Growing up in Clarion, Iowa, Cody Kapka, didn’t want to be a row crop farmer like everyone else. Cody was an athlete. While he played various sports, baseball was his passion and led him to Iowa Central Community College. Baseball afforded him the opportunity to begin his education while following his dream of spending a few more years immersed in the game he loved. Ultimately, Cody decided to hang up his cleats and pursue his education in engineering at Iowa State University, in Ames, Iowa. Cody spent one day as an electrical engineering major, before quickly realizing with the help of some friends, that agricultural engineering would be the best fit.
Agricultural engineering allowed Cody to pursue his interest in robotics engineering, electrical circuitry, and software development. Cody loved technology growing up and was surprised to learn that ag technology was so vast and growing at a rapid rate, it wasn’t just designing tractor parts anymore. This is what drew him to his day job as a machine compatibility engineer. Putting it plainly, Cody bridges the gap between tractors, implements and customers. He takes hardware and creates software that allows machinery systems to communicate while performing tasks our customers only dreamed could be accomplished without ‘butt in seat’.
Our founder, Craig Rupp, describes Cody like this, “Cody is one of the most disciplined engineers we have. He is a master at figuring things out down to the smallest detail. Every tractor model we support has been because of Cody’s ability to understand what exactly is going on under the hood.” While Cody attributes his discipline to years of training in athletics, our team knows that guys like this are worth their weight in gold. Cody is a self-starter, he’s humble and unassuming, but don’t be fooled, he’ll get to the bottom of the issue and keep your operation running smoothly.
While he spends much of his time split between software development in the office and field testing at the shop, occasionally Cody will be dispatched to investigate and solve issues in the field, ranging from detection challenges in raging dust storms in Texas, to overheating ignitions in Florida. Rest assured, if Cody gets called up to bat, the problem will be solved.
When you speak to him, you have to pry his accomplishments out of him. He won’t tell you that he was on an award winning robotics team in college, that he could throw a 95 mph fastball (‘Wild Thing’, Ricky Vaughn, anyone?), or that he played a big part in the compatibility of the first ‘green tractor’ we added to the line-up. We’re proud he’s part of the Black Flag Fleet and grateful for his positive outlook, ingenuity and acumen. Craig says, “Cody is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. As God as my witness, the guy never has had a bad day. Try calling him and you will be greeted by somebody you think won the lottery.”