Justin Jennings is an accomplished materials engineer at John Deere who is notably on track to reach high technical leadership roles within Deere in both materials and engineering competencies.

Before beginning his career at John Deere, Justin earned his bachelor’s degree in Materials Science Engineering from Purdue University, gained experience in commercial heat treating and process metallurgy, and grew his experience in the commercial heat treating sector through developing process metallurgy and lab technician skills. Several conventional heat treat processes that he is skilled in include carburizing, carbonitriding, quenching and tempering, induction hardening, stress relieving, annealing, and more. He performed metallurgical heat treatment verifications, managed a metallurgical lab and technicians, developed heat treat recipes for new client orders, and engaged with suppliers regarding material and heat treat standard feedback.

In 2011, Justin began working at John Deere and yet already he has reached the highest technical level of leadership in heat treatment at Deere as the Enterprise Heat Treatment Competency lead. In this role, he leads the heat treatment community in creating roadmaps for heat treatment, prospecting and executing technology development projects in heat treatment. Justin resolves difficult heat treat related issues throughout the enterprise; he is a certified lead for supplier audits for heat treatment.

How he has grown in the company is filled with technical leadership benchmarks. Early in his career as a materials engineer at John Deere, Justin worked in process engineering for crankshaft induction hardening and magnetic particle inspection production operations including the management of inductor coil tooling and adjustment verifications. He performed metallurgical lab evaluations for internal and purchased engine components along with failure analyses from internal lab testing and client field return parts.

From 2013 to 2016, after a promotion, Justin became the materials engineer at the drive train operations factory, performing heat treatment process verifications for captive heat treat operations. He led many metallurgical capital improvement projects and developed and revised numerous internal John Deere material and heat treatment standards. Justin also mentored a John Deere Materials Engineering Development Program employee through the development of carburizing and induction hardening microstructure interpretation refence guide sheets that were provided throughout the enterprise’s heat treatment locations to improve John Deere’s internal employment training and development and consistency of microstructure evaluations.

From 2016 to 2021, Justin was the materials engineer at John Deere’s Product Engineering Center. He provided material and heat treat process selection design consultation for new tractor development programs. Justin supported material and heat treatment supplier selection and development through part reviews, standard requirement discussions, and supplier visits and audits. He developed a Forging Supplier Audit Assessment and trained internal employees to conduct audits accordingly. Justin also developed an internal John Deere Standard for gear steels with improved nonmetallic inclusion cleanliness including verification methods and acceptance criteria.

Justin’s most recent accomplishments at John Deere have been leading John Deere Enterprise Material Competency Areas of Bar Steel, Heat Treatment, Adhesives & Non-Ferrous Electrical Materials and guiding research and development of new material technologies and process for various John Deere applications. Justin co-led an internal John Deere Heat Treatment Core Technology Team consisting of heat treatment manufacturing engineers, materials engineers, product designers, and quality engineers that focused on sharing heat treatment knowledge, investigating new heat treatment opportunities, and developing heat treatment specifications and requirements. He represented John Deere at multiple Material and Heat Treatment University Consortiums, providing industry-relevant research direction and project mentorship.

In terms of giving back to the industry, Justin has mentored numerous senior design projects at Iowa State University and Purdue University, as well as summer interns and fresh graduates at Deere, helping them work in heat treatment and materials engineering. He also sits on the industrial advisory board for Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Center for Heat Treating Excellence (CHTE), Purdue University’s Purdue Heat Treatment Center (PHTC), and Bar Steel’s committee for Advanced Steel Processing & Products Research Center (ASPPRC) in Colorado School of Mines.

In addition to his current University-Industry Consortium participation, Justin has also mentored multiple material and heat treatment related University Senior Design Projects providing industry exposure, technical mentoring, and career advice to university students at Purdue University and Iowa State University, including:

• Purdue 2016: Remediation of Lost Compressive Residual Stress in Carburized Steel Gears
• Purdue 2017: Effects of Thermally-Sprayed Molybdenum Coating Characteristics on Wear Performance
• Purdue 2019: Charpy Energy Measurements of Cast Steels for Roll Over Protection Structures
• ISU 2022: Effect of Regional Chemistry and Processing on Steel Impact Toughness Properties

Justin has participated in the AGMA (American Gear Manufactures Association) Metallurgy & Materials Committee supporting industry standard development and is an active member of ASM Heat Treatment Society. He has participated in multiple ASM Heat Treat shows over the years networking with heat suppliers and other industry participants.

Nominated by: John Deere