When people think about the Month of May in Indiana, they usually think about fast cars, race day traditions and the excitement of the Indy 500.

But behind every lap is an entire team of people working across Indiana’s advanced industries to develop and test the technology, make and move things around the country (and the world), analyze data and make decisions that bring race day to life.

Modern racing depends on advanced industries — and many of the careers that help power race day are the same careers helping shape Indiana’s future every day.

Whether you’re interested in hands-on work, problem-solving, creativity or technology, there are many ways to be part of industries like these right here in Indiana.

Engineering

From designing vehicle systems to improving performance and safety, engineers help turn ideas into reality. Engineers across disciplines use creativity, problem-solving, and technology to design, test, and improve systems people rely on not just on race day, but every day.

Some careers in this field include:

Engineers often work with advanced technology, testing systems, solving problems, and helping improve performance and safety in fast-paced environments.

 

Advanced Manufacturing

Careers in advanced manufacturing combine hands-on work with advanced technologies and precisions tools that help drive innovation across Indiana’s economy. Advanced manufacturing professionals help build the parts, materials and systems used across industries including transportation, life sciences, aerospace and motorsports.

Some careers in this field include:

Indiana is a national leader in advanced manufacturing and logistics, with companies across the state helping design, produce and move products around the world.

 

Technology + Data

Technology plays a major role as its own sector as well as across Indiana’s advanced industries, from software development and cybersecurity to data analytics and artificial intelligence. In the context of racing, teams rely on software, analytics and real-time data to make decisions quickly and improve performance.

Some careers in this field include:

 

TechPoint’s Careers in Tech platform helps you uncover some of the top career paths and opportunities across Indiana’s technology sector. Visit techpoint.org/careersintech to learn more!

 

Logistics

Getting materials, tools and equipment where they need to go takes planning, coordination and teamwork.  Logistics and operations professionals help coordinate the movement of products, materials, and equipment across complex systems and supply chains.

Some careers in this field include:

Indiana’s advanced manufacturing and logistics industries play a major role in moving products and materials across the country and around the world.

 

Media + Communications

Race day also depends on creative professionals who help tell stories and connect with fans. Photographers, videographers, marketers and communications teams help bring events to life both in person and online.

Some careers in this field include:

These careers combine creativity, storytelling and technology — and opportunities exist across Indiana’s advanced industries.

 

Finding Your Path

There’s no single path into advanced industries careers. Explore more opportunities at SeeYourselfIN.com.

Whether your interests are in technology, engineering, manufacturing, logistics or creative work, Indiana’s advanced industries offer opportunities to explore careers that help power innovation every day — on and off the track.

We’ve all heard those stories about engineers who started out as little junior engineers. When they were kids, they were always building things with Legos or tinkering with machines.

Braxton Bragg says that wasn’t him.

The future Product Innovation Engineer with Evansville’s Berry Global was more into sports.

As he got older, though, the foundation for a career in engineering took shape. At New Albany High School, along with participating in athletics, Braxton found that chemistry, physics and math interested him, and that he wasn’t half bad at those subjects. His junior and senior years, he took a job working on a farm and discovered that the mechanics of the tractors and other equipment fascinated him. As these factors pulled together, he recognized where his path was leading. When he headed off to college at the University of Southern Indiana, he majored in engineering.

And when an opportunity for an internship at Berry Global came up during his sophomore year, Braxton jumped on it. He was familiar with the plastic container and product company, but didn’t know much about its operations. What he learned hooked him in a hurry.

“I was blown away by how much goes into making a plastic drinking cup or plastic lid or the container that holds your products in the grocery,” Braxton says. “The kind of technical crew it takes to pull off efficient production of something like that, it took me for a shock.”

Hired on as a full-time employee in 2019 and promoted to his current position in 2020, Braxton says he enjoys being a part of the company’s global headquarters because that gives him a front-row seat to everything from product ideation to seeing items he worked on come off the production line. He currently has five or six projects on which he serves as project manager, he says, all in different stages. He enjoys the variety of the work and the fact that every day can be a little different. 

He also enjoys the constant drive to make better products more efficiently. “Coming up with a better way to make a better widget that nobody else can make, that’s always the process,” Braxton says. “Innovation as a whole is consistent on the product and process side.”

And he’s delighted to have landed a job with all those features just a short drive from his hometown. Married to his high school sweetheart, Braxton enjoys staying in touch with friends and family and taking advantage of Southern Indiana’s hunting and fishing options. And while engineering ultimately took up a larger part of his life than the sports that he focused on as a kid, he hasn’t given up athletics completely. He’s taken up running, and he’s preparing to run his second marathon.

Find even more stories like Braxton’s on the See Yourself IN Resources Page!