Meet the Kocers
Luke and Landon Kocer are twins studying electrical engineering at South Dakota State University. They are also both embedded software interns, though they are working on different teams and projects. Their older brother, Model-Based Control Team Lead Joel, and father, Director of Technology Solutions Jared, are Raven team members as well.
Jared comes from a farming background and was drawn to Raven by its development of sprayer control systems and its dedication to using electrical engineering as a tool for farmers. Joel has always loved programming and controls and said that Raven stuck out during his explorations into the job market as a leader in autonomy. While all members of the family work on different teams, they all contribute to Helping Farmers Serve the World.
“At Raven, you’re working on things that actually matter: product focused innovations that we want to put into our solutions. It’s hard to find an internship like that.”
— Joel Kocer
Summer at Raven
During their summer internship, Landon’s main project is coding and creating a simulator for a code base, and Luke is contributing to codes for a weather station on the Rate Control Module (RCM) sprayer – that project is nearly finished, and he looks forward to its inclusion in the next RCM update and starting the next innovation.
“Learning here is just a different type of learning. Every day I sit at my desk I find out something new I never would have learned in school.”
— Landon Kocer
All four of the Kocers remarked on Raven’s encouraging and team centric work environment. Since many Raven engineers grew up with or are currently farmers themselves, Raven’s culture prioritizes customer focus from the inside out. Jared communicated that Raven extends a focused effort to ensure our interns are gaining a valuable experience and added that Raven empowers their interns to make their own day-to-day decisions and make their own choices as if they hold a full-time position, giving them a look into the likely expectations of their future careers.
Luke and Landon acknowledged their mentors, who are assigned full-time team members within their teams, sharing that the mentors really care about the interns’ work experience as they help teach them lifetime career lessons. Their mentors put a tangible effort into making sure their interns are learning, and the interns can feel that support each day.
“I really like the environment. If I need help with anything, I can send a team message and someone will be at my desk in five minutes, ready to help me with whatever problem I have.”
— Luke Kocer
Fun Facts About the Kocers
1. Which of Raven’s core values resonates with you the most?
Landon: Service. No matter what it’s customer focused. Everything released goes through so many hands to make sure it’s going to be helpful for the customer.
Luke: Humility. Everyone has their special talent, and they work together to make sure it’s utilized the best.
Joel: Drive. Everybody at Raven is very driven towards the goals that we have and solving the problems the right way.
Jared: Courage. We don’t want somebody that comes into Raven that doesn’t have the courage to make decisions themselves.
2. Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
Luke: I’m a twin.
Landon: Some fun hobbies that I like to do include mountain biking, rock climbing, golfing, a lot of outdoor stuff.