‘Ahead of the Pack’

In Rockingham County, North Carolina, two NC State mechanical engineering students are making a big impact at a company that helps keep the aviation industry moving.

Through NC State’s Rural Works! internship program, Liam Steppe and Cannon Rich are spending their summer at BETA Fueling Systems, which has been manufacturing refueling equipment for commercial airlines and the military for more than 50 years.  

The company began partnering with Rural Works! in 2024, and according to NC State engineering alum and BETA Fueling Systems CEO John Ingold, the collaboration has already proven to be a win-win.

“These are real projects that make a difference in our business and in a world where you never have enough resources, I feel like it’s a good partnership,” Ingold said. “They instantly get to apply themselves, and we get an instant benefit out of it too.”

“You’re going to be ahead of the pack,” Ingold said to Rich and Steppe. “You’re going to be able to talk the language with other engineers that have experience and you’ll go back to class and you’ll have much more of an appreciation for what the teacher is trying to teach you, and the reality of ‘What does that look like in the world?’”

For Rich, the experience has been a refreshing change from the classroom. He said that he’s enjoying every moment of the internship and values the chance to engage in real engineering processes.

Both interns hit the ground running, jumping into meaningful work that will assist the company in the long-run. Rich has taken on tasks like modeling and cataloging parts for hydrant carts, updating outdated engineering drawings, and developing work instructions by shadowing technicians on the manufacturing floor. Meanwhile, Steppe has been creating standard schematics, modeling hydraulic systems, mapping evacuation routes for the facility, and programming machinery that bends tubing for fuel systems. 

When searching for internship opportunities, Steppe was drawn to the Rural Works! position at BETA because of the company’s promise in providing hands-on experience, most notably in SolidWorks and CAD software. 

“I like to be able to experience the hands-on side, the SolidWorks, meeting with teams and everything,” Steppe said. “So that’s definitely an advantage to Rural Works! that I see… I think with Rural Works!, you definitely get to build the relationships with people on the floor that you wouldn’t get to at a bigger corporate company.”

Engineering Director Race Batton said the interns’ proficiency in SolidWorks and other softwares that they already learned through courses at NC State was a major asset, saving valuable training time and allowing the team to move projects forward more quickly.

“It’s been impressive how much they already knew about SolidWorks…” Batton said. “So that was a pretty big benefit for us. I mean, just looking through resumes, people that already had experience with SolidWorks, it saves weeks of time not having to just train from scratch.” 

Outside of work, the interns are also getting an opportunity to experience the local community of Reidsville, North Carolina, which is part of the goal of the Rural Works! internship program. Rich and Steppe recently participated in a golf and cornhole tournament with employees of BETA, and Human Resources and Safety Director Terri Cusin said this kind of culture is part of what makes BETA, and smaller companies like it, such valuable training spaces for the younger generation. 

“There’s so many gems and jewels out there, little companies like BETA, especially in rural North Carolina, that you can learn so much from…,” Cusin said. “There’s just so many companies like us out there, so just be open minded when you’re looking for that career and what you want to do. You can make careers in little places like this too.” 

As the summer continues, both Rich and Steppe are gaining far more than just a resume builder, they’re building confidence and applying their engineering skills to make a measurable difference not just in their own lives, but in the future of North Carolina’s rural economy.