Ikenna's journey at Cummins is all about testing the limits and coming to great realizations

Growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, Ikenna Onyenze excelled in math and sciences and knew he wanted to pursue something in those fields professionally. “The United States is a leading nation in education, especially for STEM and technology, so it made logical sense for me to come here.” Ikenna enrolled in Howard University in Washington D.C. where he earned his degree in Electrical Engineering. 

Upon graduation, just like the United States made sense to him in choosing a school, Ikenna thought Cummins made a lot of sense when choosing a career. 

During my time at Howard, I became very interested in power generation and renewable energy, and I knew Cummins was doing very exciting work in those spaces, so I accepted their offer.

Today, Ikenna serves as a test systems engineer at our Fridley, MN facilities. “My team supports gen-set development testing – it involves really anything and everything that has to do with improving our infrastructure for our test equipment and infrastructure for testing in general.”

Ikenna goes on to explain an aspect of his job he really enjoys. “I also deal with more long-term thinking, in terms of how we spend capital dollars to improve some of the facilities and instrumentation that we currently have to make sure that we're able to run more tests for a wider spectrum of equipment and do that more efficiently.”

Ikenna recalls a recent project concerning that aspect of his work that he found particularly rewarding and fulfilling. “We had a couple of test cells that we had to upgrade in order to make them meet the standards for Cummins flammable fuel. Normally, we would contract that work externally, but we made the decision this time to do it in-house.” 

By doing it this way, we were able to realize a savings of around $50,000 to $60,000 per test cell, which means when all was said and done, we saved the company around $250,000.

As it turns out, great savings aren’t the only thing Ikenna has realized working for Cummins. As he tells it, another realization happened pretty quickly after leaving school and joining Cummins. “When I was considering job offers, I knew some people who had worked for Cummins, and they told me about how it's a great, diverse company. There's a lot of different types of people that you meet and interact with and many diverse people in leadership, as well. So, that factored into my decision too.”

Now several years later, with more perspective, Ikenna admits he didn’t fully grasp what that meant at the time. “When you're a senior in school, it's like, ‘Okay, I guess diversity is a good thing, right?' But it wasn't until I actually got here that I realized, ‘Oh, this is actually a really important thing’. It's not just something that's good to have, it's something that's really important to me. So, I'm glad that I made that choice.”

Ikenna goes on to explain it even further, “From what I see now with vendors and comparing it to the company I interned with during college, I see there are a lot more people of color in all different positions at Cummins. And there are both males and females in all different positions, as well, and people from different countries. It's just an eclectic balance of people.”

When you look at an org chart here you see women and people of color throughout the executive levels. That representation is important and, ultimately, it fosters good results for everyone.

Diversity issues and representation are not just things Ikenna appreciates at Cummins, they are things he’s also proud to be involved with and promote as an active member of Cummins Black Network, one of our many Employee Resources Groups (ERGs).

ERGs at Cummins are open to all employees and organized by different facets of diversity such as gender, generation, sexual orientation, racial and ethnic heritage, and disabilities. With more than 150 ERGs worldwide, these groups provide ample opportunities for leadership training, cross-cultural learning and professional development. Established groups include Cummins Black Network, Women’s Empowerment Resource Group, Disability Inclusion Resource Group, Cummins Young Professionals, Grupo Organizado de Afinidad Latina, and our Millennial ERG.

Ikenna is also involved in recruiting efforts, focusing mainly on his alma mater, Howard University. “I run the intern engagement for our summer interns from Howard. That's something that is a pleasure to do because I get to meet young interns who are always very energetic. They’re like, ‘Oh, how do I do this or do that?’ They always have a million questions. I just love that energy. It reminds me of how I was back in school.”

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