ABOVE: Sam Viesselman is a 4 Under 40 honoree.

FAIRMONT– Sam Viesselman’s demonstration of positive leadership has earned him the title of 4 Under 40 honoree. The program aims to recognize up and coming leaders in Martin County and is now in its fourth year.

Viesselman grew up in Fairmont and made his way through the public school system, graduating in the class of 2011. After that, he went to the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

“When I first enrolled in college, I didn’t know if I wanted to go into engineering or to medical school,” Viesselman explained.

He ended up graduating with a bachelor of science degree in Biomedical Engineering, which was the best of both worlds for him as it left two doors open for the future.

Out of college, he was living in Fairmont while looking for his first job and ended up securing a job at AgCo in Jackson, where he started as a software engineer. Viesselman stayed there for two years before he saw an opening at Kahler Automation.

“It was another software engineer job, still in the ag industry so I knew some things about it,” Viesselman said.

He’s been with Kahler Automation as a software engineer for six years and is now a team lead.

Viesselman has shown leadership both in the work place and in his personal life, where he serves as a volunteer in a few different programs.

One of the main roles he serves in, which has garnered positive attention, is lead mentor of the Fairmont High School Robotics team. He began working as an assistant in 2017 and took over the program in 2018.

Vieselman was first invited to help with the team by its former lead mentor, Bob Bonin, who actually served as Viesselman’s coach when he was a student.

“The team started when I was in high school and I was on the team its second and third year. When I came back to the area, Bob reached out and asked if I wanted to help out and I got super into it. A year later Bob retired so I took over as head coach,” Viesselman said.

In Viesselman’s first year as a mentor, there were 12 students. Now, there are 23 students on the team grades 9 through 12.

“We’ve been adding four of five a year,” Viesselman said.

The team has not only grown in terms of size, but in terms of success. In 2022, the team went to the state tournament for the first time and in 2023, the team actually won first place at the state tournament. Not only that, but last season the team qualified for the world competition, which was held in Houston, Texas.

While seeing the team succeed is gratifying, most of all Viesselman enjoys serving in a capacity that allows other students to look up to him.

“There a quote I like that said, ‘be the person you needed when you were younger.’ I think about that a lot. I knew I was interested in math and science but I didn’t necessarily have anyone close to me in my life that pursued a career in the engineering field,” Viesselman said.

Now he said one of his favorite things is exposing young kids to the field early on if they have an interest in it.

“There’s three sides. Kids either find out they really like or they don’t think they’ll like it

but once they get into it, find they like it. The third one is, some kids think they’re interested in it but once they get involved find out it’s not for them. But I think it’s good to discover that at 15 instead of 19 while in your first college class,” Viesselman said.

As Viessleman was also an athlete in high school, he saw the importance of teamwork and showing up to practice and games. Now he argues that while it’s not a sport, robotics teaches much of the same skills.

“You’re still competitive and working together and showing up to practice. But you’re also learning something concrete that can apply to your future job and career,” he said.

Outside of his involvement with the Fairmont High School Robotics team, Viesselman is also a board member of Project1590, a local non-profit with many sub-committees.

“It’s not required to be on a sub-committee, but a lot of us are,” Viesselman said.

He himself sits on and is a founder of the Martin County KnowHow! committee, which began in 2019.

The group puts on an annual robotics competition for those in grades 3 and 4 and has a partnership with four of the local schools.

“We host the tournaments and rotate it through the schools,” Viesselman said.

Martin County KnowHow! puts on the 3rd and 4th grade tournament in the spring, and a 5th and 6th grade tournament in the fall. Usually about 100 students have been in attendance at each of the tournaments.

The sub-committee also acts as a booster for both Fairmont High School’s and Martin County West’s Robotics teams.

“We hold a few camps. We’ve put on a 3D printing camp and hold a STEM camp every summer,” Viesselman said.

Like the other three honorees, Viesselman was surprised to learn he had been selected.

“I try to keep my head down and keep going. I have my own internal goals and places I’d like to see the team and organization go and don’t usually take the time to put my head up and see if the work is appreciated,” he said.

However, Viesselman is grateful for the recognition and acknowledges that it’s an honor.

“It’s nice to be recognized for, if not the achievement, then at least the effort for trying to make something happen,” Viesselman said.

The fourth annual 4 Under 40 recognition program will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday March 12 at Best Western in Fairmont. Tickets can be purchased at Best Western, Fairmont Ford or online at www.twinvalleybsa.org/4under40.