2014 Engineering Leader Under 40: Atif Khan

Automation Engineering Manager; Sandvik Mining; Alachua, Fla.

By CFE Media September 15, 2014

Atif Khan, 36
Automation Engineering Manager
Sandvik Mining
Alachua, Fla.

Education: BS Computer Science, Georgia Institute of Technology

Atif Khan has been involved in control system design, implementation, testing, and deployment at Sandvik Alachua ever since he was first hired as a software engineer 5 years ago. Within 2 years he was promoted to automation engineering manager, and together with his team, Atif has collaborated with Sandvik Global Competency Centers to achieve time-to-market targets that would otherwise be difficult to accomplish. Atif continuously provides feedback to executive management with regard to automation roadmaps and how Sandvik Mining should align itself in the marketplace.

A natural introvert, Atif has had to work especially hard to open up and present his views to others. As his experience has grown over the years, he has impressed his peers and managers with his technical expertise and calm personality. In addition, Atif enjoys being a liaison engineer with university students on projects sponsored by Sandvik. He gets a kick out of listening to the out-of-box ideas generated by the undergrad students. Its also gratifying for him to see how much the team learns as the project gets implemented.

Why choose this career path?
Atif has been influenced by his father, who was a professional civil engineer. As Atif was growing up, he was introduced to computer consoles, such as Atari and Commodore 64, and since learning BASIC programming language has always been fascinated by how computers work. As a teenager, he developed programs for companies to maintain their database of inventory and  got hooked on programming. While in college, programming in LISP for an artificial intelligence course was all the motivation that Atif needed to pursue a career in robotics.

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Author Bio: Since its founding in 2010, CFE Media and Technology has provided engineers in manufacturing, commercial and industrial buildings, and manufacturing control systems with the knowledge they need to improve their operational efficiency. CFE delivers the right information at the right time around the world through a variety of platforms.