Kent ISD — Marek Ripmaster created a keychain last year in his engineering class at the Kent Career Tech Center. He turned the project in and had forgotten about it until someone mentioned to him that the Kent ISD Workforce Development team had ordered 900 of them.
“Literally, I didn’t know anything about it until that call,” said Marek, who is a senior at Forest Hills Central High School currently enrolled in the Tech Center’s mechatronics program.
Marek, who plans to attend Michigan Technological University in the fall to study mechanical engineering, said his former engineering instructor Joe Phillips confirmed the order, which has a May deadline to be completed.
“I am pushing the printer hard to complete it,” Phillips said, noting the printer can only produce 28 keychains in a batch. “I start them first thing in the morning so the first batch is done around 10 a.m. Then I start the second patch so that before I go home, the third batch can be completed overnight.”
Students in Tech Center classes who finish their work early are often given the opportunity to work on additional assignments. Marek said that is how he came to design the keychain.
“I used the KCTC logo — the circle with colors — as the basis for my design,” he said. “Because the (3D) printer is a single nozzle, I made each color of the circle a different height so that the nozzle didn’t need to change the filament as often and would create less waste.”
As for the keychain finding a purpose, he said, “I think it is kind of cool, and I am hoping this will only lead to the creation of making more things that are actually used.”
How old were you when engineering and designing became something you were interested in? “I have always enjoyed building things. I would work with my dad on woodworking projects, and one of my first big projects was making a 3-foot-tall bed that had drawers. Over time, it just kind of transferred into different things.”
A few related accomplishments: Marek has participated in SkillsUSA, a career and technical education program. He also collaborated with his cousin, Greyson Ripmaster, on a project to make wheelchairs remote controlled.
Is there a teacher who has had a big impact on you in this area? Marek said Central Middle School woodshop and coding teacher Dave Albert got him interested in coding, and that being part of the Tech Center’s engineering and mechatronics programs has given him the chance to understand how different fields collaborate and connect.
Do you plan to pursue this professionally? “I really like cars and designing cars, but because it’s a volatile industry and since I like engines and transmissions, I have decided to lean in more on tractors and farm equipment. Basically something with engines, or in the vicinity of cars.”
The biggest lesson you have learned from your involvement in this is … “little things snowball. You start doing something because you are asked to design a little part, and end up a year later getting interviewed.,” he said with a smile.
“Actually, I took the woodshop class and because I liked the teacher, decided to take his other class, which was coding. This led to me learning about coding. Going to KCTC was always part of my plan, and because of coding I ended up in engineering.”
‘Little things snowball.’
— FHC senior Marek Ripmaster
Other hobbies/interests: Marek has participated in gymnastics for 14 years at Grand Rapids Gymnastics, even coaching his high-school team for a while, and in 2024 took first place in vault and high bar at the Eastern Nationals Championships.
He also likes to work on cars with his friends.
“They break them, I fix them,” he added with a laugh.
Read more from Kent ISD:
• Tech Center student’s trajectory: sparks and arcs
• A 2,200-mile change in location made all the difference for this grad
