For Lane Veld, fixing things was never just a hobby—it was a calling. If something had an engine, he wanted to take it apart. If it broke, he had to know why. That curiosity, sparked on his family farm, led him to a career in automation.

Industries across the globe rely heavily on automation for production speed, customer service, healthcare procedures, and much more, and the need for skilled technicians has never been greater. Tulsa Tech provides the hands-on training students need to meet that demand—and Veld is proof.

“I started in high school just tinkering with anything,” he said. “Anything we had around the farm was fair game for me to take apart and repair.”

That passion led him to study automotive maintenance, welding, and even take a nighttime machining class.

“I looked at my life and decided that I didn’t want to just do the same thing every day,” he said. “I wanted to do more than just push the buttons to make the machines run.”

It was that desire to do more that lead him to enroll in Tulsa Tech’s Mechatronics program.

“Mechatronics combines mechanical and electrical systems,” Veld said. “You need to understand how a system is supposed to work and the electronics that make it function.”

That training set him up for success. Today, Veld works for Oklahoma-based Alltra, a company that builds CNC plasma cutting systems. His job takes him across the country, working with industry giants like John Deere and Caterpillar.

“The best part of my job is that every situation is unique,” he said. “One day, I might be doing a simple install. The next, I could be retrofitting a machine with just the schematics and my imagination.”

Veld credits much of his success to his Tulsa Tech instructor, Casey Taylor.

“(Casey) does an incredible job of weaving training and personal experience into every lesson,” he said. “His ability to help you understand a concept—and his passion for the field—is something special.”

For those considering a career in automation, Veld has simple advice: keep learning.

“Take advantage of every opportunity,” he said. “If you like working with your hands, this is a great career for you.”