Month: June 2021

Anita T. Broach is a Chemical Engineer/Scientist/CEO/Founder of CSI: Create. Solve. Innovate. LLC, an independent scientific and technical consulting firm with 20+ years of combined research experience in materials science and engineering and development of cutting-edge products and technologies.

Anita T. Broach’s Story

When did your interest in science or engineering begin?
I was a curious kid. Growing before the “Google” era in a small town, where the number of books in the library are limited, I tried to read everything what was available to me, especially in the field of chemistry, physics, mathematics, technology… I also had great teachers, many of them with only Associate degree, but unconditionally tried to teach the assigned courses. Maybe, exactly these teachers in chemistry, math, and physics inspired me to continue my education in the field of Chemical Engineering.

What was it like to be a woman studying in your field?
I did not feel inferior in my field during my education and career. It is true – there were more male students in engineering, but they all acted with a tremendous respect towards me and my female colleagues.

Share with us some of your career highlights.
I am a versatile engineer, scientist, innovator, visionary, wife and mother. I am performing all these “job titles” simultaneously during my daily activities. Let me elaborate briefly:
– I am a Chemical Engineer and Material Scientist being named as an inventor or co-inventor on more than 40 patents and patents pending.
– I have envisioned several disruptive products, some of them ahead of their time (and sometimes not understood by others).
– I am a proud wife and a mother. Even when I play with my little daughter, I am trying to instill a sense of what being an engineer or a scientist looks like, e.g. fixing a broken toy, or looking in a plant leaf under a microscope, or explaining the optical phenomena related to a wonderful rainbow with simple words.

To date, what project is your greatest innovation success? What is the story behind it?
I am proud of many engineering projects that I have worked on and my inventions that were the results of these projects. I have participated in the development of many new and disruptive products and technologies. However, I am equally proud of my passion for sustainable and healthy diets and lifestyles. This passion of mine resulted in myself exploring my Mediterranean heritage and searching what is known about the Mediterranean Diet (MD) – the diet that I have adhered to all my life. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that MD is one of the healthiest and most sustainable diets in the world. This inspired me to turn my passion into activity of promoting the MD outside the Mediterranean region and offer my MD Inspired™ recipes and products. Moreover, my “engineering spirit” lead me to develop new nutrient-packed functional food products based on MD, and intended to address the dietary needs of specific consumer groups, viz. kids, elderly, athletes, etc.

Tell us about something that made you grow the most as a leader in your field.
Over the years, I have gained a lot of knowledge in different engineering fields and scientific disciplines, I have acquired hands-on expertise and skills, I have developed novel products… I have been also blessed to work with many smart and accomplished people, who were experts in their fields. They have all inspired me and challenged me to do the assigned tasks with a great success. Sometimes, it seemed a demanding environment or a personality difficult to deal with, but looking back – I have learned the most in such difficult situations. Exactly these experiences helped me to build my resiliency and grit.Therefore, what sets me apart from others is my combination of grit, resiliency, determination and persistence along with my attitude to always stretch outside my comfort zone.

How are you and/or your company bringing innovation to the forefront?
Looking back in my career, I think all my activities have been intertwined with innovation. In 2015, I founded a consulting company CSI: Create. Solve. Innovate. LLC, which offers consulting services in the field of engineering, materials science, and IP guidance. What is unique in my consulting activities is that I do not just solve the problems or challenges of my clients my solutions always are instilled with innovation and provide a competitive IP advantage. This has resulted in distinct IP portfolios for my clients.

What advice do you have for future female engineers?
My advice to future female engineers is “Do not be afraid to stretch out and try something new regardless of the official training”. As Marie Curie said “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”

I will also encourage the future engineers to “try to take the road that has been less traveled” and that can make all the difference in the life, as Robert Frost concludes in his poem “The Road Not Taken”. Why? Because, I had traveled the road not taken by others, and indeed, it made a huge difference in my career and life! And I love it! And I will do it again, and again, if needed!

Malithi Wickramathilaka is the Product Development Engineering Team Lead at Porex Filtration Group. Porex engineers high-value solutions for their customers’ product design challenges in absorption, application, diffusion, filtration, venting, and wicking

Malithi Wickramathilaka’s Story

When did your interest in science or engineering begin?
The very first memory I have of learning about Science, nature and contraptions, was through a series of books called “A child’s first library of learning.” I read each book at least a hundred times, and gleaned every bit of knowledge from them. In Primary school, whenever someone asked me who I wanted to become, I would say “Scientist”. If I were to track my journey all the way to the beginning, I think that was the initial spark which later ignited a wildfire.

Throughout Primary and Middle schools, I scored “A” grades in all Science assignments, and was almost always selected to be the team lead for Science projects and exhibitions. At the age of ten, I thought that all Scientists went to space. Later in high school, I understood that there was a variety of Scientists, and that I had the freedom to choose any field I wanted.

After high school, I pursued a Bachelors in Chemical Engineering in a country 9000 miles away from home. Next, I advanced onto a Masters in Bioengineering, and finally a PhD in Bioengineering.

I owe my success stories to my parents, teachers and mentors, who understood my aptitude, and molded my dream career.

Today, as a Research and Product Development Engineer, I design polymeric diagnostic device products, and manage them throughout their lifecycle. I have been in this role for nearly 3 years, and I thoroughly enjoy solving problems in a variety of diagnostic fields such as infectious diseases, drugs of abuse, and hormones.

What was it like to be a woman studying in your field?
It is extremely gratifying and satisfying! I decided to study Science and Engineering, because my parents and teachers noticed that I gravitated to those subjects. I feel extremely fortunate that I didn’t have any parental pressure to choose a field which was deemed less challenging by the South Asian society I was raised in.

I have very seldom felt diminished or patronized in a classroom while studying conceptually challenging courses, or in a laboratory while conducting novel experiments, because I was a female. I believe that that was because I rarely went to a class, or a meeting unprepared. I do my homework, I carry my charisma, and connect with the room through ethos, pathos and logos.

Today, I thrive being a woman in STEM, working at a Manufacturing facility, having an excellent vantage point to see Marketing, Logistics, Customer Service, Quality Control and Sales functionalities.

I genuinely enjoy carrying out a variety of roles and responsibilities bestowed on womanhood – I will continue to juggle a multitude of professional, personal, and civic engagement activities, as this balancing act is the only way I would feel productive.

Share with us some of your career highlights.
Purdue University, College of Engineering – Magoon Teaching Award, 2016
Purdue, College of Agriculture – Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, 2017
Purdue, ABE Graduate Symposium – 1st place in Biological Engineering, 2018
Journal of Biological Engineering – Publication of the year, 2019
Porex Filtration Group – Promotion to Team Lead in Diagnostics, 2021

While the above illustrated are a selected list of awards from the past 5 years, the most recent career highlight is one of the COVID-19 Rapid Diagnostic Tests I worked on, receiving FDA EUA. Our client started the project in June 2020. And, within a year, we finished a holistic validation process, and the product is now in full-scale Production. As the Technical Lead of that project, bringing this project to the finish line, gave me an immense sense pride for what we are able to achieve as a company.

To date, what project is your greatest innovation success? What is the story behind it?
In my doctoral studies, I carried out a randomized, controlled design of experiments to study the conjugation efficiencies of DNA bioconjugates. I was able to show for the first time, that the conventional crosslinking reaction could be enhanced by adding a chemical reagent which stabilized the active ester intermediate. I also developed a novel high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to determine the yield of the ssDNA bioconjugate products. The conjugate yield via the conventional reaction was 68.3±2.2%, while that of the enhanced reaction was 79.2±2.4%. Thus, I demonstrated a convenient, one-pot strategy for crosslinking biological molecules, which could be used in next generation medical diagnostics, biosensor development, and constructing self-assembling macromolecules where there is a lack of flexibility in increasing the reaction temperature, or adjusting the pH.

This research work was published in the BioMed Central Journal of Biological Engineering, titled “Characterization of covalent crosslinking strategies for synthesizing DNA based bioconjugates.” Wickramathilaka, M., Tao, B. Journal of Biological Engineering. Vol.13 (2019): 63-73.
One year later, this publication received the “Publication of the Year 2019” Award by the Institute of Biological Engineers.

This remains my greatest innovation success, because I conducted this independent research project while enrolled in academic coursework, working as a Teaching Assistant, managing a research lab, and while going through a personal life tragedy. I also managed to receive two teaching accolades this year.
This was the time period when I was convinced that I compartmentalize very well. My teachers, students, and family provided me feedback on how I successfully dedicated sustainable efforts and time for my loved ones, as well as my professional and personal goals.

Tell us about something that made you grow the most as a leader in your field.
Ownership – More than a figurehead, I view myself as a multifunctional team player. When a project enters the diagnostics pipeline, I have the responsibility to take the it from cradle to grave. I have to initiate conversations with my clients to understand their pain points. At times, I have to carry out extremely targeted conversations, and at times, I have to be able to distill challenging technical concepts into lay terms – In some meetings, I interact with the Scientific & Engineering team of my client, while in some meetings, I’m involved in Sales, Marketing, or Quality subject matters.

The past year was exceptionally challenging at work because there was a paramount flux of “COVID-19 detection kit” projects which I was responsible of. I often found myself working late hours, but that tenacity and hard work was absolutely necessary to solve unique problems in COVID-19 diagnostic devices. The matter at hand was directly related to solving global pandemic anxieties, and fast turnaround times on these projects were only possible due to relentless teamwork.

How are you and/or your company bringing innovation to the forefront?
As an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) for a variety of top diagnostic companies, Porex plays a huge role in developing functional components and quality assurance of those products. I go home with a fulfilled purpose, because Porex enables me to impact people’s lives positively. I thrive in Product Development of diagnostic devices, because of my direct ability to improve the world healthcare and economy. Porex delves into a broad spectrum of projects, and that is one of the ways of how we play our role in bringing innovation to the forefront. The below list illustrates the variety of projects I have successfully implemented into full-scale Production. These devices detected (i) ketones in exhaled breath, (ii) fertility hormones in saliva, (iii) drugs of abuse in saliva, (iv) Influenza and COVID-19 viruses in nasal fluid, (v) pregnancy hormones in urine, (vi) COVID-19 antibodies in blood. Thus far, I have executed 80+ projects, managing up to 8 projects simultaneously. And within 3 years, I have scaled up 15+ diagnostics projects.

What advice do you have for future female engineers?
Continue to have lifelong mentors, and when you are ready to pass the baton, start mentoring others who want to travel challenging paths. Forge your professional success through constant mentorship during your academic life, networking on professional social media, participating in professional development activities, and engaging in outreach activities.

Sweden Yocom is a Research Investigator at DuPont. For over 200 years, DuPont has been synonymous with life-changing discoveries and scientific know-how, reinventing themselves along the way.

Sweden Yocom’s Story

When did your interest in science or engineering begin?
I have always loved Mathematics but in sixth grade, after taking Chemistry and Physics, I knew I wanted to be more involved in STEM fields. I found them fascinating.

What was it like to be a woman studying in your field?
I grew up in Vietnam with both parents as educators who taught me that woman could do anything. In reality, however, the fields of science are engineering were dominated by men. Determined to be accepted into the prestigious Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, the only center in South Vietnam that trained technical engineers, I spent three years in high school preparing for and achieved high marks in the college entrance exams. At the time of my application to the University, the female to male ratio was 1:10.

Share with us some of your career highlights.
I am a Research Investigator at DuPont and have developed a strong technical reputation internally and externally through sustained and impactful contributions utilizing a blend of technical knowledge, leadership skills, and business acumen.

Over my 15-year engineering career, I have implemented many innovative process improvements using Lean & Six Sigma methodologies resulting in safe, enhanced manufacturing practices as well as cost savings, scaled up and commercialized various products used in life-impacting applications in the Healthcare Industry, methodically solved problems to meet customer critical requirements. In 2015, after successfully leading a project in methodical and timely manner to allow customer to meet nationwide product launch target, I was recognized with the Manufacturing Excellence Award.

In addition to a B.S in Chemical Engineering, I earned an MBA in 2014. During the last 7 years, I also served as an economic evaluator in part-time capacity, providing business insights and comprehensive financial analysis for the entire DuPont Healthcare Business portfolio to assist with critical investment decisions, portfolio management, project prioritization, future growth, and profitability.

To date, what project is your greatest innovation success? What is the story behind it?
Among my Engineering accomplishments, I am most proud of my contributions toward the development and commercialization of the novel Silicone Acrylate Hybrid Pressure Sensitive Adhesives (SilAc PSA) which are currently being formulated and clinically trialed in several transdermal drug delivery systems for some critical therapies such as hypertension, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease etc. I served on the project team in various capacity over the commercialization process.

As a process engineer, I’ve developed and implemented a safe and effective multi-step process to manufacture the products to meet many critical customer specifications as well as regulatory requirements. After numerous chemical routes tested and found ineffective, I trialed and applied the product purification method via mechanical devolatilization using a twin-screw extruder to effectively remove impurities and known skin sensitizers (acrylates) without degrading the heat sensitive SilAc material. In addition, I worked with equipment vendor to design an additional extrusion stage to complete the solvent-exchanging step within the extruder which eliminated personnel exposure to harmful solvents, improved process efficiency by 40% and significantly reduced capital investment and footprint. These innovative solutions not only enabled safer products in healthcare applications but also allowed final product offerings to be available in alternative solvents and made it possible for customers to formulate the transdermal patches.

Later in the process, I became the project leader and have successfully driven the project through many milestones to install pilot unit, commission manufacturing process and delivered products to many customers for various stages of clinical trials. I also evaluated various capital investment options to ensure the project health and attractiveness within the overall portfolio. Of course, my contributions were only made possible by working with a truly supportive team and an innovation-focus company.

Tell us about something that made you grow the most as a leader in your field.
Curiosity, Perseverance, Industrious, and Collaboration

How are you and/or your company bringing innovation to the forefront?
I started my career in the Healthcare Industry with Dow Corning, the industry leader in silicone materials before the business became part of DuPont through merger and acquisition. Dow Corning™, now DuPont Liveo™, Healthcare silicones have consistently delivered innovative healthcare solutions to improve quality of life as well as assisting in the most impactful lifesaving applications. Resistance to bacteria, non-reactive and hypoallergenic, heat, cold and ultraviolet radiation resistance are some of the key properties that make silicones easy to sterilize and excellent for sensitive applications. Silicones have major medical contributions from needle coating to topical medications, infant care to pacemakers, medical devices to single-use bioprocessing systems for pharmaceutical processing and vaccine production. Silicones’ adhesion properties also contribute to improvements in safe wound management and transdermal drug delivery systems.

Over the years, I have led the development of many manufacturing processes, implemented innovative process improvements to deliver safe and enhanced manufacturing practices, scaled up and commercialized new products, managed technology portfolio, delivered solutions to meet customer critical needs, and provided technical support in developing new customer applications.

What advice do you have for future female engineers?
Be curious, ask questions, be humble, believe in yourself, and go for it!

Peggy Ruddy is a Global Technical Service Consultant at DuPont. For over 200 years, DuPont has been synonymous with life-changing discoveries and scientific know-how, reinventing themselves along the way.

Peggy Ruddy’s Story

When did your interest in science or engineering begin?
My interest in engineering began when I was in my early teens while working with my dad and brother on the family’s farm equipment. A few years later my skills were validated through a vocational aptitude test which was highly encouraged by my high school math teacher and counselor. Unfortunately, I didn’t listen to these early indicators and followed the path of Fashion Merchandising and Retail Management only to come back to my true calling a year after earning my degree.

What was it like to be a woman studying in your field?
I had a great college experience where the professors and students treated everyone as equal, which provided a great foundation for a long-term career. There was mutual collaboration during group projects and great respect for the talent in the classes regardless of gender. Although there were typically only two women in each of the classes with an all male faculty team, there was never a moment where I felt I didn’t belong.

Share with us some of your career highlights.
I began my career with E.I. DuPont de Nemours in the Automotive Finishes business unit as a designer and project leader where I designed and optimized a stainless steel color dispersion unit. This dispersion unit design became the standard for all future units.

I then joined our Engineering Polymers technical team where I collaborated with Automotive customers developing the highly critical safety component, airbag covers. Each airbag cover is unique in styling to the vehicles requiring a class “A” surface and is critical that it functions at a broad temperature range. My contributions included selecting the appropriate material for hardness, providing solutions for injection molding gate locations through Computer Aided Engineering, and design suggestions for tear seam thickness, and stiffening and attachment ribs.

As our material offering reached the end of it’s life cycle, I became fully engaged in providing design for injection molding solutions through Computer Aided Engineering. At DuPont, we innovate by converting metal components to plastic and part consolidation via multiple component integration. In addition to air bag covers, I provided solutions in Automotive including air intake manifolds, cylinder head engine covers, headlamp bezels and brackets, transmission baffles and gear shrouds, oil pans, engine mount brackets, start/stop solenoids and many other components.

An application to highlight is the Hytrel® transmission baffle. These are single integrated transmission baffle/lip seal systems requiring tight tolerance and dimensional stability. I collaborated with the team to use Computer Aided Engineering solutions for optimizing the design for dimensional stability, developing the optimized gate locations for filling out the extremely thin lip seals while offering an engineered solution for injection molding the transmission baffle while correcting a potential warp issue.

To date, what project is your greatest innovation success? What is the story behind it?
To date, my greatest innovation success was working with a team to develop an injection molded top cowl for an outboard motor, that was said to be the largest component ever injection molded with a 33% glass reinforced Zytel® nylon with a painted class “A” surface which offered 30% weight savings and a 46% cost savings. This engine cowl has won numerous innovative awards.

The glass reinforced material was needed for the structural requirements of the application and a class “A” painted surface limited the ribs that would provide structure and dimensional control during injection molding. Design suggestions and alternate injection molding gate locations were evaluated via Computer Aided Engineering tools as glass fiber orientation contributed to warp of the intended mode shape. After many months of collaborating with the development team, a successful injection moldable cowl design emerged.

Tell us about something that made you grow the most as a leader in your field.
As my work shifted to primarily collaborating with our customers utilizing Computer Aided Engineering, our customers were embracing the initiative to engineer components, utilizing Computer Aided Engineering solely to reduce development time and costs, eliminating the prototype phase. This initiative complemented my aspirations as it promoted building strong working relationships with colleagues and customers to better understand correlation. It also demanded knowledgeable experienced analysts which encouraged advancing technical skills. Through software certification testing, I earned the highest level of technical competency for the Computer Aided Engineering injection molding software within DuPont. This industry initiative was integral in positioning myself into my leadership position today.

How are you and/or your company bringing innovation to the forefront?
DuPont is deeply committed to innovation and encourages expanding the breadth and depth of our technical expertise. Today’s Automotive trend toward electrification of vehicles has expanded our customer base with newer companies. I will continue to provide these companies with the guidance they need to successfully develop their new technologies. As a leader, I also will continue to share my knowledge through mentorship of junior colleagues.

What advice do you have for future female engineers?
My advice to future female engineers is to follow your dreams and passion with humble confidence, work hard, build strong working relationships, be the positive voice and continue to advance your technical expertise. Embrace the difficult challenges as they often provide the greatest rewards.

Anka Trajkovska Petkoska is Professor at St. Kliment Ohridski University, Bitola, R. N. Macedonia.

Anka Trajkovska Petkoska’s Story

When did your interest in science or engineering begin?
The interest in science has begun as early as I started the 5th grade in primary school. At that time I was a very curios kid about “How do the things work?”. I got the first answers when I started taking physics and chemistry classes, but they were not sufficient to satisfy my curiosity. Digging in the books that I had access to at that time still was not enough to satisfy my wonders about different materials and machines (devices) around us. This thirst for knowing more about the materials and machines around me yielded to enter the chemical engineering department at university, so I can “connect the dots” and make a big picture of different types of materials and machines.

What was it like to be a woman studying in your field?
To be a woman in engineering for me is something that I am proud today. I never regret that I have chosen this profession. As a student that prefered math, chemistry and physics, I have never had difficulties in passing other courses with good grades by looking for logic in them. In this field, the women were always less than men but just in numbers – they were not underpresented in their performance.

Share with us some of your career highlights.
After graduating in chemical engineering, I became a process engineer in industry. I was happy with my profession excited to show what I have learned, but also my good performance brought me a lot of responsibilities. Again, when I faced a complex challenge, I turned to the engineering books and more experienced people than me (my professors). I gained applied knowledge and hands-on experience. After few years as an engineer in practice, I returned to the graduate school to pursue my MSc and PhD. At the same time, I became an officer in the Army

I was proud to be accepted as an engineer and officer in the first generation of females in the Army of my country (R. North Macedonia). Later, I was promoted to a higher rank, a teaching assistant and a Professor for the cadets in the Military Academy. I wanted more, and therefore, enrolled in the PhD program at the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY (USA). I was teaching assistant there, did my engineering courses, and at the same time became a Mom – the role that I had to play for the first time in my life.

Now I am focused on teaching as a Full professor in academia, but also leading and participating several engineering projects on national and international level.

In summary, during all my career I have been multitasking and stretching outside my comfort zone, trying new things and exploring deeper into the materials science and “how things” work”.

To date, what project is your greatest innovation success? What is the story behind it?

The innovation soul in me was born during the graduate (PhD) school – I was taught to think 5 or 10 years ahead. If I cannot come with such idea or solution for the assigned task, then my supervisor told me it was not worth spending time to do “mediocre” research.

I have few innovation successes, but will elaborate on one of them. Few years ago, I filled a patent application on topical compositions of natural origin for protection against the blue light, which affects us indoors (originating from the energy-efficient LEDs, compact fluorescent bulbs, electronic devices’ screens) and outdoors (coming from the Sun). At that time, the available sunscreen lotions and sprays did not protect beyond UV.

Last year, as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affected all of us, I tried to find a solution that can be easily applied and protect us from transmission of coronaviruses. Some of the compositions that have been protected in the mentioned patent application, were recently tested for their efficacy against few variants of coronaviruses and showed that are killing up-to 99.8 % of the tested viruses. It is a great discovery, but as an engineer, I am aware that still a lot needs to be done for these antiviral compositions to make it to the market in a form of user-friendly forms (e.g. a nasal or mouth spray, or a hand lotion, etc…)

Tell us about something that made you grow the most as a leader in your field.
At the moment, I am a professor at a national university in my country (R. N. Macedonia). The diversity in my educational process, good mentoring advice by the best teachers and leaders in the field, as well as my engineering spirit of “always finding better ways in solving problems” and my hands-on experience gave me a unique set of skills that differs from my peers and colleagues. Moreover, I am well-connected with projects and collaboration activities with many industries, academic and scientific institutions all over the world which is an advantage for an engineer and a scientist to work as a team with other engineers and scientists.

We are all different, but to work on projects of mutual (global) interest with others is a great accomplishment for me. My collaboration does not rely just on number of grants or finances, but on mutual respect and appreciation for everyone’s knowledge, competencies and sharing ideas. This proves that all of us can contribute to a better world regardless of where we come from and only the sky is the limit.

How are you and/or your company bringing innovation to the forefront?
As a Professor I try to instill innovation in my lectures. I bring the newest advances in materials science, chemical engineering and technology to my students. I challenge them to think outside the classroom, or recently, outside the Zoom meeting. I push them to imagine themselves in a real world – a problem needs to be solved quickly and how they would act in such situations. As a supervisor to numerous master and doctoral students, I ask for novel ideas and research work on something not done before, because being innovative will develop the tomorrow’s leaders and not followers.

What advice do you have for future female engineers?
As a Professor, I always suggest to my students “Embrace the challenges, take risks, so you will not regret later on. Even if you fail, it is still better – you have learned what not to try in the future”. I have been inspired a lot by Thomas Edison. I’d recommend his famous quote to all future engineers: “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work”, and “There’s a way to do it better – find it.” Even my daughter, who is following in my footsteps of becoming Chemical engineer, has heard me to cite the famous Edison’s quote: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Never give up.

Caroline Nørgreen is Process Engineer at Novozymes A/S. Focusing on biological solutions, Novozymes improves industrial performance while preserving the planet’s resources and helping to build better lives.

Caroline Nørgreen’s Story

When did your interest in science or engineering begin?
I have always been fascinated by biology. During high school I got exposed to the solutions being created to solve world problems, like clean drinking water, through the use of biology. In this I have found my own motivation for becoming a chemical and biochemical engineer (masters) as well as biotechnological engineer (bachelors) and now working within enzyme production that does have a significant product portfolio that can help clean water in areas of the world that are still less developed.

What was it like to be a woman studying in your field?
For the most part it was fine and I generally did not feel that my gender affected my studies. As I made a shift from studying a biotechnological engineering bachelor degree to studying chemical and biochemical engineering master degree, I noticed that I started generally having more male friends, but that never bothered me. I found that the main challenge I faced during my studies due my gender was because of my chosen speciality in Production engineering. I was occassionally met with stereotypes and assumptions about my knowledge within, for example, how processing equipment works and how the transport processes within pipes can be calculated. The assumption being that I surely wouldn’t find these classes and conversations interesting nor did I know anything about it. A challenge for me was when to pick my battles and when to let things go.

Share with us some of your career highlights.
After graduating with a masters from the Technical University of Denmark, I started as a process engineer in the Granulation department (solid finished products) of Novozymes A/S, where I within the first couple of months became completely responsible for ensuring 2 out of the 3 productions lines ran smoothly and produced enzymes products at adequate quality. I also became responsible for the handling of any customer complaints that should be recieved. During my time in that department, I optimized the processes which resulted in significant saving in the amount of raw materials used as well as reductions in time spent having to reprocess products that did not meet quality specifications.

After 1.5 years, I transferred to the Liquid Formuation (liquid finished products) department where I have been working for 2 years. I am currently responsible for handling customer and supplier complaints, together with being responsible for GMP, Audits, Product Quality and supporting production when issues arise. Furthermore, I am growing my skills within project management and currently responsible for a series of large investment projects that aim to remove production related challenges. I am also growing my people management skills as I am responsible for 2 engineering interns per school semester.

To date, what project is your greatest innovation success? What is the story behind it?
In Novozymes we run “Rapid Improvement Events” (RIE) which involves bring a group of engineers, technicians and operators together to improve a production issue. While it is normally management who runs these events, I was given the trust to run my own RIE. This RIE was targeted at implementing Control Charts in productions that allows operators to see quality issues in real time and proactively tackle upcoming issues instead of reacting to product sample analysis results after the product had already been produced. Through many hours of careful preparation and one long hard week of running the RIE, my team and I produced many Control Charts that were implemented in production in the following week. Not only did we as a result see a drop in the percentage of products produced outside the specification limits but we also increased operator involvement in ensuring adequate product quality. Consequently, investment projects have now been initiated by operators as the Control Charts have given them a deeper understanding of how quality can be influenced and are now looking to improve processes that are seen to be the root cause of poor product quality.

Tell us about something that made you grow the most as a leader in your field.
In December 2020, I was in a team of 5 engineers and by January 2021 we were reduced to a team of 2 engineers as a result of sickness, paternity leave and a new job. Additionally, we had a new line manager. We carried on only being 2 engineers for 3 months without a reductions in tasks that needed to be completed. I dug deep and in this time also became a sparring partner for my new line manager as this was her first management position, while also trying to juggle my own work and a new set of interns that had also started at the same time. I learned that with effective and efficient time management a lot more work could be accomplished but also that when proper synergy is reached in a team and proper training in given (in this case to the engineering interns) that the time wasn’t as challenging as we initially feared. While it didn’t always feel like my time was well spent when I was training and coaching the interns, instead of completing my own tasks, I don’t know how the team would have gotten through the first months of 2021 without them. This experience has truly made me appreciate how important team syngery is and how crutial the initial time investment spent in aiding others in my field can be for long term success.

How are you and/or your company bringing innovation to the forefront?
One of the products I am currently involved in the development of is the integration of enzymes into plastics to create fully biodegradable single use plastics. This is a product I am currently very proud of being involved in and am excited about the long term affects it will have on the global market as well as the environmental benefits of it.

What advice do you have for future female engineers?
Find a mentor! I have had one from the beginning of my studies as well as after entering the job market and they have helped guide me on when to pick my battles and feel strong even when the journey can at times be a little lonely. If there is not one in your local community, try to reach out to the female engineering networks globally – It is likely you can find someone who can relate to what you are going through. Personally, I am always willing to offer my time to guide a fellow female engineer in what at times can feel like a very male dominated field.

Isabelle Ohnemus is Founder & CEO of EyeFitU. EyeFitU helps apparel retailers increase online conversions, reduce returns and optimize production with the power of AI and data.

Isabelle Ohnemus’s Story

When did your interest in science or engineering begin?
When I was 17 years old.

What was it like to be a woman studying in your field?
We were very few, unfortunately!

Share with us some of your career highlights.
Developing something from scratch and making sense of unstructured data.

To date, what project is your greatest innovation success? What is the story behind it?
EyeFitU’s software is my greatest innovation success. Being able to contribute to a better world by lowering Co2 emissions in the second largest poluting industry in the world, which is fashion, is rewarding.

Tell us about something that made you grow the most as a leader in your field.
Listen to your inner voice, your colleagues, your Board and your investors.

How are you and/or your company bringing innovation to the forefront?
We are a very focused team of engineers listening to our clients requests but also never stopping to push our boundaries to innovate and bring new ideas to life.

What advice do you have for future female engineers?
Believe in yourself and do not be afraid to take risk!

Stacy Hamlet is Mechanical Engineering Consultant at DuPont. For over 200 years, DuPont has been synonymous with life-changing discoveries and scientific know-how, reinventing themselves along the way.

Stacy Hamlet’s Story

When did your interest in science or engineering begin?
I was always interested in science and math from a young age. I wanted to understand how and why things happened in the world around me. I tended to keep asking questions until I understood whatever topic was being discussed. My father was a mechanical engineer and my mother a teacher, so I had plenty of people to keep explaining things. In high school, I gravitated to calculus, physics, and chemistry.

What was it like to be a woman studying in your field?
There were not a lot of women in mechanical engineering at my university. I felt like the women stood out a bit – everyone knew our names, even if we did not know them. However, I don’t feel like it had a big impact on me, as we were all there to learn as much as we could. I did take a welding class freshman year, and there was one other woman in the class with me. We would meet in the ladies room after class to clean the smudges off our faces before our next class. It was interesting to surprise people that there were two women in that class learning how to Arc Weld. I’m very happy my undergraduate advisor recommended it.

Share with us some of your career highlights.
I started working at the DuPont Louisville site as an Assistance to Operations Engineer. My job was to help keep the plant running, including materials engineering and small projects work. From there, I moved into the central engineering department of DuPont doing Advanced Engineering Measurements. This built on my graduate school experience doing experimental fluid mechanics, and allowed me to work on many, different exciting projects. We launched 2×4’s at 100 miles per hour to help develop Kevlar® reinforced Tornado Shelters for our Safety Business. I also ran a measurements program to solve a very expensive mechanical seal failure occurring on a piece of equipment in what was then our Titanium Dioxide Business. I designed the measurement plan, lead the team that installed the dynamic instrumentation and data collection system, and analyzed the data. We found the root cause in the bearing specification, and, with a bearing change, increased average seal life from about a one month to over a year. This was a large savings for a business that was sold out.

To date, what project is your greatest innovation success? What is the story behind it?
My greatest innovation success comes from my work on heat treating Tyvek®. After starting a family, I moved from Advanced Engineering Measurements, which involved a lot of travel, to thermal/fluids analysis focusing on heat transfer. This involved a great deal of finite element simulation, allowed much less travel and much more flexibility, and also built on my graduate school work. As I started analyzing Tyvek® heat treating, I realized that much of the difficulty was in the changing sheet properties as it bonded together – the more bonded parts of the sheet transferred heat differently than the less bonded parts. I needed to understand the heat transfer properties in all the different locations to accurately predict the final sheet. The different locations were too small to get any kind of accurate measurements of sheet properties. So, building on my measurements and machine dynamics past, I flipped the problem over, and decided that we could create a whole sheet that would represent the different bonding levels in the different locations. This understanding of sheet properties as a function of different bonding levels has been applied to manufacturing and quality issues, as well as new product and process development for DuPont.

Tell us about something that made you grow the most as a leader in your field.
I had an excellent mentor that pushed me to both expand my talents and skills, but also demonstrated what good program management and mentorship looked like. I allowed me to see how I could use my ability to pull other talented people together to accomplish results and reach technical successes for DuPont.

How are you and/or your company bringing innovation to the forefront?
As part of the Research and Development group for Tyvek® protective fabric, we are challenged to innovate in a technology area that has been commercial for over 50 years. As such, the “low hanging fruit” has been explored and innovation requires a deeper understanding and commitment than for a product in its infancy. The proof that innovation is still possible is apparent in DuPont’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our R&D and production teams developed a new COVID-19 response fabric, 1222A #TyvekTogether, to increase the total amount of Tyvek® fabric available for PPE. This demonstrated that innovation is still critical and can make a significant difference in the world.

What advice do you have for future female engineers?
My advice is to talk to many different people doing many different things in and around your field. Find the people doing work that really interests or motivates you and then figure out what those specific programs all have in common. Then map out the steps you need to take to be doing similar work. Engineers can do all sorts of different jobs – it’s a broad field of problem solving. Figure out what kind of problems you want to solve. And then be okay with yourself if that changes throughout your career. It probably will.

Reiyao Zhu is Global technology leader for oil, gas and chemical vertical at DuPont. For over 200 years, DuPont has been synonymous with life-changing discoveries and scientific know-how, reinventing themselves along the way.

Reiyao Zhu’s Story

When did your interest in science or engineering begin?
I was interested in science and engineer in my elementary school. It was always fun to solve math problems.

What was it like to be a woman studying in your field?
There were very few women in the classroom. It was an exciting experience to be at the top of class. I never thought women should/would be anything less in achieving academic excellence.

Share with us some of your career highlights.
I own 48 patents (40 US patents and 8 European patents), a Ph.D. in engineering and is a technology leader in worker protection.

To date, what project is your greatest innovation success? What is the story behind it?
Developed a protective fabric for electrical worker’s arc protection. There are always ups/downs during product development and launch. Sticking with the goal is the key to have a successful product.

Tell us about something that made you grow the most as a leader in your field.
Really enjoying what I am doing. Develop new products and solve the customer problem excite me the most.

How are you and/or your company bringing innovation to the forefront?
Encouraging and fostering the innovation behaviors. Customer centric. Multiple generation technology planning.

What advice do you have for future female engineers?
Focus on what you enjoy doing. Have your own board of directors to give you feedback, and advice. Have realistic expectations and practical approaches.

Karen Panetta is Dean of Graduate Engineering Education at Tufts University. Tufts is recognized as a premier university dedicated to educating new leaders for a changing world.

Karen Panetta’s Story

When did your interest in science or engineering begin?
As a little girl, I was always interested in “magic” and dreaming of solutions to problems I saw around me. My father recognized this and encouraged me to become an engineer, despite him not having more than a high school education himself. He promoted the discipline to me by explaining that I would be financially independent and able to support my bad shopping habit. I loved math and science but knew nothing of how it connected to engineering.

What was it like to be a woman studying in your field?
There were very few women studying in my field when I started. Role model women known to me were already long deceased. I didn’t understand why women were absent until I witnessed how the false stereotypes of smart women that persisted were truly barriers that needed to be overcome. This challenge inspired me to start the Nerd Girls Program, which has changed the way society viewed the potential and contributions of smart, talented women. It showed that it is our individuality that brings innovation.

Share with us some of your career highlights.
Karen is the recipient of the NSF Presidential Award for Engineering Science, Mathematics Education and Mentoring, from U.S. President Barack Obama, the Norm Augustine Award from the American Association of Engineering Societies, Anita Borg Institute, Women of Vision Award, inaugural recipient of the IEEE Ethical Practices Award, Harriet B. Rigas Award and the NSF CAREER Award. She is an IEEE Fellow, IEEE JOVE Fellow and received numerous NASA Research Excellence Awards and Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) “Engineers into Education” Fellow.

She was elected the 2019 President of IEEE HKN (Eta-Kappa, Nu) and is the Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine, contributor to Forbes and Vice-President of IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society. She is the founder of internationally acclaimed Nerd Girls Program to empower women and girls to pursue STEM careers.

To date, what project is your greatest innovation success? What is the story behind it?
The Nerd Girls Program has evolved to empower women around the world. It was the first program to openly declare that our collective diverse perspectives can solve any challenge facing humanity. It disrupted the notion that only those who are the very best at math and science are invited to pursue STEM careers. It redefined the STEM recipe to include the most special ingredient, namely our individual passions and interests that make us uniquely us. I was fortunate to travel around the world to meet young aspiring women and help them make their dreams come true by connecting them to opportunities, positive role models and valuing their individuality. I am awestruck by their accomplishments and am so proud to have watched each and every one of them grow and flourish.

Tell us about something that made you grow the most as a leader in your field.
I learned that I can be the change that makes change happen. I learned this by reaching out beyond my own institution, comfort zone and embracing that failure was ok was instrumental in my personal growth. I learned to appreciate the perspectives of others and how our personal experiences can inspire us to grab hold of a challenge and find a way to solve problems, even if we alone, don’t have all the skills or confidence to do it. I know how to ask questions and am not intimidated to reach out for help. I now find that I have the capacity help others and accomplish any complex mission. I achieve this by empowering people, value their contributions, and promote their efforts without them asking.

How are you and/or your company bringing innovation to the forefront?
I have start-up companies with my students, one of which creates low-cost, low-power technology to help protect our oceans. My inventions have dramatically advanced the field of imaging processing through pioneering methods that can emulate human vision to display the best human perceptual image to ensure our health, safety and security. From detecting threat objects, aiding in underwater search missions, or helping radiologists better and more accurately detect medical anomalies in images, my work has enhanced human performance in diagnosis and decision making. My artificial electrolarynx offers patients a more natural sounding voice, offering a compassionate solution to mechanical sounding devices. While this market may not be a lucrative one due to its small size, it is an example of how important it is to “Do the right thing” because I have the capacity and skills to help this underserved population of patients.

What advice do you have for future female engineers?
Embrace the things that make you, you and celebrate that uniqueness. Surround yourself with people who empower you and discard those who try to diminish your value. Failure is part of the recipe and be proud of each attempt, for it builds your agility for your next quest.