CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER:
SACHIN SHIVARAM
“This is a place where someone can come in…
and completely transform their situation.”
SACHIN’S ROLE
at a Glance:
Role: Chief Executive Officer
Company: Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry
Career Start: 2004
Education:
Harvard University — A.B. History & Literature
University of Cambridge — M.Phil Political Science
Yale Law School — Juris Doctor of Law
Path: Project Management → Sales → Strategy & Marketing → VP → President → CEO
Didn’t Follow a Traditional Path
“I was kind of in a midlife crisis. I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.”
Sachin never thought he would one day be leading a manufacturing company. He was studying to become a lawyer. On paper, he was exactly where he was “supposed” to be. But something didn’t feel right to him. Until he picked up a classic American novel.
“I read Atlas Shrugged… a story about a man who runs a steel mill and a woman who runs a railroad, and how they work together to move America forward.”
That story made Sachin realize that he wanted to work in the metals industry so that he too could do something to move our country forward. So, with a new sense of purpose, he finished law school, passed the bar, and then went to work for a steel company in project management where he quickly worked his way up to executive level leadership.
Not Technical, Still Making an Impact
“I’m not a technical person… when I talk to our engineers, I’m at a kindergarten level.”
But Sachin didn’t come from engineering or grow up in a shop. He didn’t spend years learning metallurgy or metal casting. And yet, he now leads a 100+ year-old foundry. Because he knows that this industry runs on people with many different strengths. Leaders, organizers, and communicators are just as vital as the machinists, melt technicians, and maintenance staff.
What drew Sachin to this industry and kept him here was seeing how people from all walks of life work together to build something bigger than themselves. There’s not one individual who knows everything there is to know about anything. Every person is here because they’re willing to learn, contribute, and lead in their own way.
Why Metalcasting Feels Different
“Seeing that part out in the world and knowing that you physically made [it] with your gloved hands, that is really inspiring.”
In a world where so much work happens on screens in abstract digital spaces, Sachin believes that you can find real beauty and a deep sense of fulfillment in metal casting work. Solving real problems and crafting something with your own hands. Collaborating with people you can see with your own eyes and communicate with in your own voice to bring something to life that’s real, tangible, and valuable.
And when it’s done, you can point to it when you see it out in the world, whether it be a car, a bridge, an appliance, or any number of things, and tell your family and friends: I made that. That kind of pride is what gives people reason to hope and dream for themselves.
Give Metalcasting a Shot
“I think every human has that innate desire to work with their hands. And if you give it a shot, you're going to discover that.”
From the outside, metalcasting can feel intimidating: the scale of the operations, the immense heat radiating from the furnaces, the giant machines that could crush a car, the pace of innovation and technological advancements.
But that’s also what makes it exciting. It’s fascinating to work in a place where the process and conditions are constantly improving to make the work safer, more efficient, and more effective at solving the world’s problems.
For people like Sachin and his team, that’s what life is all about.
