When Darla Ellis, a 2006 graduate in chemical engineering, began a summer internship with Nike, Inc. during her senior year at Missouri S&T, she already owned a well-loved pair of their shoes. She returned to campus at the end of the summer with eight pairs.

Today, Ellis continues to wear Nikes to work as a process engineering manager at the company’s location in St. Charles, Missouri. “We’re a pretty casual bunch here,” says Ellis. “There are days I might have to crawl behind a big piece of machinery, and that’s not really something you want to do in a business suit.”