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A Publication of WTVP

A leader both inside and outside the workplace, Nicholas J. Brazis has worked his way up the ranks at Caterpillar, making it a better place at each level. Beginning as a chemical process engineer more than eight years ago, he is now engineering manager, responsible for the North American Metallurgical and Chemical Services group within Advanced Materials Technology, part of the Product Development & Global Technology (PD>) Division, with over 100 employees in 11 facilities throughout North America.

As a 6 Sigma Black Belt, Brazis was responsible for delivering $13 million in cost reductions through various projects—efforts which won him the Caterpillar PD> Mountain Mover Award. He was also responsible for the creation of a formal program to hire and train chemical engineers at Caterpillar, as well as a remanufacturing cleaning technology development team to develop next-generation technologies. In addition he helped the chemical engineering team grow from three employees supporting two buildings in East Peoria to a team of 15 supporting 11 facilities across North America.

Brazis’ leadership role carries over into serving his community as well. Highly involved at Harvest Bible Chapel in Peoria, he serves as an elder on its board of directors and a current member of the Finance Committee. As an Impact Group leader within Adult Ministries, Brazis has led Bible study groups of 20 couples who volunteer throughout the community, working at Midwest Food Bank, collecting back-to-school backpacks and delivering Christmas gifts to less fortunate families in the Peoria area. He has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity on numerous building projects and serves on the board of the Manufacturers’ Environmental Group for the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association.

Having completed his master’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Bradley University, Brazis is currently in the Executive MBA program at Washington University. His family life is growing as well: he and his wife, Heidi, are expecting their fourth child. iBi

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