Matt Cardwell, 30
Corporate Engineering Manager—Manufacturing
Service Wire
Matt joined Service Wire—and the industry—a little more than six years ago. “I arrived in the industry by luck; a friend working in the industry referred me,” he recalled, noting he had previously been working in the MEP design engineering realm.
Matt started his Service Wire career as a process engineer in West Virginia. “I then relocated to Texas as the plant engineer for a new plant build-out before returning to West Virginia as manufacturing engineering manager,” he said. “Today I am responsible for maintenance and process engineering across the entire organization.”
For Matt, the appeal of the industry remains the same now as it did as a new hire: “It’s the people,” he said. “Everyone I have met in the industry is willing to teach and share knowledge. It is a tight-knit community that continues to learn and evolve together.”
Asked about a challenge the industry is currently facing, Matt pointed to the challenge of finding technically skilled workers along with maintaining and improving ever-evolving equipment that requires constant up-skilling of the workforce and reinvestments for training and process improvement.
How is he helping to meet these challenges? “Involvement in the interview process to help vet candidates with the right skill sets and attending industry events to learn and share best practices,” said Matt, who is also helping to influence the curriculum and next generation skilled workforce coming out of local programs through involvement with local universities (Marshall University), technical centers (Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center), and WV FAME (Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education).
Looking ahead, Matt admitted that he’s not sure what’s next for him, but “I continue to strive to learn every day and provide as much value as I can to both Service Wire and the industry as a whole,” he noted.
To someone new to the industry, Matt would say “Be open to all opportunities presented to you, learn as much as you can, and continue to be versatile.”
Outside of work Matt enjoys playing golf, “which I am terrible at,” he laughed. “I’ve also been working on home improvement projects as I purchased my first house in the last year.”
Each year tED magazine recognizes 30 of the industry’s best and brightest under the age of 35. Please visit tedmag.com/30Under35 for nomination information and updates about the 2025 program. Questions can be sent to tED Editor Misty Byers at mbyers@naed.org.
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