The treasure hunt
By Dr. Ryan D. Evans | TLT Volunteer's Voice February 2025
I still find value in all the treasures I’ve stored up through my journey of volunteerism.
My grandmother was a “thrifter.” In other words, she loved to visit discount outlets, resale shops and garage sales. Years ago, she asked me to help her pick up some furniture she purchased at The Salvation Army store in town. This was puzzling to me, because she lived in a house full of furniture and wanted for nothing, but she had a plan for this new couch. More than once, she shared her philosophy that she would buy stuff when it was on sale, not when she needed it. That way, when she eventually did need something, she had it on hand at an amazing, discounted price compared to rushing out to pay retail price in a time of immediate need.
Don’t get me wrong—my grandma was not a hoarder. When she passed away in 2024 at age 91, we were not faced with disposing of a mountain of unneeded stuff. She would throw things away or re-donate them when her analysis concluded that she would never need them in the future. In hindsight, now that she is gone, it is clear that her motivations were never to create a “thrift palace” or a high degree of wealth in her old age. That did not happen. She just really enjoyed the treasure hunt and satisfaction of finding a deal. She thrived on the financial and planning analysis involved with storing ahead certain discount goods. There was no truer satisfaction than when she eventually needed some random thing that she previously bought on deep discount. For example, we would need some obscure tool for a home maintenance task, and she would say, “Oh, I have one of those!” and happily pull it out of a drawer.
As a recent STLE past president (2022-2023), I am approached by STLE staff occasionally to be a guinea pig for new ideas. This new column is one such example, so I chose to reflect on my STLE volunteerism career, with its recent crescendo through my STLE Board of Directors and Executive Committee roles—and then abrupt completion. Early in my career, I thought about what it might be like to be STLE President—the pinnacle of STLE volunteerism. And so, I joined committees, met people, went to meetings, tried this, tried that and gathered tidbits of knowledge and know-how along the way. The journey required some discomfort and some weekend hours, but treasures were found in equal measure, so I kept up the effort. Often I did not know how those volunteer experiences might be useful in the future, but I enjoyed the analysis and search for them along the way. As a volunteer and even now, I still have “Oh, I have/know one of those!” moments, finding value in something obscure collected along my path. One of those valuable contacts is 2024-2025 STLE President Jack McKenna, someone I would never know otherwise based on my day job. Jack talked with STLE about the value he gains when you “know a guy” in true Chicago business form, so even if I don’t “know a guy” for something in our tribology field, there is a good chance Jack can help me.
Having been STLE President was great, but the value I find in it today as a “has-been” are all of the treasures I’ve stored up through my journey of volunteerism to get to that point. Like my grandma, while I often did not see the value of my lower-level volunteer efforts with STLE in the moment, I had a similar faith that someday the experiences along that path would pay off. They continue to do so to this day. Now I believe my role is to provide value to similar STLE volunteer treasure hunters as they navigate their own journeys in our great field of tribology and lubrication engineering.
2022-2023 STLE President Dr. Ryan Evans is director of R&D at The Timken Co. in North Canton, Ohio. You can reach him at ryan.evans@timken.com.