A printed memory

When William Krueger, 27, a product engineer with the University of Dayton Research Institute’s Sustainment Technologies Transition division died unexpectedly in January, his UDRI colleagues wanted to do something special to remember him.

A group of the engineers he worked with in the UDRI additive manufacturing engineering group gathered together to design the Will Krueger Tinkerer Award. Krueger’s colleague Will Gillen, engineering team lead, said that Krueger loved working with his personal 3D printer and was passionate about tinkering to solve problems.

“Will loved his work and had a 3D printer at home, which he used on weekends to test new ideas,” Gillen said. “He always stopped by my desk on Mondays to talk about what he was working on, what issues he encountered and what he did to solve them.”

Gillen said the group created the award to honor Krueger, and that it will be given out whenever one of their group members tinkers or thinks out of the box to solve a problem.

“We thought it would be a great way to remember Will in a positive light,” Gillen said.

Members of his team at UDRI remember Krueger fondly, and said he was a valuable part of their team which will be sorely missed. “Will was always interested in utilizing his talents to achieve his team’s goals … and was all about growing his knowledge and skills … and truly enjoyed life.”