Carrie Yang
Feb 17, 2026
On Wednesday, February 11, the Engineering Club met with members of the Mellott Company, including alumnus Paul Mellott ‘70, to learn about the professional world of engineering and plan a tour of the Mellott Company’s factory. The Mellott Company specializes in rock crushing, and students had an opportunity to ask professionals questions about the inner workings of the field.
Club President James Coors ’27, who orchestrated the meeting, has long aspired to become an engineer. “One way I've always thought of a good way to educate myself on that and other people in the Engineering Club was to have people from different companies come talk to us about what they do,” said Coors. “I met Mr. Mellott last year when I was doing a Zoom call for the alumni office. I heard about the Mellott company, and that's when I thought it'd be a good idea to meet with them because we had that connection.”
Coors continued, “I thought it would be a good way also if we could get some students who couldn't go on the factory tour, and they could still ask questions about the company.”
Students–leadership council and members alike–delved into the nuances of engineering career paths, with employees graciously fielding questions. Randy Bates, the Vice President of Systems at the company, noted, “The Mellott family and the company [have] always reached out to the community. They instill that into the employees here as well. You'll see Mellott employees at county fairs and different parades and functions. We're out there.”
Students affirm that the meeting broadened and deepened their understanding of engineering. Club member William Sellery ’26 explained, “What stood out to me particularly is their focus on culture and really being able to work on something hands-on and not just in theory.”
Jacob Curry ’27 was impressed with the company’s longevity. “Engineering is starting to become a very polarized field in the sense that there are actually a lot of people who leave jobs within two years, and then there are people who stay at jobs for fifty-plus years,” said Curry. “They all knew each other–they all liked each other. They seemed a lot more relaxed than the typical engineer archetype.”
“You have big, massive companies where you can work on a massive range of different things, and you can be working hands-on,” said Sellery. “Or you can also be in smaller companies, which are often, I'd say, nowadays overlooked by a lot of people.”
Like Coors, other students aspire to pursue engineering in higher education or explore fields adjacent to engineering. Curry said, “It's been a pretty [long-time] goal of mine to obtain an engineering degree and become an engineer.” On the other hand, Sellery, who is President of the Robotics Society, noted that “there’s a lot of overlap [between the two clubs].”
The Club hopes to visit the Mellott Company in April. “It will be a lot of learning to see what day-to-day the engineers do, what happens…around their company, and [we’ll] get to see a lot of the facilities that they run,” said Coors.
The upcoming visit and similar off-campus events will set a precedent for future club activity. Curry explained, “I feel like more real-life young professionals and even older professionals are what Mercersburg students need to hear from.”