December 9, 2023 • 48 mins
Join Dr. Lewis in a conversation with Dr. Pamela R. McCauley. Dr. McCauley is an internationally recognized Industrial Engineering researcher, STEM advocate, university leader, seasoned entrepreneur, innovator, and STEM thought leader. As an Industrial Engineering researcher, she is known for accomplishments in the development of fuzzy set theory-based mathematical models, human engineering, ergonomics, and biomechanics as well as engineering leadership and women’s leadership in STEM.
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Success 4 Women TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Success 4 Women Radio Show is broadcast on W4WN Radio - Women 4 Women Network (www.w4wn.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
Success 4 Women Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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W four WN Radio. I gotthe time And did you know women represent
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just three percent of Fortune five hundredCEOs in less than fifteen percent of corporate
executives at top companies worldwide. Haveyou wondered what the secrets are to getting
into the top ranks, whether inthe private or public sector. Do you
want to figure out how to stopbeing held back in your career? Are
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passed over for promotion, then you'rein the right place. Hi, I'm
doctor Mattlananne lewis President and CEO ofthe Executive Women's Success Institute. I have
decades of experience in the military,the federal government, and corporate America,
and my mission is to help womensucceed and tap into their full potential.
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I want to reach a million pluswomen around the world to become the leaders
they are meant to be. Soif you want to move into a management
or executive level position, or maybeyou are a female veteran transitioning out of
the military into business entrepreneurship, thenreach out to the executive Women's Success in
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scat to at three zero one sixnine three three two eighty four. Let
us get you on the fast trackto success. Well, Hello, and
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welcome to the Success for Women's Show, where you can view us on Talk
for TV and listen to us onthe Women for Women Network. I am
doctor Madeline Ann Lewis your host,and my mission is to help women accelerate
the path to success. Well.Today's topic is Winners Never Quit and my
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guest is doctor Pamela R. McCauley. Let me just give you a little
bit of background about her. DoctorMcCauley internationally recognized in industrial engineering researcher,
STEM advocate, university leader, seasonedentrepreneur, innovator, and STEM thought leader.
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As an industrial engineering researcher, sheis known for accomplishments in the development
of fuzzy set theory based mathematical models, human engineering, ergonomics, bio mechanics,
as well as engineering leadership and women'sleadership in STEM. She is a
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visionary leader and serves as Dean ofthe School of Engineering at Widener University.
She previously served as the National ScienceFoundation Innovation Corps Program Director, professor and
Director of the Urganics Lab at theUniversity of Central Florida, and associate deans
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at North Carolina State University, aswell as holding the position of Martin Luther
King Junior Visiting Associate Professor of Aeronomics, Area Nautics and Astria Astronautics at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She isthe author of over one hundred and fifty
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technical papers, book chapters, conferenceproceedings, and five books, including the
best selling International Ergonomics textbook Ergonomics FoundationalPrinciples, Applications and Technologies. Where all
of that said, I would liketo bring on the show, doctor Pamela
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R. McCauley. Wow, thatwas about fault. Thank you, Doctor
Madline. It's pleasure to be here, a pleasure to have you here to
talk about some of the things thatyou've done. But before we get started.
I always give the standard bio ofour show guests, but then I
like to ask that you just tellus what you want us to know about
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doctor Pamela R. McCauley. Well, sure, wow, Well, I
thank you for the opportunity to bea part of your show and for the
mission of what you're doing in termsof your efforts to accelerate women and certainly
we're kindred spirits as it relates tothat, and as far as other things
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that I would like for people toknow about me that I am. I
feel so fortunate to have had thecareer I've had. I've absolutely loved my
engineering career, and so I haveworked really hard to open the door for
other women, other people of colorto pursue careers in engineering and all STEM
areas. Is because and that's somethingthat doesn't necessarily come across in my bio,
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but that I feel like I've hada parallel career that's running right along
with my engineering career, and that'strying to open the door to the joys
of a STEM career at the educationallevel, the professional level, and even
innovation and entrepreneurship for others. Andso that's something that is near and dear
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to my heart, and I hopehopefully that came out in some of the
things you shared. Wow, youknow what, it was so fascinating to
actually read your background, your bio. Now that is a feel engineering.
Are there a lot of women inthat field or is it you know,
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small percentage, that's a small percentage. Only about fifteen percent of engineers are
practicing and engineers are women, andthe numbers are much smaller for women of
color. And in fact, todayI'm at a meeting at the National Academies
National Academies of Engineering, Science andMedicine on a an action collaborative that is
focused on that very thing. Youknow, how do we enhance the trajectories
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uh for women of color in technology? And so it's a it's a huge
issue, and it's an issue notjust because we haven't given times when we're
given access, we don't get theopportunities for advancement or growth or don't feel
that sense of belonging in these spaces. So that's that that's also very top
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of mind for me. Wow,that's fantastic. So what inspired you to
pursue uh this particular industry and howdid you become a trailblazer in your field.
Well, thank you. I appreciatethe accolade of trailblazer, but I
really I have just loved my work. You know. I take you back
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to when I was a little girlgrowing up in Oklahoma and on military basis,
because my dad was in the army. My dad told me I was
smart, and so I liked andI loved science, and he told me
I should be an engineer. Andyou know, God blessed my father.
What black man was telling his littlegirl she should be a doctor, you
know, in the sixties and seventies. But he always made me feel smart
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and like I could do anything.And I had a wonderful, optimistic mother.
And I liked I liked science,and I really enjoyed it. I
would when we would visit my grandmotherin Spencer, Oklahoma, out in the
country, we'd i'd prayed, begthat we begged to see roll away bed
in the summer months so we couldlook up at the stars. And I
fell in love with the sky andthe stars and the constellations, and so
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science was just always something that wasreally interesting to me. And I also
so my father again told me Iwas smart, and so I should be
a doctor. So I actually startedout as a pre med major, but
I realized quickly that medicine wasn't mything. I really didn't like the sight
of blood, so sorry. Remembertelling my father. You have a conversation
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with my father about this, andI said, but and this is what
I did, Doctor Madeline. Iwent to the engineering library because I to
the library because I knew that Ineeded to switch for medicine. But I
wasn't sure which engineering discipline to switchto, and so I looked at the
different engineering disciplines. And industrial engineering, which is what I ultimately chose,
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has the option to study ergonomics,which is a study of the human in
the workplace, and biomechanics were lookingat the body as a mechanical system,
a biological and a mechanical system,and so that seemed really compatible with what
I was interested in. So Ichose industrial engineering, and industrial engineers also
look at processes and efficiency, andI developed some computer and intelligent computer systems
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throughout my career, so it wasjust a perfect match for me. So
I got my bachelor's and I also, let me tell you this, I
was a young mother, so Isaid, I need to make sure that
when I get my bachelor's degree,I can get a good job and be
paid well. And so I lookedat the salaries, and I mean,
I was gosh twenty when I wasdoing this analysis and picked industrial engineering,
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and I have not looked back.I'm so so happy that I did.
And you know, it's amazing because, as you said, being a woman
of color, it would seem thatyou would have kind of gotten off that
path. So tell us what aresome challenges. There's some significant challenges that
you face during your journey of becomingan industrial engineer, and how did you
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you know, how were you ableto overcome? Absolutely? And I've had
many challenges and I share them freelywith people because as much as I love
my work and I'm excited about Idon't want people to think that this just
this was an easy ride, becausewhen they run into difficulties, I don't
want them to think that that meansare on the wrong track. Just because
you have some difficulties, that doesnot mean that you don't belong. That
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does not mean that you are onthe wrong track. And so some know
some of my issues, you know, even I'll go back to the educational
issues I graduated from Frederick Douglas HighSchool in Oklahoma City, and I was
actually sixteen years old, So Igraduated from high school early. But I
didn't have the math preparation and someof the scientific preparation. So I went
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to community college. Thank God,I went to community college, and at
community college, I was able toget up to speed. And I remember
God blessed my high school math teachereveryon went back and she tutored me in
her classroom when I was at communitycollege. And so I think one of
the things that I have learned Ilearned to do early was to ask for
help. You know. Oftentimes whenwe have challenges, we feel like,
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you know, we just need totry to figure it out, you know,
or I should be able to handlethis, but ask for help.
People want to be there to supportyou when you have a dream or vision
that you're willing to work toward.So I got my associate degree, and
then at that point, you know, again the challenges from an educational staff
were just really preparedness. So Iencourage folks who think they might be interested
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in engineering, but they may nothave had the math or the science courses
that you would need to jump rightinto a bachelor's program to look at community
colleges, so getting that associate degreebecause and then getting that associate degree that
can help you get up to speed. And then many institutions, many universities
also have bridge programs where students cancome in in the summer and take preparate
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preparatory courses and help them prepare.So that's from an educational standpoint, those
are some of my challenges. Butgetting the help and then just work in
good old fashioned hard work and listen, they got resources today. We had
to pull out books and problem solvers. They have solutions on YouTube, people
teaching you how to solve problems,so you use, again, use all
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of those resources. So those aresome of the challenges that I had and
going to the University of Oklahoma.Fortunately we had a minority engineering program where
that really gave us that sense ofbelonging because there were many other minority students
there who were my classmates and wereally supported each other. That's great information,
especially I love the part where youtalk about where you went to community
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college, and I think that's aninteresting point to bring forth because you may
have a lot of individuals, especiallyyoung ladies, who might want to go
into that field, but never gaveit a thought that they could go to
community college and get some book that. So that is definitely something that you
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know, needs to be put outthere so that they'll know you don't just
have to go to a top college, you know, uh, you know,
find the biggest college that you canfind, or what you feel is
the most prestigious or whatever to getinto engineering program you can you can,
So that is at Wow, Ididn't I did not know that. So
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that is information for me to haveunder my hat too. Absolutely, And
I even go step further, Isay, you will all talk here about
the STEM crisis, how we needso many more STEM professionals in this country,
particularly as we see the evolution ofnew technologies like AI. We're also
starting to see you know, moreinnovations and technology in terms of product development,
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and so we do need those STEMprofessionals. But I have long said
that community colleges and relationships between thecommunity colleges and universities, that that is
going to be the key to usreally growing and addressing our growing STEM needs
as a nation. And over fiftypercent, over fifty two percent of STEM
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jobs actually can be obtained with anassociate degree or less. So people often
think to be a STAM professional youhave to have a bachelor's degree of master's
And while that's fine if that's thepath you choose, there are very solid
needed STEM careers with an associate degree, and so I really encourage folks to
look at that. And of course, if you want to become an engineer,
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you wouldn't need to ultimately continue onto the university and get a bachelor's
degree. But the rewards are immense. I mean, the average starting salaries,
depending on the discipline, range fromseventy to eighty five thousand dollars a
year with a bachelor's degree, andso it's really something that I encourage folks
to think about, and it's agreat career and many of our young folks.
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I love when I graduated, whenI got my doctor degree, you
know, you went to work forsomeone or you went to work for a
national lab. But I love thatmany of my students are starting businesses,
doctor Madeline. They are starting businessesright after they finish or during their PhD
program and launching into these successful enterprises. And so there's so and there's so
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many resources that are available. SoI as you can see, I am
sold on stand and really want moreand more people to take advantage of the
rig and talking about it, Icould hear how passionate you are about it,
and you know it's it's good toknow because another thing is when you
talk about engineering, I mean you'rein industrial engineering, but engineering has so
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many areas. As you said,you had to decide which that you wanted
to you know, focus on,and there's so many areas of engineering that
they can go into and not ananother thing too to be aware of and
the you know, the community collegecan also help them to prepare them or
to decide that also. You know, hey, you started off, you
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said, with your medical and youthought, well this is not for me.
I want to you know, try. But when you got into the
engineering then you had to decide which, you know, which area you wanted
to focus on exactly exactly, Andyou're right, there's so many different engineering
disciplines. You know, from aerospaceengineering you shared that I was a visiting
faculty member at MIT and the Aeronauticsand Astronautics department, and so that that's
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certainly an exciting area. There's mechanicalengineering, there's civil engineering. You know,
there's also computer science, which oftentimesis in engineering programs or computer engineering.
So and what we taught we're taughtas engineers is that we're problem solvers.
So if you're a person who wantsto solve problems, you are cut
out to be an engineer. AndI mean, it's it's just that simple.
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And then we're we're we teach theengineering problem solving approach, So we
teach people how to use science tosolve problems as engineers. And I mean,
who doesn't want to make the worldbetter by solving some problems? And
don't we have enough of the challengesthat we need to be working on.
And we need diversity. We needdiverse thoughts, diversity of thought, We
need people with diverse experiences coming tothe table and join the teams to solve
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these problems. So again, it'sjust a great career and it's been uh,
you know, there have been timesmany times when I was the only
one, only only black person,only woman, certainly only woman of color.
And in those times, you know, some of the strategies that worked
well for me were aligning with myprofessional societies, finding other women who were
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in different states, Yes, buildingthat network, network of support. So
that that has been a lifeline throughoutmy career. And that's another thing that
I always emphasized the women. Youhave to build a support network, especially
you know, you said in yourfeel a lot of times you go into
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the room and you're the only onein that room that looked like you.
So you really have to be ableto walk out of that room and know
that you have support, you know, somewhere else that you can go to
when you need that, and thatthat is so key. So tell us
how do you stay ahead of thecurve and maintain you know, because you
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you've done so much you you youknow, you have one hundred and fifty
technical papers and chapters, and youknow you have a best selling books.
So tell us how do you stayahead of the curb and maintain your innovative
edge in this what is we doknow is a competitive environment. Also,
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how do you stay ahead of thecurb on it? So well, I
think one of the things that's beenvery helpful we mentioned networking. So actually
networking, attending conferences, building thoserelationships and spending time understanding, you know,
the things that are the new technologiesand innovations in my field. But
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then also talking to people to understandwhat the problems of some of the challenges
are. And then that has helpedme be out there thinking about, Okay,
so these problems need to be solved, these are some of the challenges.
And then having good collaborators. Ilove a good collaboration because no one
knows everything. So having those goodcollaborations, oftentimes I won't even know that
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what I the knowledge I have isrelevant for a particular problem until if I'm
having a conversation with someone. Andso that's really been helpful in terms of
staying ahead of the curve and reallyunderstanding what some of the growing and emerging
needs are. And you know,good old fashioned reading and today, I
mean, we have your Google alerts, you know, for my discipline,
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I have Google alerts, so Iget updates on things, you know,
new things that are taking place andnew ideas and so really just you know,
networking, trying to stay on topof my discipline, and then understanding
the problems that people every day arefacing today. I mean, and when
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we've got what the United Nations SustainableDevelopment goals. I've spent a year with
the US Department of State and inthat time I traveled to Africa three times
and traveled to Bangkok, and Iwas they asked me to help them understand
how to introduce innovation into the HIVand AIDS healthcare service delivery process and see
as industrial engineers as we study processand then of course with my specialty and
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ergonomics, I'm focused on people atwork and how they interacted work, and
so it was it was a naturalfit for me in terms of innovation,
you know, understanding at what pointand so but I would have never known
had I not talked to folks whowere in the HIV and AIDS healthcare service
delivery process. You know that myskill set could be so valuable in these
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places. And I've said many timesbefore and of course these are they wanted
to look at how to do thisintroduce this innovation in developing countries because they
may not have all the resources thatwe have in more developed countries, and
yet they have the challenge that they'restill dealing with in terms of HIV and
AIDS, and we're expecting a hugepopulation growth on the African continent. So
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there was a concern around that aswell, and so I shared that I
was never more aware of the impactof my engineering knowledge than when working on
that were small changes. Small changescan impact the quality of lives for tens
of or hundred of thousands of people. And so just understanding how to introduce
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innovation in a manner that is applicablein this community, that's sustainable and this
is just my engineering knowledge and tosee how it could impact it was.
It was so powerful for me tosee that. And so when people tell
me, oh, I don't wantto be an engineer because I want to
I want to do things that matter, want to change people's lives, I
was like, well, honey,you definitely need to be an engineer.
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Engineers are changing people's lives every day. Absolutely, yes, that that would
be a major I would say somethingmajor accomplishment because going into a lot of
times into those you always could youknow, when you think about Africa a
lot of times you I actually,as you were speaking about it, I
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was surprised to hear like you saidthat, I don't know why that they
would need you know, that technology, they would want to or they would
have developed that type of technology towant to to make sure that they get
all that they can and to bringsomeone else in in your industry to help
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them improve it even more. Butthat's that's actually very good to know that
that they have the technology and theyhave the resources and all to draw and
to pull you know, other resourcesin to help them to improve what there.
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Yeah. Absolutely, and you knowthis is what this was done through
the as I mentioned, the USDepartment of State and the office is the
President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief orthe pep FAR Office. And so these
are dollars that the US is investingyou as a part of our outreach into
these countries and just to support them. And so and when when looking at
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how to introduce technology, I didhave to be mindful of the differences in
these nations and the US, youknow, and if the solution I came
up with, you know, arethey going to have enough power? Are
they going to have access to theinternet? And so we're starting to see
a lot of growth and changes.So again, it was just so rewarding
to be able to be a partof such an important project. I can
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imagine. Wow. So tell usor can you highlight any key, a
key strategy or decision that contributed toyour success in doing all of this?
And your success I call you atrailblazer, and I do really feel that
that is what you are. Sowhat has contributed? Can you highlight something
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that has contributed to that success?Sure? Absolutely. I think the biggest
thing, Doctor Madeline has been notbeing afraid to do new and different things.
And because often I mean I mentionedI graduated from Frederick Douglas High School,
so you know, I'm first generationcollege student. Some of my cousins
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when I told them I was goingto go to the University of Oklahoma,
They're like, you know, whywould you go down there? But that
was the only you know, thereare only two engineering schools. That was
the closest engineering school to me.And so not being afraid to look at
different things and go into different placeswhere you might be the only person who
looks like you. And so Ithink that's been a big part of it,
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that, you know, just thatwillingness to eat And even if I
was afraid, I still did it. You know, you you still if
you see this as an opportunity thatit can better, you can better your
situation, something that can move youin a positive direction toward your goals.
It's okay to be scared, butyou can do it. Anyway you can
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still do it, you know,And I think that as well as as
I mentioned before, reaching out andasking for help, and then I'm a
I'm a big believer in mentoring.I've been blessed to have wonderful mentors,
and so I would talk to peoplewho had done the things that I wanted
to do, whether it's starting anengineering business or becoming a professor, or
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you know, traveling internationally to workwith the State Department. You know,
I've had great mentors that I talkedto about my career throughout from my undergraduate
years to even today, and soit's it's been a joyful ride. But
I wasn't the only one moving thiscar, I mean not at all.
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I've been so blessed and again thatyou know, not not not letting fear
stop me, you know, goinganyway and building that network, talking to
people, asking for help and andgetting you know, good mentoring and good
guidance has just been priceless as faras my career. Wow, I can
see that, I mean from someof the things that you have done and
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you know, the things that you'vecreated and help to implement. So I
can definitely see that what has beenor what are some of the most important
trends or developments you see shaping yourindustry in the coming years. Wow,
well there's a few. I meanobviously everyone is concerned about artificial intelligence.
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Yeah, and my research looks atthe human side of systems, and so
understanding how AI and human interaction asrelates to artificial intelligence is something that's going
to be a research area that wereally need to continue studying. Also,
the mobile technology and access to allof this mobile technology and Internet of things.
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You know, everything is connected tothe internet. Really understanding how that
impacts the user users who are ondevices all the time. I have a
I also do expert witnessing, andI you know, there's a case where
the person's distracted. So people aredistracted and walking with cell phones and walking
into streets and getting into or fallingright, So understand, you know,
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how do we design these devices sothat they can be sensitive to what's going
on with a person and then thenbegin to respond. You know. One
example is, you know, ifyou're driving your car and you pick up
your cell phone you try to text, it will say or some of some
of the phones will say you knownot or put a little sign up do
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not text while while driving because thetechnology sensing that you're moving that too.
Yeah, and so these are allanything that any system that the human has
to interact with could be under aresearch area, you know, within ergonomics
or human engineering or human factors.And so the list is so long because
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technology is moving so quickly. Imean, we have seen such a compression
of the innovation and product development lifecycle and so now we think of an
idea and six months later we haveprototypes and so, you know, and
then we're perfecting it and we're gettingthese products out here, but we haven't
really evaluated how humans interact with them. So there's a huge need for continued
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research in this space to understand,understand, also to enhance use, but
more importantly, to make sure thatthese things are handled in a safe manner.
Right, absolutely, Yeah, Imean that's one of the things that
I have decided I need to learnmore about the you know AI and what
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is the chet GPT and all that. Yeah, it's wonderful, it's one
I mean, there is and we'rehaving to deal with this in the academic
environment, you know. As deanof engineering, I'm concerned that my students
are not cheating that they're actually writingthe papers and learning the material. It's
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what you want. I I wastelling someone that just the other day,
Like you can, a teacher canask this thing to write a whole program
for the link. Just tell themwhat they want. They write the whole
curriculum and all that I mean,and go in and tweak it a little
bit if they want. It's fascinating. So the good part of this,
though, is it can help usbe much more productive. You know,
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inte, you're talking about a teacher. If you know, if you're a
teacher and you've got seven classes you'reteaching, and so you need to get
your lesson planing ready quickly. Soit could be something wonderful to help you
get that lesson plan ready. Andas you said, then you tweak it.
You make sure you make it relevantas some culturally relevant examples for your
students, and so so you havegreed created your course material probably in one
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fourth time that it would normally takeyou to do so. So so those
are wonderful things. And even problemsolving sometimes you know how to solve problem
you don't even have time for Oneof my expert witness cases the other day,
I needed to determine how a personwho was hit by a car,
how they would fall, if theywould fall back, or if they would
fall to the site, because that'sagain biomechanics. So I told Chad GPTs,
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I said, I said, pleasecalculate the center of gravity for a
woman who's this height and this X, Y and z, and it gave
the center of gravity. So Iwas able to quickly solve the problem.
Now I know how to do thatmyself, but it was it's wonderful when
it's used properly, and that youknow, that's the then you know the
fine line that we're we're going tohave to learn to walk because it's wonderful
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in many ways, and we wantto allow and equip and educate our students
and our employees on how to useit in an effective and ethical and safe
manner. That said, we haveto be very careful that we are putting
those guidelines in place, and Ithink the White House just put some additional
guidelines. I mean everyone's looking atit, from the White House to the
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academic communities and workplaces. So it'sso it's that's going to be something that
will be working on for many yearsto come as far as I can see.
Yeah, that, uh that it'ssuch a you know, it's it's
out there and you know it's outthere, and of course you I feel,
(32:28):
you know, being in business,I have to you know, figure
out how it works. I meanI don't I don't think I need to
be an expert in it, butI think I need to understand it absolutely.
Yeah. Yeah, so just toyou know, I need to figure
out is this something that I reallyneed to implement in my in my business
or what I'm doing. And sothat's that's one of the things that I
(32:51):
have been looking at as far asexploring it to see how helpful it'll be,
you know, for making, likeyou said, making my life easy.
Absolutely. I mean I know howto calculate the center gravity doc Madaline,
but when I asked her to calculatethe centergravity while I was working on
something else, by the time ithad the center graphy calculated, I put
my put the information in there andsolved the problem in less than half the
(33:13):
time. Yeah. See that thatthat helps, that that helps to know
that. So I definitely I'm definitelygonna make that a priority. Yeah,
I need to figure out this thingand and really get into it now.
So tell me. I know Imentioned in when I was reading your bio
that you are dean right now.A school of engineering is at Widener Universe
(33:37):
University, So tell us how doyou foster a culture of creativity and innovation
within your organization? Well, andthat's something that I'm glad you asked me
that, because that's something that's reallyimportant to me. I think one of
the best ways to create that fosterthat culture of creativity and innovation is to
(34:00):
build it around needs. People aremuch more willing to solve a problem if
they feel like it meets a need, it addresses a societal issue, it
is going to help make life betterfor someone, and that's very easy to
do in engineering. So really buildingaround and then of course even in engineering
(34:23):
education, when I talk to myfaculty members or my leadership team about making
sure that the things we do aredesigned to make it easier for our students
to do well, are able toeasier for them to acquire an understanding apply
the material in a more efficient manner. So people are more likely in my
(34:45):
experience, to be innovative and creativeand resourceful when they feel like what they're
doing is really going to have animpact on a situation, individuals, or
even a community then and that's sortof a different perspective. Maybe then some
technical professionals would take. But Ifound that to be so much more effective
(35:07):
because then at that point, thenthe next thing I say is collaborate.
So collaborations. When I've got mydoctor degree in ninety three, people were
looking to be the loan researcher who'sgoing to save the world, and those
days are very, very long gone. Today it's about quality, substantive collaborative
(35:28):
relationships. Because we have I mentionedthe compression of the innovation and product development
life cycle. Well, there aremultiple disciplines, multiple backgrounds that are needed
when you start talking about innovation andreally solving a problem. So having those
good collaborators that you can come togetherwith and share your ideas in brainstorm to
(35:51):
get to solution is just essential.And we've seen that people get to solution
much more quickly when they have thesesubstantive collaborations. Not just two people say
we're going to work together. I'llgo to my office of work, you
go into years of work and we'lltalk in two weeks. No actually looking
at the problem, looking at whereto apply the industrial engineering or the mechanical
engineering expertise you know, or wheredo we need social science expertise as a
(36:15):
relations to solving this problem? Andso really having those good collaborations that are
focused on meeting needs, addressing challengesthat has been very effective for me and
keeping people interested in innovating and beingcreative. That is great, that is
(36:36):
phenomenal. So tell us if youhad one piece of advice that you would
leave with our viewers and our listeners, especially to maybe motivate someone who wants
to get into the engineering field,what would that advice be. I'm going
to borrow Nike's phrase, just doit us do it. We need you,
(37:02):
We need you in these engineering field, we need you in other stamp
disciplines. And believe me, itis probably easier to enter than you think.
You mentioned the community college. Starta community college, you know,
most community colleges have an open door, open enrollment policy. You know,
(37:22):
you can you don't have to beaccepted, you can just enroll UH and
then talk to people, talk tothe counselors, you know, UH,
academic advisors, talk to people aboutyour ideas, and do a Google,
you know, do a Google search. You know what are some if you
like playing video games? You knowwhat are some fun careers for people who
(37:44):
enjoy playing video games? Maybe youshould be building video games and getting paid.
Okay, you know, you know, if you really enjoy helping people,
you know, we used to thinkthat was only social science or nursing
disciplines. You know that's not thecase at all. You could become a
biomechanical engineering design prosthetic devices for childrento run who don't have legs, and
(38:06):
so really understand, just do itand don't be afraid. And I'm gonna
say this, if you are afraid, do it anyway. Yes, absolutely,
any way. The rewards so outweighthe fear and the challenges. The
rewards are immense. And I wantso much, so very much to see
(38:29):
more of pursuing, succeeding and enjoyingcareers in engineering, because again, we
are desperately needed in this space.Absolutely so. Tell us if someone wanted
to get in touch with you tomaybe ask you some questions for you to
maybe give them a couple of tips, a couple of pointers on your industry,
(38:52):
your field, how can they reachout to you? Oh, I'm
easy to find. You can reachme at my university email It's just pr
McCauley at Widner dot EEDU or goto the university website you can see my
contact information there. You can alsocontact me on LinkedIn and I also have
course on an engineering business that hastransformed your STEM career, so you can
(39:15):
put in a question fill in theforum there. So I'm really easy to
find and would love to connect withfolks, offer any insights that I can
to support anyone on their journey.Oh and real quick, I don't want
to go without letting you tell ushow they can get your book, which
is winners never you know how theycan do. If you go online and
(39:38):
go online, they can get it. Or they can send an inquiry directly
through my business and I will getthem to our point of contact who handles
that. So would love that andwould love to And part of the reason
I wrote that book, docor Methlant, I would go and talk to students
at high schools. This is rightafter I finished my bachelor's de and I
(40:00):
was ingredul and people would say,gosh, I wish my son or my
daughter were here, my cousin werehere, and so I thought, well,
I'm never going to be able tomake it to talk to everybody.
So I wrote that book because Iwanted to share the challenges that I had
as an undergraduate student and those difficulties, and yet I was able to not
only get my bachelor's degree, butthen win a huge fellowship and pay my
(40:22):
master's and doctor degree. And themessage is so can you. And it's
then we have so many more resourcestoday so they can reach out directly to
us or get online and be happyto help them get a copy of that.
Thank you so much. And yousaid just what this show is all
about. If you did it,everybody could do it. And that's what
(40:45):
I with this show. You know, don't think that because you know she
did it and it was a pieceof cake, because like you said,
it wasn't it. But you haveto stick with it if you're absolutely like
the book said, winners never requit. So thank you so much, doctor
McCully for being here. Appreciate nuggetsthat you shared with us, And I
(41:08):
just can't thank you enough for givingus some information that, like I said,
some of it I didn't even know. So definitely appreciate you taking time
out of the busy schedule to behere and just let us know if there's
anything reach out, let me knowif there's anything that's coming up that you
want us to make an announcement onthat. Can you know, help your
(41:31):
program or help what you're doing inany way, be glad to do so.
Thank you, Thank you, that'sso kind of you. Appreciate that.
Thank you. So here are someupcoming events that you can where you
can find me, and some thingsthat are going on. Again, make
sure that you get your copy ofthe Own It anthology It's Your Life,
(41:55):
Own It Unapologetically and the journal threeh hundred and sixty five days to transformation.
To pre order the paperback book andthe journal separately will be twenty four
ninety nine each for each book.To order the complete set is forty nine
(42:15):
ninety nine. To order your copies, you can email me at info at
EXWSI dot com or you can goto my website www dot EXWSI dot com.
The next Business Black Business Olympics iscoming up soon. It's going to
(42:36):
be December eighteenth through the twenty Decembertwenty fourth, and as you know,
the Black Business Olympics is a fundraiserto provide scholarships and laptops to high school
seniors going to college and k throughtwelve entrepreneurs. The Black Business Olympics showcases
black businesses, black business owners andcorporate rations all around the world, and
(43:02):
if you want to be a speakerto showcase your business, you can email
me at info at EXWSI dot com. Also coming up on the horizon is
the which is January twenty fifth throughthe twenty seventh of twenty twenty four is
(43:22):
my Show Up to Rise Up Women'sVirtual Summit. To find out more about
the event or to be a speakerat the Show Up to Rise Up Virtual
Summit, you can email me atinfo at exw SI dot com. And
we're also going to be starting aShow Up to Rise Up Women's Network and
(43:45):
the mission of the women's Show Upto Rise Up Network will be to empower
and connect women all around the worldin their career, business, professional and
personal lives by how helping them togain the resources needed buying power, increase
their revenue, and to accelerate theirpersonal business and career growth through opportunities that
(44:12):
they will be able to find throughthe network. As a member, you
have access to coaching, training,events, workshops, resources, networking opportunities
and much much more. And ofcourse I will be doing my Show Up
to Rise Up Women's retreat in twentytwenty four, so for the details on
(44:35):
that, make sure you contact me. If you're interested in joining us in
twenty twenty four, you can emailme at info at EXWSI dot com.
And as you know, I haveto put it out there, make sure
that you bow my TEDx talk thatI did in Vancouver, Canada. The
(44:55):
topic of course is show Up toRise Up, and you can watch it
on YouTube. To watch it,you can go and on YouTube put in
my name in the search box,doctor Madeline and Lewis and it will come
right up. You can also ifyou prefer to email me directly for the
(45:16):
link, you can do so emailme at info at EXWSI dot com and
I will send you the link.I am excited because the video is still
moving out there. It's at onehundred and ninety three thousand, eight hundred
and ninety views. As you know, I'm pushing for a million plus,
(45:38):
So keep watching, keep sharing,keep commenting, and I want to thank
all of you in advance that havesupported the video so far, who has
shared it, and who have madetheir comments. I am also a contributing
writer for on It magazine, whereI share nuggets and resources every month.
(46:00):
Own It Magazine is a resource forpersonal and professional and business development. So
if you'd like to get a subscriptionto on It Magazine, you can go
to my website www dot e xw SI dot com and there's a link
on there if you want to geta and your membership. If you'd like
(46:23):
to get a copy of the adigital copy of it, you can email
me so that you can see itat info at e x w SI dot
com. Again, I would liketo thank my guests, doctor Pamela R.
McCully, and my viewers and mylisteners for joining me today. This
(46:45):
has been the success for women's show. I'm doctor Madelinie and Lewis and as
you know, if you'd like toreach out to me, you can email
me at any time at info ate x w SI dot com or go
to my website www dot exwsi dotcom and while you're there, make sure
(47:07):
you download my free three part videoseries on three things every woman should do
to position herself for executive leadership.You can also reach out to me on
any of the social media sites Iam at on all of them. Make
sure that you subscribe to our YouTubechannel, subscribe to the Talk for TV
(47:30):
channel. Are the Women for Womennetwork channel? Make sure you subscribe to
those, and make sure that youlike and share this episode with others.
We had some great nuggets today fromour guest doctor Pamela R. McCully,
so make sure that you share thisepisode to let others that may want to
(47:52):
get in the engineering field know howthey can possibly do that. Again,
this is this successful women's show.We are here every week at two pm
Eastern Standard time. I am yourhost, doctor Madeline and Lewis helping women
to accelerate the path to success.Thank you again for joining us. I
(48:16):
love you all to life and asalways, be well and stay safe out
there. I got the time
The topics and opinions expressed on thefollowing show are solely those of the hosts
and their guests, and not thoseof W four WN Radio It's employees or
affiliates. We make no recommendations orendorsements for radio show programs, services,
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questions or common should be directed tothose show hosts. Thank you for choosing
(00:22):
W four WN Radio. I gotthe time And did you know women represent
(00:56):
just three percent of Fortune five hundredCEOs in less than fifteen percent of corporate
executives at top companies worldwide. Haveyou wondered what the secrets are to getting
into the top ranks, whether inthe private or public sector. Do you
want to figure out how to stopbeing held back in your career? Are
(01:18):
passed over for promotion, then you'rein the right place. Hi, I'm
doctor Mattlananne lewis President and CEO ofthe Executive Women's Success Institute. I have
decades of experience in the military,the federal government, and corporate America,
and my mission is to help womensucceed and tap into their full potential.
(01:38):
I want to reach a million pluswomen around the world to become the leaders
they are meant to be. Soif you want to move into a management
or executive level position, or maybeyou are a female veteran transitioning out of
the military into business entrepreneurship, thenreach out to the executive Women's Success in
(01:59):
scat to at three zero one sixnine three three two eighty four. Let
us get you on the fast trackto success. Well, Hello, and
(02:21):
welcome to the Success for Women's Show, where you can view us on Talk
for TV and listen to us onthe Women for Women Network. I am
doctor Madeline Ann Lewis your host,and my mission is to help women accelerate
the path to success. Well.Today's topic is Winners Never Quit and my
(02:46):
guest is doctor Pamela R. McCauley. Let me just give you a little
bit of background about her. DoctorMcCauley internationally recognized in industrial engineering researcher,
STEM advocate, university leader, seasonedentrepreneur, innovator, and STEM thought leader.
(03:14):
As an industrial engineering researcher, sheis known for accomplishments in the development
of fuzzy set theory based mathematical models, human engineering, ergonomics, bio mechanics,
as well as engineering leadership and women'sleadership in STEM. She is a
(03:39):
visionary leader and serves as Dean ofthe School of Engineering at Widener University.
She previously served as the National ScienceFoundation Innovation Corps Program Director, professor and
Director of the Urganics Lab at theUniversity of Central Florida, and associate deans
(04:04):
at North Carolina State University, aswell as holding the position of Martin Luther
King Junior Visiting Associate Professor of Aeronomics, Area Nautics and Astria Astronautics at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She isthe author of over one hundred and fifty
(04:30):
technical papers, book chapters, conferenceproceedings, and five books, including the
best selling International Ergonomics textbook Ergonomics FoundationalPrinciples, Applications and Technologies. Where all
of that said, I would liketo bring on the show, doctor Pamela
(04:56):
R. McCauley. Wow, thatwas about fault. Thank you, Doctor
Madline. It's pleasure to be here, a pleasure to have you here to
talk about some of the things thatyou've done. But before we get started.
I always give the standard bio ofour show guests, but then I
like to ask that you just tellus what you want us to know about
(05:19):
doctor Pamela R. McCauley. Well, sure, wow, Well, I
thank you for the opportunity to bea part of your show and for the
mission of what you're doing in termsof your efforts to accelerate women and certainly
we're kindred spirits as it relates tothat, and as far as other things
(05:40):
that I would like for people toknow about me that I am. I
feel so fortunate to have had thecareer I've had. I've absolutely loved my
engineering career, and so I haveworked really hard to open the door for
other women, other people of colorto pursue careers in engineering and all STEM
areas. Is because and that's somethingthat doesn't necessarily come across in my bio,
(06:04):
but that I feel like I've hada parallel career that's running right along
with my engineering career, and that'strying to open the door to the joys
of a STEM career at the educationallevel, the professional level, and even
innovation and entrepreneurship for others. Andso that's something that is near and dear
(06:24):
to my heart, and I hopehopefully that came out in some of the
things you shared. Wow, youknow what, it was so fascinating to
actually read your background, your bio. Now that is a feel engineering.
Are there a lot of women inthat field or is it you know,
(06:44):
small percentage, that's a small percentage. Only about fifteen percent of engineers are
practicing and engineers are women, andthe numbers are much smaller for women of
color. And in fact, todayI'm at a meeting at the National Academies
National Academies of Engineering, Science andMedicine on a an action collaborative that is
focused on that very thing. Youknow, how do we enhance the trajectories
(07:09):
uh for women of color in technology? And so it's a it's a huge
issue, and it's an issue notjust because we haven't given times when we're
given access, we don't get theopportunities for advancement or growth or don't feel
that sense of belonging in these spaces. So that's that that's also very top
(07:31):
of mind for me. Wow,that's fantastic. So what inspired you to
pursue uh this particular industry and howdid you become a trailblazer in your field.
Well, thank you. I appreciatethe accolade of trailblazer, but I
really I have just loved my work. You know. I take you back
(07:51):
to when I was a little girlgrowing up in Oklahoma and on military basis,
because my dad was in the army. My dad told me I was
smart, and so I liked andI loved science, and he told me
I should be an engineer. Andyou know, God blessed my father.
What black man was telling his littlegirl she should be a doctor, you
know, in the sixties and seventies. But he always made me feel smart
(08:13):
and like I could do anything.And I had a wonderful, optimistic mother.
And I liked I liked science,and I really enjoyed it. I
would when we would visit my grandmotherin Spencer, Oklahoma, out in the
country, we'd i'd prayed, begthat we begged to see roll away bed
in the summer months so we couldlook up at the stars. And I
fell in love with the sky andthe stars and the constellations, and so
(08:37):
science was just always something that wasreally interesting to me. And I also
so my father again told me Iwas smart, and so I should be
a doctor. So I actually startedout as a pre med major, but
I realized quickly that medicine wasn't mything. I really didn't like the sight
of blood, so sorry. Remembertelling my father. You have a conversation
(08:58):
with my father about this, andI said, but and this is what
I did, Doctor Madeline. Iwent to the engineering library because I to
the library because I knew that Ineeded to switch for medicine. But I
wasn't sure which engineering discipline to switchto, and so I looked at the
different engineering disciplines. And industrial engineering, which is what I ultimately chose,
(09:20):
has the option to study ergonomics,which is a study of the human in
the workplace, and biomechanics were lookingat the body as a mechanical system,
a biological and a mechanical system,and so that seemed really compatible with what
I was interested in. So Ichose industrial engineering, and industrial engineers also
look at processes and efficiency, andI developed some computer and intelligent computer systems
(09:46):
throughout my career, so it wasjust a perfect match for me. So
I got my bachelor's and I also, let me tell you this, I
was a young mother, so Isaid, I need to make sure that
when I get my bachelor's degree,I can get a good job and be
paid well. And so I lookedat the salaries, and I mean,
I was gosh twenty when I wasdoing this analysis and picked industrial engineering,
(10:09):
and I have not looked back.I'm so so happy that I did.
And you know, it's amazing because, as you said, being a woman
of color, it would seem thatyou would have kind of gotten off that
path. So tell us what aresome challenges. There's some significant challenges that
you face during your journey of becomingan industrial engineer, and how did you
(10:35):
you know, how were you ableto overcome? Absolutely? And I've had
many challenges and I share them freelywith people because as much as I love
my work and I'm excited about Idon't want people to think that this just
this was an easy ride, becausewhen they run into difficulties, I don't
want them to think that that meansare on the wrong track. Just because
you have some difficulties, that doesnot mean that you don't belong. That
(10:58):
does not mean that you are onthe wrong track. And so some know
some of my issues, you know, even I'll go back to the educational
issues I graduated from Frederick Douglas HighSchool in Oklahoma City, and I was
actually sixteen years old, So Igraduated from high school early. But I
didn't have the math preparation and someof the scientific preparation. So I went
(11:18):
to community college. Thank God,I went to community college, and at
community college, I was able toget up to speed. And I remember
God blessed my high school math teachereveryon went back and she tutored me in
her classroom when I was at communitycollege. And so I think one of
the things that I have learned Ilearned to do early was to ask for
help. You know. Oftentimes whenwe have challenges, we feel like,
(11:41):
you know, we just need totry to figure it out, you know,
or I should be able to handlethis, but ask for help.
People want to be there to supportyou when you have a dream or vision
that you're willing to work toward.So I got my associate degree, and
then at that point, you know, again the challenges from an educational staff
were just really preparedness. So Iencourage folks who think they might be interested
(12:03):
in engineering, but they may nothave had the math or the science courses
that you would need to jump rightinto a bachelor's program to look at community
colleges, so getting that associate degreebecause and then getting that associate degree that
can help you get up to speed. And then many institutions, many universities
also have bridge programs where students cancome in in the summer and take preparate
(12:26):
preparatory courses and help them prepare.So that's from an educational standpoint, those
are some of my challenges. Butgetting the help and then just work in
good old fashioned hard work and listen, they got resources today. We had
to pull out books and problem solvers. They have solutions on YouTube, people
teaching you how to solve problems,so you use, again, use all
(12:50):
of those resources. So those aresome of the challenges that I had and
going to the University of Oklahoma.Fortunately we had a minority engineering program where
that really gave us that sense ofbelonging because there were many other minority students
there who were my classmates and wereally supported each other. That's great information,
especially I love the part where youtalk about where you went to community
(13:15):
college, and I think that's aninteresting point to bring forth because you may
have a lot of individuals, especiallyyoung ladies, who might want to go
into that field, but never gaveit a thought that they could go to
community college and get some book that. So that is definitely something that you
(13:35):
know, needs to be put outthere so that they'll know you don't just
have to go to a top college, you know, uh, you know,
find the biggest college that you canfind, or what you feel is
the most prestigious or whatever to getinto engineering program you can you can,
So that is at Wow, Ididn't I did not know that. So
(13:58):
that is information for me to haveunder my hat too. Absolutely, And
I even go step further, Isay, you will all talk here about
the STEM crisis, how we needso many more STEM professionals in this country,
particularly as we see the evolution ofnew technologies like AI. We're also
starting to see you know, moreinnovations and technology in terms of product development,
(14:20):
and so we do need those STEMprofessionals. But I have long said
that community colleges and relationships between thecommunity colleges and universities, that that is
going to be the key to usreally growing and addressing our growing STEM needs
as a nation. And over fiftypercent, over fifty two percent of STEM
(14:41):
jobs actually can be obtained with anassociate degree or less. So people often
think to be a STAM professional youhave to have a bachelor's degree of master's
And while that's fine if that's thepath you choose, there are very solid
needed STEM careers with an associate degree, and so I really encourage folks to
look at that. And of course, if you want to become an engineer,
(15:03):
you wouldn't need to ultimately continue onto the university and get a bachelor's
degree. But the rewards are immense. I mean, the average starting salaries,
depending on the discipline, range fromseventy to eighty five thousand dollars a
year with a bachelor's degree, andso it's really something that I encourage folks
to think about, and it's agreat career and many of our young folks.
(15:24):
I love when I graduated, whenI got my doctor degree, you
know, you went to work forsomeone or you went to work for a
national lab. But I love thatmany of my students are starting businesses,
doctor Madeline. They are starting businessesright after they finish or during their PhD
program and launching into these successful enterprises. And so there's so and there's so
(15:46):
many resources that are available. SoI as you can see, I am
sold on stand and really want moreand more people to take advantage of the
rig and talking about it, Icould hear how passionate you are about it,
and you know it's it's good toknow because another thing is when you
talk about engineering, I mean you'rein industrial engineering, but engineering has so
(16:10):
many areas. As you said,you had to decide which that you wanted
to you know, focus on,and there's so many areas of engineering that
they can go into and not ananother thing too to be aware of and
the you know, the community collegecan also help them to prepare them or
to decide that also. You know, hey, you started off, you
(16:36):
said, with your medical and youthought, well this is not for me.
I want to you know, try. But when you got into the
engineering then you had to decide which, you know, which area you wanted
to focus on exactly exactly, Andyou're right, there's so many different engineering
disciplines. You know, from aerospaceengineering you shared that I was a visiting
faculty member at MIT and the Aeronauticsand Astronautics department, and so that that's
(17:00):
certainly an exciting area. There's mechanicalengineering, there's civil engineering. You know,
there's also computer science, which oftentimesis in engineering programs or computer engineering.
So and what we taught we're taughtas engineers is that we're problem solvers.
So if you're a person who wantsto solve problems, you are cut
out to be an engineer. AndI mean, it's it's just that simple.
(17:22):
And then we're we're we teach theengineering problem solving approach, So we
teach people how to use science tosolve problems as engineers. And I mean,
who doesn't want to make the worldbetter by solving some problems? And
don't we have enough of the challengesthat we need to be working on.
And we need diversity. We needdiverse thoughts, diversity of thought, We
need people with diverse experiences coming tothe table and join the teams to solve
(17:45):
these problems. So again, it'sjust a great career and it's been uh,
you know, there have been timesmany times when I was the only
one, only only black person,only woman, certainly only woman of color.
And in those times, you know, some of the strategies that worked
well for me were aligning with myprofessional societies, finding other women who were
(18:08):
in different states, Yes, buildingthat network, network of support. So
that that has been a lifeline throughoutmy career. And that's another thing that
I always emphasized the women. Youhave to build a support network, especially
you know, you said in yourfeel a lot of times you go into
(18:29):
the room and you're the only onein that room that looked like you.
So you really have to be ableto walk out of that room and know
that you have support, you know, somewhere else that you can go to
when you need that, and thatthat is so key. So tell us
how do you stay ahead of thecurve and maintain you know, because you
(18:49):
you've done so much you you youknow, you have one hundred and fifty
technical papers and chapters, and youknow you have a best selling books.
So tell us how do you stayahead of the curb and maintain your innovative
edge in this what is we doknow is a competitive environment. Also,
(19:11):
how do you stay ahead of thecurb on it? So well, I
think one of the things that's beenvery helpful we mentioned networking. So actually
networking, attending conferences, building thoserelationships and spending time understanding, you know,
the things that are the new technologiesand innovations in my field. But
(19:33):
then also talking to people to understandwhat the problems of some of the challenges
are. And then that has helpedme be out there thinking about, Okay,
so these problems need to be solved, these are some of the challenges.
And then having good collaborators. Ilove a good collaboration because no one
knows everything. So having those goodcollaborations, oftentimes I won't even know that
(19:57):
what I the knowledge I have isrelevant for a particular problem until if I'm
having a conversation with someone. Andso that's really been helpful in terms of
staying ahead of the curve and reallyunderstanding what some of the growing and emerging
needs are. And you know,good old fashioned reading and today, I
mean, we have your Google alerts, you know, for my discipline,
(20:19):
I have Google alerts, so Iget updates on things, you know,
new things that are taking place andnew ideas and so really just you know,
networking, trying to stay on topof my discipline, and then understanding
the problems that people every day arefacing today. I mean, and when
(20:40):
we've got what the United Nations SustainableDevelopment goals. I've spent a year with
the US Department of State and inthat time I traveled to Africa three times
and traveled to Bangkok, and Iwas they asked me to help them understand
how to introduce innovation into the HIVand AIDS healthcare service delivery process and see
as industrial engineers as we study processand then of course with my specialty and
(21:02):
ergonomics, I'm focused on people atwork and how they interacted work, and
so it was it was a naturalfit for me in terms of innovation,
you know, understanding at what pointand so but I would have never known
had I not talked to folks whowere in the HIV and AIDS healthcare service
delivery process. You know that myskill set could be so valuable in these
(21:26):
places. And I've said many timesbefore and of course these are they wanted
to look at how to do thisintroduce this innovation in developing countries because they
may not have all the resources thatwe have in more developed countries, and
yet they have the challenge that they'restill dealing with in terms of HIV and
AIDS, and we're expecting a hugepopulation growth on the African continent. So
(21:48):
there was a concern around that aswell, and so I shared that I
was never more aware of the impactof my engineering knowledge than when working on
that were small changes. Small changescan impact the quality of lives for tens
of or hundred of thousands of people. And so just understanding how to introduce
(22:08):
innovation in a manner that is applicablein this community, that's sustainable and this
is just my engineering knowledge and tosee how it could impact it was.
It was so powerful for me tosee that. And so when people tell
me, oh, I don't wantto be an engineer because I want to
I want to do things that matter, want to change people's lives, I
was like, well, honey,you definitely need to be an engineer.
(22:30):
Engineers are changing people's lives every day. Absolutely, yes, that that would
be a major I would say somethingmajor accomplishment because going into a lot of
times into those you always could youknow, when you think about Africa a
lot of times you I actually,as you were speaking about it, I
(22:53):
was surprised to hear like you saidthat, I don't know why that they
would need you know, that technology, they would want to or they would
have developed that type of technology towant to to make sure that they get
all that they can and to bringsomeone else in in your industry to help
(23:15):
them improve it even more. Butthat's that's actually very good to know that
that they have the technology and theyhave the resources and all to draw and
to pull you know, other resourcesin to help them to improve what there.
(23:36):
Yeah. Absolutely, and you knowthis is what this was done through
the as I mentioned, the USDepartment of State and the office is the
President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief orthe pep FAR Office. And so these
are dollars that the US is investingyou as a part of our outreach into
these countries and just to support them. And so and when when looking at
(24:02):
how to introduce technology, I didhave to be mindful of the differences in
these nations and the US, youknow, and if the solution I came
up with, you know, arethey going to have enough power? Are
they going to have access to theinternet? And so we're starting to see
a lot of growth and changes.So again, it was just so rewarding
to be able to be a partof such an important project. I can
(24:26):
imagine. Wow. So tell usor can you highlight any key, a
key strategy or decision that contributed toyour success in doing all of this?
And your success I call you atrailblazer, and I do really feel that
that is what you are. Sowhat has contributed? Can you highlight something
(24:48):
that has contributed to that success?Sure? Absolutely. I think the biggest
thing, Doctor Madeline has been notbeing afraid to do new and different things.
And because often I mean I mentionedI graduated from Frederick Douglas High School,
so you know, I'm first generationcollege student. Some of my cousins
(25:11):
when I told them I was goingto go to the University of Oklahoma,
They're like, you know, whywould you go down there? But that
was the only you know, thereare only two engineering schools. That was
the closest engineering school to me.And so not being afraid to look at
different things and go into different placeswhere you might be the only person who
looks like you. And so Ithink that's been a big part of it,
(25:36):
that, you know, just thatwillingness to eat And even if I
was afraid, I still did it. You know, you you still if
you see this as an opportunity thatit can better, you can better your
situation, something that can move youin a positive direction toward your goals.
It's okay to be scared, butyou can do it. Anyway you can
(25:56):
still do it, you know,And I think that as well as as
I mentioned before, reaching out andasking for help, and then I'm a
I'm a big believer in mentoring.I've been blessed to have wonderful mentors,
and so I would talk to peoplewho had done the things that I wanted
to do, whether it's starting anengineering business or becoming a professor, or
(26:22):
you know, traveling internationally to workwith the State Department. You know,
I've had great mentors that I talkedto about my career throughout from my undergraduate
years to even today, and soit's it's been a joyful ride. But
I wasn't the only one moving thiscar, I mean not at all.
(26:44):
I've been so blessed and again thatyou know, not not not letting fear
stop me, you know, goinganyway and building that network, talking to
people, asking for help and andgetting you know, good mentoring and good
guidance has just been priceless as faras my career. Wow, I can
see that, I mean from someof the things that you have done and
(27:07):
you know, the things that you'vecreated and help to implement. So I
can definitely see that what has beenor what are some of the most important
trends or developments you see shaping yourindustry in the coming years. Wow,
well there's a few. I meanobviously everyone is concerned about artificial intelligence.
(27:30):
Yeah, and my research looks atthe human side of systems, and so
understanding how AI and human interaction asrelates to artificial intelligence is something that's going
to be a research area that wereally need to continue studying. Also,
the mobile technology and access to allof this mobile technology and Internet of things.
(27:56):
You know, everything is connected tothe internet. Really understanding how that
impacts the user users who are ondevices all the time. I have a
I also do expert witnessing, andI you know, there's a case where
the person's distracted. So people aredistracted and walking with cell phones and walking
into streets and getting into or fallingright, So understand, you know,
(28:22):
how do we design these devices sothat they can be sensitive to what's going
on with a person and then thenbegin to respond. You know. One
example is, you know, ifyou're driving your car and you pick up
your cell phone you try to text, it will say or some of some
of the phones will say you knownot or put a little sign up do
(28:42):
not text while while driving because thetechnology sensing that you're moving that too.
Yeah, and so these are allanything that any system that the human has
to interact with could be under aresearch area, you know, within ergonomics
or human engineering or human factors.And so the list is so long because
(29:04):
technology is moving so quickly. Imean, we have seen such a compression
of the innovation and product development lifecycle and so now we think of an
idea and six months later we haveprototypes and so, you know, and
then we're perfecting it and we're gettingthese products out here, but we haven't
really evaluated how humans interact with them. So there's a huge need for continued
(29:29):
research in this space to understand,understand, also to enhance use, but
more importantly, to make sure thatthese things are handled in a safe manner.
Right, absolutely, Yeah, Imean that's one of the things that
I have decided I need to learnmore about the you know AI and what
(29:49):
is the chet GPT and all that. Yeah, it's wonderful, it's one
I mean, there is and we'rehaving to deal with this in the academic
environment, you know. As deanof engineering, I'm concerned that my students
are not cheating that they're actually writingthe papers and learning the material. It's
(30:11):
what you want. I I wastelling someone that just the other day,
Like you can, a teacher canask this thing to write a whole program
for the link. Just tell themwhat they want. They write the whole
curriculum and all that I mean,and go in and tweak it a little
bit if they want. It's fascinating. So the good part of this,
though, is it can help usbe much more productive. You know,
(30:33):
inte, you're talking about a teacher. If you know, if you're a
teacher and you've got seven classes you'reteaching, and so you need to get
your lesson planing ready quickly. Soit could be something wonderful to help you
get that lesson plan ready. Andas you said, then you tweak it.
You make sure you make it relevantas some culturally relevant examples for your
students, and so so you havegreed created your course material probably in one
(30:56):
fourth time that it would normally takeyou to do so. So so those
are wonderful things. And even problemsolving sometimes you know how to solve problem
you don't even have time for Oneof my expert witness cases the other day,
I needed to determine how a personwho was hit by a car,
how they would fall, if theywould fall back, or if they would
fall to the site, because that'sagain biomechanics. So I told Chad GPTs,
(31:18):
I said, I said, pleasecalculate the center of gravity for a
woman who's this height and this X, Y and z, and it gave
the center of gravity. So Iwas able to quickly solve the problem.
Now I know how to do thatmyself, but it was it's wonderful when
it's used properly, and that youknow, that's the then you know the
fine line that we're we're going tohave to learn to walk because it's wonderful
(31:41):
in many ways, and we wantto allow and equip and educate our students
and our employees on how to useit in an effective and ethical and safe
manner. That said, we haveto be very careful that we are putting
those guidelines in place, and Ithink the White House just put some additional
guidelines. I mean everyone's looking atit, from the White House to the
(32:06):
academic communities and workplaces. So it'sso it's that's going to be something that
will be working on for many yearsto come as far as I can see.
Yeah, that, uh that it'ssuch a you know, it's it's
out there and you know it's outthere, and of course you I feel,
(32:28):
you know, being in business,I have to you know, figure
out how it works. I meanI don't I don't think I need to
be an expert in it, butI think I need to understand it absolutely.
Yeah. Yeah, so just toyou know, I need to figure
out is this something that I reallyneed to implement in my in my business
or what I'm doing. And sothat's that's one of the things that I
(32:51):
have been looking at as far asexploring it to see how helpful it'll be,
you know, for making, likeyou said, making my life easy.
Absolutely. I mean I know howto calculate the center gravity doc Madaline,
but when I asked her to calculatethe centergravity while I was working on
something else, by the time ithad the center graphy calculated, I put
my put the information in there andsolved the problem in less than half the
(33:13):
time. Yeah. See that thatthat helps, that that helps to know
that. So I definitely I'm definitelygonna make that a priority. Yeah,
I need to figure out this thingand and really get into it now.
So tell me. I know Imentioned in when I was reading your bio
that you are dean right now.A school of engineering is at Widener Universe
(33:37):
University, So tell us how doyou foster a culture of creativity and innovation
within your organization? Well, andthat's something that I'm glad you asked me
that, because that's something that's reallyimportant to me. I think one of
the best ways to create that fosterthat culture of creativity and innovation is to
(34:00):
build it around needs. People aremuch more willing to solve a problem if
they feel like it meets a need, it addresses a societal issue, it
is going to help make life betterfor someone, and that's very easy to
do in engineering. So really buildingaround and then of course even in engineering
(34:23):
education, when I talk to myfaculty members or my leadership team about making
sure that the things we do aredesigned to make it easier for our students
to do well, are able toeasier for them to acquire an understanding apply
the material in a more efficient manner. So people are more likely in my
(34:45):
experience, to be innovative and creativeand resourceful when they feel like what they're
doing is really going to have animpact on a situation, individuals, or
even a community then and that's sortof a different perspective. Maybe then some
technical professionals would take. But Ifound that to be so much more effective
(35:07):
because then at that point, thenthe next thing I say is collaborate.
So collaborations. When I've got mydoctor degree in ninety three, people were
looking to be the loan researcher who'sgoing to save the world, and those
days are very, very long gone. Today it's about quality, substantive collaborative
(35:28):
relationships. Because we have I mentionedthe compression of the innovation and product development
life cycle. Well, there aremultiple disciplines, multiple backgrounds that are needed
when you start talking about innovation andreally solving a problem. So having those
good collaborators that you can come togetherwith and share your ideas in brainstorm to
(35:51):
get to solution is just essential.And we've seen that people get to solution
much more quickly when they have thesesubstantive collaborations. Not just two people say
we're going to work together. I'llgo to my office of work, you
go into years of work and we'lltalk in two weeks. No actually looking
at the problem, looking at whereto apply the industrial engineering or the mechanical
engineering expertise you know, or wheredo we need social science expertise as a
(36:15):
relations to solving this problem? Andso really having those good collaborations that are
focused on meeting needs, addressing challengesthat has been very effective for me and
keeping people interested in innovating and beingcreative. That is great, that is
(36:36):
phenomenal. So tell us if youhad one piece of advice that you would
leave with our viewers and our listeners, especially to maybe motivate someone who wants
to get into the engineering field,what would that advice be. I'm going
to borrow Nike's phrase, just doit us do it. We need you,
(37:02):
We need you in these engineering field, we need you in other stamp
disciplines. And believe me, itis probably easier to enter than you think.
You mentioned the community college. Starta community college, you know,
most community colleges have an open door, open enrollment policy. You know,
(37:22):
you can you don't have to beaccepted, you can just enroll UH and
then talk to people, talk tothe counselors, you know, UH,
academic advisors, talk to people aboutyour ideas, and do a Google,
you know, do a Google search. You know what are some if you
like playing video games? You knowwhat are some fun careers for people who
(37:44):
enjoy playing video games? Maybe youshould be building video games and getting paid.
Okay, you know, you know, if you really enjoy helping people,
you know, we used to thinkthat was only social science or nursing
disciplines. You know that's not thecase at all. You could become a
biomechanical engineering design prosthetic devices for childrento run who don't have legs, and
(38:06):
so really understand, just do itand don't be afraid. And I'm gonna
say this, if you are afraid, do it anyway. Yes, absolutely,
any way. The rewards so outweighthe fear and the challenges. The
rewards are immense. And I wantso much, so very much to see
(38:29):
more of pursuing, succeeding and enjoyingcareers in engineering, because again, we
are desperately needed in this space.Absolutely so. Tell us if someone wanted
to get in touch with you tomaybe ask you some questions for you to
maybe give them a couple of tips, a couple of pointers on your industry,
(38:52):
your field, how can they reachout to you? Oh, I'm
easy to find. You can reachme at my university email It's just pr
McCauley at Widner dot EEDU or goto the university website you can see my
contact information there. You can alsocontact me on LinkedIn and I also have
course on an engineering business that hastransformed your STEM career, so you can
(39:15):
put in a question fill in theforum there. So I'm really easy to
find and would love to connect withfolks, offer any insights that I can
to support anyone on their journey.Oh and real quick, I don't want
to go without letting you tell ushow they can get your book, which
is winners never you know how theycan do. If you go online and
(39:38):
go online, they can get it. Or they can send an inquiry directly
through my business and I will getthem to our point of contact who handles
that. So would love that andwould love to And part of the reason
I wrote that book, docor Methlant, I would go and talk to students
at high schools. This is rightafter I finished my bachelor's de and I
(40:00):
was ingredul and people would say,gosh, I wish my son or my
daughter were here, my cousin werehere, and so I thought, well,
I'm never going to be able tomake it to talk to everybody.
So I wrote that book because Iwanted to share the challenges that I had
as an undergraduate student and those difficulties, and yet I was able to not
only get my bachelor's degree, butthen win a huge fellowship and pay my
(40:22):
master's and doctor degree. And themessage is so can you. And it's
then we have so many more resourcestoday so they can reach out directly to
us or get online and be happyto help them get a copy of that.
Thank you so much. And yousaid just what this show is all
about. If you did it,everybody could do it. And that's what
(40:45):
I with this show. You know, don't think that because you know she
did it and it was a pieceof cake, because like you said,
it wasn't it. But you haveto stick with it if you're absolutely like
the book said, winners never requit. So thank you so much, doctor
McCully for being here. Appreciate nuggetsthat you shared with us, And I
(41:08):
just can't thank you enough for givingus some information that, like I said,
some of it I didn't even know. So definitely appreciate you taking time
out of the busy schedule to behere and just let us know if there's
anything reach out, let me knowif there's anything that's coming up that you
want us to make an announcement onthat. Can you know, help your
(41:31):
program or help what you're doing inany way, be glad to do so.
Thank you, Thank you, that'sso kind of you. Appreciate that.
Thank you. So here are someupcoming events that you can where you
can find me, and some thingsthat are going on. Again, make
sure that you get your copy ofthe Own It anthology It's Your Life,
(41:55):
Own It Unapologetically and the journal threeh hundred and sixty five days to transformation.
To pre order the paperback book andthe journal separately will be twenty four
ninety nine each for each book.To order the complete set is forty nine
(42:15):
ninety nine. To order your copies, you can email me at info at
EXWSI dot com or you can goto my website www dot EXWSI dot com.
The next Business Black Business Olympics iscoming up soon. It's going to
(42:36):
be December eighteenth through the twenty Decembertwenty fourth, and as you know,
the Black Business Olympics is a fundraiserto provide scholarships and laptops to high school
seniors going to college and k throughtwelve entrepreneurs. The Black Business Olympics showcases
black businesses, black business owners andcorporate rations all around the world, and
(43:02):
if you want to be a speakerto showcase your business, you can email
me at info at EXWSI dot com. Also coming up on the horizon is
the which is January twenty fifth throughthe twenty seventh of twenty twenty four is
(43:22):
my Show Up to Rise Up Women'sVirtual Summit. To find out more about
the event or to be a speakerat the Show Up to Rise Up Virtual
Summit, you can email me atinfo at exw SI dot com. And
we're also going to be starting aShow Up to Rise Up Women's Network and
(43:45):
the mission of the women's Show Upto Rise Up Network will be to empower
and connect women all around the worldin their career, business, professional and
personal lives by how helping them togain the resources needed buying power, increase
their revenue, and to accelerate theirpersonal business and career growth through opportunities that
(44:12):
they will be able to find throughthe network. As a member, you
have access to coaching, training,events, workshops, resources, networking opportunities
and much much more. And ofcourse I will be doing my Show Up
to Rise Up Women's retreat in twentytwenty four, so for the details on
(44:35):
that, make sure you contact me. If you're interested in joining us in
twenty twenty four, you can emailme at info at EXWSI dot com.
And as you know, I haveto put it out there, make sure
that you bow my TEDx talk thatI did in Vancouver, Canada. The
(44:55):
topic of course is show Up toRise Up, and you can watch it
on YouTube. To watch it,you can go and on YouTube put in
my name in the search box,doctor Madeline and Lewis and it will come
right up. You can also ifyou prefer to email me directly for the
(45:16):
link, you can do so emailme at info at EXWSI dot com and
I will send you the link.I am excited because the video is still
moving out there. It's at onehundred and ninety three thousand, eight hundred
and ninety views. As you know, I'm pushing for a million plus,
(45:38):
So keep watching, keep sharing,keep commenting, and I want to thank
all of you in advance that havesupported the video so far, who has
shared it, and who have madetheir comments. I am also a contributing
writer for on It magazine, whereI share nuggets and resources every month.
(46:00):
Own It Magazine is a resource forpersonal and professional and business development. So
if you'd like to get a subscriptionto on It Magazine, you can go
to my website www dot e xw SI dot com and there's a link
on there if you want to geta and your membership. If you'd like
(46:23):
to get a copy of the adigital copy of it, you can email
me so that you can see itat info at e x w SI dot
com. Again, I would liketo thank my guests, doctor Pamela R.
McCully, and my viewers and mylisteners for joining me today. This
(46:45):
has been the success for women's show. I'm doctor Madelinie and Lewis and as
you know, if you'd like toreach out to me, you can email
me at any time at info ate x w SI dot com or go
to my website www dot exwsi dotcom and while you're there, make sure
(47:07):
you download my free three part videoseries on three things every woman should do
to position herself for executive leadership.You can also reach out to me on
any of the social media sites Iam at on all of them. Make
sure that you subscribe to our YouTubechannel, subscribe to the Talk for TV
(47:30):
channel. Are the Women for Womennetwork channel? Make sure you subscribe to
those, and make sure that youlike and share this episode with others.
We had some great nuggets today fromour guest doctor Pamela R. McCully,
so make sure that you share thisepisode to let others that may want to
(47:52):
get in the engineering field know howthey can possibly do that. Again,
this is this successful women's show.We are here every week at two pm
Eastern Standard time. I am yourhost, doctor Madeline and Lewis helping women
to accelerate the path to success.Thank you again for joining us. I
(48:16):
love you all to life and asalways, be well and stay safe out
there. I got the time
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