Engineering Leader Under 40, 2024: Angelo Rabano, 29

Angelo Rabano, 29
Controls & Automation Engineer
Hargrove Controls & Automation
Birmingham, AL, United States
BS Chemical Engineering, University of Alabama

What Makes Angelo is an Engineering Leader

Angelo is a skilled and dedicated controls and automation engineer with a proven track record of optimizing complex systems and enhancing operational efficiency. Known for his innovative problem-solving, technical expertise, and commitment to continuous improvement, Angelo excels in designing, implementing, and maintaining automated systems across various industries. He consistently works in the best interest of both his company and clients. Viewed as a leader by his peers and a mentor to junior teammates, Angelo continually seeks ways to engage, develop, and grow the team and its members.

Achievements, Advancements & Career-related Industry Contributions

In 2021, Angelo completed his Six Sigma Yellow Belt certification and led a team of engineers and operators in integrating a process modeling software with their historian. As the second plant in the company to receive this program, they were tasked with improving the lengthy implementation process. His team successfully reduced the ramping time by three months by developing macros to streamline many manually intensive tasks. These tools were subsequently used to efficiently deploy the software in four other plants the following year.

During an outage, Angelo identified critical equipment where the distributed control system (DCS) interlocks were bypassed for functional tests but were never returned to their normal state. This bypass state was not identifiable from the operator screens and only discovered on the programming screens. He led a plant-wide effort to verify similar situations on all control systems and added custom indicators to make bypassing more apparent.

Non-work-related Activities & Hobbies

Weightlifting has been a significant outlet in Angelo’s life over the past few years. Recently, he achieved a milestone in the weightlifting community by reaching a combined 1,000-pound total in bench press, deadlift, and squat. While this benchmark isn’t propelling him to a professional career, it provided him with a healthy goal to work towards and a sense of accomplishment.

Interesting Details

Angelo is currently developing a mobile game on the Android platform, an adaptation of a board game called Azul that he and his college roommates used to play. This project has been a fun way for him to learn Java and rekindle a competitive fire among friends. To relax, Angelo enjoys playing the acoustic guitar. His biggest fan is his 18-month-old daughter, Amelia, who loves dancing along.

Why Angelo Chose This Career

Angelo was part of a research lab in college where he programmed the controls for a robotic arm on an Arduino platform. This experience sparked his interest in automation and its role in manufacturing. He then took a co-op role working on a Foxboro DCS, which paved the way for similar roles post-graduation. Angelo continues to tinker with Arduino projects with his little cousins, hoping to spark a similar interest in this fulfilling field.

Original content can be found at Plant Engineering.

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