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April 8, 2025 34 mins
Women in STEM: Aparajita's Industrial Engineering Journey, MBA & Career Success Tips!

Are you an aspiring Industrial Engineer? Wondering how to balance a full-time job while pursuing an MBA? In this video, I share my Industrial Engineering journey, how I navigated the challenges of being a woman in STEM, and my experience pursuing an MBA while working full-time. If you're passionate about engineering, career growth, and higher education, this video is for you!

What You’ll Learn: ✅ How Aparajita got into Industrial Engineering and built her career
✅ Tips for excelling in STEM careers
✅ How to manage an MBA program while working full-time
✅ The benefits of an MBA for engineers & career advancement

💡 If you’re interested in supply chain, manufacturing, process improvement, business strategy, and career growth, this video is packed with insights to help you succeed!

📢 Don’t forget to LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE on YouTube for more STEM and career advice! 

Meet our next guest, Aparajita! Aparajita Satapathy graduated from Georgia Tech with a B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering in May 2019. Afterwards, Aparajita began working in the aerospace industry and joined the Operations Leadership Development Program consisting of three 1-year rotations. Her first rotation was in Supply Chain as a procurement analyst. She then transitioned into my Operations Rotation as an Applications Engineer supporting the Manufacturing Technology team. For her final rotation, she worked in quality as an Inspection Supervisor. Following OLDP, she worked as a Manufacturing Engineer before transitioning into a project manager (current role) supporting one of the production builds. She completed her MBA from Johns Hopkins in August 2023.

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#womeninstem #IndustrialEngineering #STEMCareers #WomenInEngineering #MBAWhileWorking #EngineeringSuccess #CareerGrowth #STEMEducation #EngineeringJourney #SupplyChain #Manufacturing #WorkLifeBalance #EngineeringTips
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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hi everyone, and welcome to All Things Them with Ashley. Today,
we have Appy here with us. Afy graduated from Georgia
Tech with a BS and Industrial and Systems Engineering. After that,
she joined the aerospace industry where she joined the Operations
Leadership Development Program. She got to be a supply chain
procurement analyst. She also has got to be an applications

(00:32):
engineer in the manufacturing room, and she's also worked as
an inspection supervisor. So we're super excited today to hear
about her journey, her navigation through her career, and tips
for success. She also finished her NBA at John Hopkins
and August of twenty twenty three, and that was in
her MBA, so we get to learn a little bit
about why she chose that.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
So thank you for joining us today. Appy, Welcome, Thank you.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm super excited to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
I met Appy at work a few years ago and
then we just stayed connected.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
We actually met volunteering. We were volunteering for this coding
event and it just stayed.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
So here she is here, we are, and I'm so
thankful she is a guest today on our channel. Today,
we're going to talk about your journey to start off
So what first sparked your interest in STEM and how
did you decide to pursue it as a career.

Speaker 4 (01:20):
Yeah, so, I would say it started off in elementary school.
My parents pushed me to math competitions and science OLYMPIAD.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
So.

Speaker 4 (01:30):
My dad was an engineer himself. My mom was mostly
in the biology field.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
She has a master's there.

Speaker 4 (01:35):
Cool. So I come from a family background that's rich
in step. Yeah, so I think that kind of propelled
my journey and I realized I really love math.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Science is okay?

Speaker 4 (01:48):
I mean I again, later on I found out in
high school it wasn't my cup of tea, But through
high school through middle school it was mostly signed Olympia.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
It's a lot of math competitions.

Speaker 4 (02:00):
I tried to take all the advanced math classes, those
AP classes.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
In math and science to figure out what I wanted
to do.

Speaker 4 (02:07):
And then when it came to applying to college, I
didn't realize how vast engineering was. So I came to
Georgia Tech actually got the chance to talk to some
students who were in those majors such as Mechanical, Biomedical, Industrial,
and then I finally settled on industrial because it's heavy

(02:28):
math influence, but it's not as much science based as
the other majors were. And the other reason was it's
so broad as well. So that's kind of what led
me into engineering.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
I love it. That's awesome. I didn't know that.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
So can you give us a little more of an
overview of what industrial engineering is for those.

Speaker 4 (02:49):
That Yeah, so it's essentially a cross section or intersection
of business, engineering and computing. Okay, So what's so great
about it is you take all these engineering classes on
basically fighting systems or processes to make them more efficient. Okay,
but at the same time you're taking some business classes,

(03:12):
you're taking some computing classes, so if those really appeal
to you.

Speaker 3 (03:16):
I know, some of my friends went into consulting.

Speaker 4 (03:19):
Okay, some people just straight up went into the tech
industry and their software engineers, and then the true core
industrial engineers. There are people who are working in manufacturing, logistics, quality,
and process improvement. So yeah, it's great if you are
unsure about what you want to do, and it's so.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Versatile, so you can go into any industry, especially you're
not very much confined to one space.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah. I love that, thank you.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
See I'm learning too, so like even though I'm an
engineering I still learn about the different types through my
guest and I learned things about my guests. Even if
we know each other and you talk to someone at work,
is so different from hearing their background their journey. So
I'm super excited that we could to land that today. Yeah,
so next we have Were there any challenges you faced
growing up in STIM that made pursuing your STIM career harder?

Speaker 2 (04:15):
Sure?

Speaker 4 (04:16):
So, I would say science was not my favorite subject
per se. I like maths, so when it came to
high school, taking those advanced chemistry physics classes were a
bit of a challenge, so that for a while did
deter me from engineering. But my parents really pushed me
and they said, hey, we know you need help. Go

(04:36):
find help. There's a lots and lots of resources out there,
especially YouTube, because sometimes your teacher or even your professor
in college doesn't teach the way you can.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Learn from them.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
So with that I was able to find the help,
and then towards the end of it, I actually started
liking physics a little bit more. Yeah, so I feel
like it really helped me being in like the aerospace
of the manufacturing industry right now, not having because essentially,
some people call industrial engineers imaginary engineers.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
And no idea what we're talking about.

Speaker 4 (05:15):
But having that solid background in physics and really learning
and making sure I understand the material help me.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
After I graduated.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
So did y'all hear that? Ask for help, seek guidance,
seek resources. Those are all keys to success.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
So thank you for that. Happy.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
Our next question is what inspire you to select your
major during your collegiate years.

Speaker 4 (05:43):
Yeah, so talked a little bit about it, about it
being very broad. At the time, I really didn't know
what I wanted to do. To be completely honest, I
still don't know.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
And it's hard. Yeah, it's hard.

Speaker 4 (05:55):
Because you study a major and then you get to
the workforce and then realize I don't like this, I
want to do something else. So that's what propelled me
towards industrial engineering. It's still engineering, and I really loved
the concept of process improvement. That's something I would like
to do throughout the rest of my life, whether it

(06:17):
be their various rules, some more strategic roles, what it is.
So taking those process improvement classes and whatnot, I think
really deepen my interest in industrial engineering.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
It so afy, can you share any role models or
mentors that helped you navigate your career journey.

Speaker 4 (06:35):
Yeah, I would say it started off with looking at
my family and what base pursued. So my dad went
into the software engineering world. My mom majored in biology
and she did her masters in it as well. And
then my uncle's on both sides of the family they
did engineering, and then my grandfather's on both sides they
were engineering as well. So real family of engineers, and

(07:01):
that's to be expected, especially in like the Indian culture.
They placed a huge emphasis on either being a doctor,
an engineer, or a lawyer. Okay, And luckily enough, I
think towards the end of high school, like my parents
still told me that, hey, we're not going to push you,
but we also want to make sure you're financially stable
and you find a major that provides a good job.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
Right.

Speaker 4 (07:24):
So luckily I really love math, so we kind of
fell in place with that. And then through college I
just had multiple mentors so help. I joined the alumni
Association as a student connected with multiple mentors there and
it really helped me find out what I could do

(07:45):
with my degree, and they really helped me saying like, oh,
this is the experience I had in this job. This
is what we did because you hear buzzwords like consulting
and process improvement, and I e.

Speaker 3 (08:00):
You think, what do they do on a day to
day basis?

Speaker 2 (08:02):
Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
So that really helped me find out what I wanted to.

Speaker 4 (08:08):
Do, yeah, and what I really didn't want to do too,
So it kind of worked both ways.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
I love that. Yeah, thank you for sharing that with this.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
So I went to ask next, what is one project
or accomplishment that you're particularly proud of doing your career.

Speaker 3 (08:25):
I was, I graduated from Georgia Tech.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yeah, that is a huge accomplishment.

Speaker 4 (08:29):
Yeah, I so luckily the high school I went to
was really competitive. Yeah, so it did help me adjust
to Georgia Tech with its rigor and whatnot. But it
was probably ten Georgia Tech is probably ten to twenty
times or I faced.

Speaker 3 (08:46):
In high school.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
My goodness.

Speaker 4 (08:48):
So yeah, there would be times or I would I
would call them like nightmares.

Speaker 3 (08:54):
Ye, so I would have nightmares even after I graduated.
I slept through a final and I failed.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
It happened.

Speaker 3 (09:03):
Yes, I would say graduating has.

Speaker 4 (09:06):
Been one of my major accomplishments, especially from Tech, and
it really helped me in like the career world because
people noticed Georgia Tech. Yes, oh yes, so they know
how hard it is and competitive it is.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
So yeah, I would say graduating.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
Excellent, this is amazing.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
So y'all see the journey is a linear but you
can still make it. And she's super successful now, so
just keep going. Well, that's excellent. Have you been involved
in any stim initiatives that promote young women or minority
groups during your time?

Speaker 3 (09:40):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (09:41):
So it actually started off at Georgia Tech. They had
a program called College of Engineering Champions. I don't know
if they still have that right, but essentially what it
was is we would either host high schools or not
high school kind of ranges from elementary, middle to high
school students either on campus from like under represented schools

(10:01):
around the area. I would say to try to get
them very influenced into STEM good and whatnot and see
what engineers do, what students do here.

Speaker 3 (10:12):
Explore the campus and whatnot. And the other thing we.

Speaker 4 (10:16):
Would do is we would use fun little projects with
them at their schools as well. So I really love
that aspect. I'm trying to have an impact on someone's life. Yes,
because I've.

Speaker 3 (10:28):
Been so fortunate to have so many mentors.

Speaker 4 (10:30):
So many resources, so many field trips to fund STEM
related activities, and it's a great way to inspire the
next generation.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
I love it. I love it kind of.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
I would say, help.

Speaker 4 (10:46):
Really, let me see that impact that I have on
students and pay I guess pay them, pay.

Speaker 3 (10:51):
For yes and transition into work.

Speaker 4 (10:55):
So I know at work, sometimes they'll do events during
Engineer a week or E week and we would go
visits high school students, yeah, try to do fun little
activities with them, with elementary school students, try to teach
them how airplanes fly and whatnot. And sometimes we would
host them at work as well and try to show

(11:16):
them what we build and whatnot.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
I love that. Thank you for sharing, thank you for
paying it for it.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
I think making it impact is so important because like
the people that helped inspire us, we're now STEM leaders
are growing leaders, and we can help, you know, pour
that back into them because I feel like, first of all,
like if you're not exposed to it, you don't want
to research and learn more about it, And if you
only see one type of profession or field, I think
it's important to show other ones as well. So even
if you don't pick it, you're still exposed to it

(11:44):
to get my knowledge, got it, So I think, you know,
exposure is the first steps. So I love that you
get to do that and make us a super great impact.

Speaker 3 (11:51):
Yeah, you never know who you inspire.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
You don't and you know, seeing a female in leadership
or in stem it really is inspiring because it's like
there's someone that looks like me out there that did
it and they made it. And so that's why I'm
excited about this this channel so that we can, you know,
help promote others and let them see that you can
make it.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
There's people that look like you that have made it happen.
So thank you. Yeah, now we're going to get into some.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
Grad school questions because at being navigated working a full
time job while also doing school part time. So we're
going to just lend a little bit about her tips
for success, how she made it in ways that you know,
if you're doing the same boat, you can make it too.
So first off, what motivated you to get your NBA
while you were already working in your career field?

Speaker 2 (12:34):
What motivated that?

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Yeah, I won't lie, was the tuition reimbursement at work?

Speaker 2 (12:39):
Did a huge role into it.

Speaker 4 (12:41):
Oh yeah, from a financial standpoint, yes, Otherwise I don't
think I would have probably put off my NBA for years.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
Yes.

Speaker 4 (12:49):
And then the second being so this was right around
the COVID time, so some of the schools relaxed their GMAT.

Speaker 3 (12:54):
Requirements so to propel.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
Yes, that propelled getting my MBA, yeah, a lot sooner
than I anticipated. And then also I would say why
I chose to get an MBA specifically was because I
wanted a very broad degree similar to my major, and
then I think long term, I was seeking something that

(13:17):
was more strategic in nature. I could have gone back
for my degree in industrial engineering or masters on that
and whatnot, but I think for me personally, I wanted
to go more into a strategic route versus staying in
the same tactical engineering yaled and also brought in my knowledge.
So I'd taken some business classes as an undergrad and

(13:41):
I really like that. And then with MBA you get
more exposure into classes on how to lead teams, leadership styles, management,
whether it be risk management or strategic management.

Speaker 3 (13:54):
Topics like that.

Speaker 4 (13:55):
So that's kind of what I guess helped me choose
an MBA.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
Kid that's really good.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
That's really unique because I know in the engineering field
it is hard deciding, Okay, do I want to get
a master's degree in engineering like my undergrad or a
more like you said, NBA learning the business acumen the
business side and navigating people and learning that background, because
it's good to have balanced of both. Yes, And in
the engineering world, I've seen both ways where you do
the NBA or a STEM field.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
But I was the same way as you. I was like,
I kind of want to learn the business side.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
And I actually met with some of my mentors and
my old manager and was like, Okay, when you look
at an NBA or a master's an engineering, like what
do you look at more? And they were like, oh,
I see them as the same. Like so you need to,
you know, talk with your leadership, you know, talk with
the people you work with and get different perspectives on
what they feel about it. And like she said, this
up to what you actually want out of it. So

(14:46):
and the pandemic definitely helped. Yeah, and the tuition ren
person definitely helped. I was like, yeah, okay, tuition reimbursement,
I'll do it. Let's stit and loans all.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
That so I was to save with her.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
I was like, yeah, I'm not doing anything until I
get a job tuition reimbursement.

Speaker 2 (15:01):
So well, thank you.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
So now how do you balance work, studies life because
you have to have me time, you have to have
work time, you have to.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
Have a social life. How do you navigate it all
without burning out?

Speaker 3 (15:16):
That one's a tough one.

Speaker 4 (15:18):
I would say it helped because I think when I
started my MBA, I was in a hybrid.

Speaker 3 (15:24):
Work.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
That's what it's called.

Speaker 3 (15:27):
Hybrid work. Yeah, environment, environment, yes, environment, there we go.

Speaker 4 (15:31):
So I would go in for a few days, like
two to three days and then work from home for
a day, which helped with that. So I wasn't on
the road commuting because ten hour days can be a lot.

Speaker 3 (15:40):
And I'm sure you know that too.

Speaker 2 (15:41):
So where's your Masters fully online? Or did you have it?

Speaker 4 (15:44):
It was fully online thankfully, So that was Yeah, that
helped a lot. That actually was my deciding factor because
Georgia Tech and Emory did have an MBA and I
was really looking into theirs. But there's required to be
on campus six ten nine pm, two days a week
after Yes, So I decided I'm going to do my

(16:07):
Master's completely remote. It's an asynchronous format, so you can
get ahead some weeks. You can do as you want
for a week. So that's what I really liked. And
it was on a quarter system, so classes rolled by
so quickly. Every eight weeks you're in different classes.

Speaker 2 (16:22):
That's insane.

Speaker 4 (16:23):
Yes, So I would say what helped me a lot
was staying organized with those deadlines and whatnot. So I
would have it plugged into my calendar app as well
as I would write it down. I like to check
things off and cancele them. It makes me think back
and look, oh, look how productive I was, or look
when I got done. But then also having it on

(16:45):
my camp calendar app, so the way I get notifications
say hey this is due, make.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
Sure you do this. And then the second thing was because.

Speaker 4 (16:53):
It was during the pandemic and I had been racking
up a lot of PTO, I just took what would
be the equivalent of mental health days, just taking a
few days off, whether it to be relaxed or whether
for school entire.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
Like if I had finals coming up, I'll take off
a day or just excellent. Yeah, because it can be
I would do the same.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
Yes, you have to, it can be it can be
ten hour days, homework, you know, sometimes group projects. A
lot of group projects in grad school for me that
I was not expecting, So it is a lot. You
do have to take that time off. And luckily for us,
we work ten hour days, so we're off each Friday.
That's something I really got to utilized too. It's my
off Fridays and my weekends to really jump ahead on

(17:34):
school work.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
Did you get to utilize that?

Speaker 3 (17:36):
Like, yes, for sure.

Speaker 4 (17:37):
Sometimes I would leave work off completely, like watching lectures
and stuff like that till Friday.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
Yeah, because by the.

Speaker 4 (17:44):
Time I would get home, i'd be late, and I
didn't want to do any of the school related unless
it was.

Speaker 3 (17:49):
Just write a discussion post. Sure, I'll go do that roight.

Speaker 4 (17:52):
Yeah, but homework assignments, that's Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
Absolutely trying to divide it up that way. And then
something else that really helped, I would say, is going
to grad school or two or three years after you
finish your undergrad Yeah.

Speaker 4 (18:07):
Because like when my MBA, I would say, there are
a lot of classes that dived or picked up a
key topics from ie classes.

Speaker 3 (18:16):
That I took.

Speaker 4 (18:17):
So there are classes that I was going in, they oh,
this is super easy.

Speaker 3 (18:21):
I didn't know about this, so it was a breeze.

Speaker 4 (18:23):
And I saw some of my other coworker classmates living
out of school for fifteen twenty years and it took
them a while to refresh their memory. So they've had
different majors. Oh you're not, so it took them a
while to grasp it, right, So having that really helped
me as well.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 1 (18:43):
That's super smart because I like to ask people to like,
what made you decide to go to the work force
before just pursuing your master straight out of undergrad.

Speaker 4 (18:53):
Yeah, so I think for me personally, the options at
tech were very limited in terms of a master's and engineer.

Speaker 3 (19:01):
For I, it delved into the supply chain.

Speaker 4 (19:04):
I wasn't the biggest fan of supply chain when I
did my supply chain rotation at work. It's very important
to realize how supply chain works and integrates into a company.
It could be a something as small as a fastener
or a bolt that can shut down an entire production
line because they don't have it and didn't anticipate.

Speaker 3 (19:24):
All those risks and whatnot.

Speaker 4 (19:27):
But with that being said, it wasn't my cup of
tea because I wanted to be hands on on the
manufacturing floor, really digging into the engineering behind it, performing
corrective action and whatnot.

Speaker 3 (19:40):
So with that being said, going.

Speaker 4 (19:42):
Back, I just I took a few supply chain classes
as an IE major.

Speaker 3 (19:47):
It just didn't appeal to me as much to go
into that world.

Speaker 4 (19:52):
And I think early on I really did want to
get an MBA since it was so broad in case
I ever wanted to go into leadership, I.

Speaker 3 (20:02):
Thought it would be like the most beneficial degree.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
That's excellent.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
So now we want to talk about how do you
envision your NBA affecting your long term career plan?

Speaker 4 (20:13):
Yeah, so I think first of all, I really want
to get into something more strategic so within a company,
whether that be program management or business development, try to
capture that new business what goes into it.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
So from my MBA classes.

Speaker 4 (20:28):
Taking classes in strategic management, customer analysis, risk management, as
well as just managing and whatnot, trying to figure out
how to manage a team too, because that's who you're
going to lean on when you really go into those roles.
That that's an aspect that I look forward to after

(20:49):
getting my NBA or just going into leadership in general.
So yeah, I did have that one year experience as
a supervisor, okay, and I will say it helped me
grow personally and professionally as well. It really made me
realize you don't have to be the smartest person in
the room or know everything to be a leader. It's

(21:09):
just how you manage people and how you make sure
your team excels. And that's something that obviously a lot
of my MBA classes really emphasized as well. And they
also went into how do you influence your team as
well as how do you help them excel and grow.

Speaker 3 (21:31):
We'll see what the future takes.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
I can't wait, y'all are gonna have to bring her
back and see what she takes here. I want to
know what the best piece of advice you've received during
your whole stem journey?

Speaker 2 (21:41):
Can you share that with that? Sure?

Speaker 4 (21:44):
I will say networking never stops. I've had obviously in college.
That's when you start really networking, putting yourself out there,
building your personal brand so that when you get to.

Speaker 3 (21:56):
Your first job. But it doesn't stop there because it's
not like you're going to be stuck in.

Speaker 4 (22:01):
That role forever or if you want to good for you,
but for me personally that I've seen is making those
connections at the end of the day, it's so beneficial
as well as building your personal reputation at a company,
because that's how you get hired sometimes. So in the past,
I've had a few people come up to me and say, Hey,

(22:23):
by the way, this role is opening up. If you
want it, let me know. I'll go talk to the
hiring manager to put in a word for you. So
that's kind of helped me get the current role that
I am in right now. So building that reputation and
growing your network really pays dividends.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
That is an excellent tip. Network.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
Network network, and how do you keep up with people
after you originally meet with them?

Speaker 2 (22:49):
How do you keep that relationship going? How do you
what do you do?

Speaker 4 (22:52):
Yeah, so I like to just randomly check in on them,
see what they're up to. So a good number of
the people that I used to work with have really
moved across the country within the company outside of the company.
So within the company, it's really easy just sending them
an IM message and saying sometimes saying like hey, by

(23:13):
the way, I'm gonna be at your facility in like
the next month, let's catch up, or just I guess
having like random once a quarter check.

Speaker 3 (23:22):
Ins with them. And something else that's helped me is
I will sometimes jop down their birthday. Yeah, that's a
really easy way to start a conversation with someone. So
if you do that, and I just set it out
my work calendar to repeat every year as well, so.

Speaker 4 (23:40):
I'll reach out and say, hey, happy birthday, and then
I'll lead into like, how are you doing, how's your
role going.

Speaker 3 (23:46):
And stuff like that. So super easy way to talk
to someone.

Speaker 1 (23:50):
Thank you for that negative wisdom. You all can use
that wherever you are with a new college, new career,
in your career.

Speaker 3 (23:58):
Yeah, people love birthday wishes.

Speaker 2 (24:00):
Thank you, Andy.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
Next, we're going to ask about how you keep yourself
motivated when things get tough, So sometimes balancing school, working
full time, your personal life meantime, how do you balance
it as obstacles arise and how do you navigate through that?

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Sure?

Speaker 4 (24:17):
I think personally for me, I'm just a very optimistic person.
So I just have that mindset that things can only
go uphill from here. Yes, So when something comes my way,
it's like, Okay, this is a challenge, and you grow
so much from those challenges as well in terms of
how you handle it. So having that optimistic mindset helps

(24:38):
a lot. And then also not taking things personally, And
that's something I built on in my supervisor role because
since then I've always had people will give me like
positive feedback or constructive criticism. That wasn't necessarily super negative,
but it wasn't until I got into that role and
people were telling me to do things. Then there were

(25:01):
instances where some of the inspectors I worked with didn't
have the most positive attitude at times, and being on
the receiving end wasn't great. So that helped me learn
not to take things personally and giving people raise.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
Sometimes people just have bad days. Yes, that's what it
comes down to.

Speaker 4 (25:20):
I'm sure they should not take that out on you
and anyway whatsoever, but people do have bad days and
it could be something that triggered them to act that way.
And then also having an end goal in mind. So
for me my MBA, I had a countdown.

Speaker 3 (25:39):
On a sticky note.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
On my laptop.

Speaker 4 (25:42):
It was for the end of each rotation as well
as the end of my MBA and just having that
just kept me going. I would say it's like, all right,
one last day of this, yeah, and then I'll never
have to deal with going to school for time again.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
That is so good. You are service. She's giving major key.
Oh my goodness.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
The not taking things personal, it is something I feel
like so many of us have to learn going into
the workforce, because it's almost we're not handheld through college,
but we it's a big transition from college to the workplace,
and you cannot take things personal or it will drive
you crazy.

Speaker 2 (26:17):
You will be crying every day.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah, And so learning that a lot of times it's
not about you, it's about them, Like he says, maybe
sometimes someone had a bad day and take value. It
took me a while to understand that because I'm bubbly
like you, I'm.

Speaker 2 (26:29):
Surt going friendly.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
It can be six in the morning, I'm like good morning, yeah,
and meeting.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
Those people that it's just like, oh my gosh, do
they not like me? Do they hate me? What's going on?

Speaker 1 (26:38):
And then understanding like, you can't control how someone treats you,
and you cannot understand what's really going on, So just
do what you can do and move forward.

Speaker 4 (26:47):
Yeah, and you can control how you take in that
negative energy. Do you let it go or do you
keep it in here.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Or believe it?

Speaker 3 (26:52):
You don't have to believe. You don't have to believe
it at all.

Speaker 4 (26:55):
And it's so important to have like work friends as well,
people you can ran through as soon as it happens,
because that's also.

Speaker 3 (27:02):
A great way to get it out of your system.

Speaker 4 (27:04):
And then obviously I don't think your friends would see
anything wrong in you, per se, and they would probably
help you.

Speaker 1 (27:10):
It's good friends that you can trust. Yes, vet them first. Yes,
it is a dog eat dog world out there.

Speaker 3 (27:18):
Yeah it is, and everyone' said as nice A.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
It's like we would think or like people sometimes people
do things. It's like I would never do that to someone, right,
How could they just do that?

Speaker 3 (27:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (27:27):
And I still learned that today and I'm like, oh
my goodness, I would never ye. But people aren't raised
like the same, so people don't have the same understanding
basis morals.

Speaker 2 (27:36):
So it's kind of like, okay, noted, Yeah, next, Yeah, okay,
so that was good, Thank you for that great advice.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
Worse, how do you see the field of industrial engineering changing.
I know you said your role has changed since you've
gotten the workforce, but so much is changing now with AI.
Different things are going on in all different career fields,
and I feel like engineering is being changed or changing
and evolving the most. Do you think there will be
any new things coming into industrial engineering the next.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
Five to ten years that may impact this?

Speaker 3 (28:08):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (28:09):
Yeah, So I'll say when I graduated the I school
here started a new concentration in data analytics, so sech
by the way, Yes, So unfortunately that was my senior
year and if I chose to concentrate on that, I'd
probably have to stand another year or year and a half,
which I did.

Speaker 3 (28:26):
Not want to do.

Speaker 4 (28:28):
But I will say with that being said, I realized
they're really going into the tech world more so, whether
it be AI or machine learning, try to incorporate those concepts.
And I'd love to see that how it plays out
in the manufacturing world, especially in aerospace. Obviously automotive they
are cutting edge technology, they have a lot more robots

(28:50):
installed and whatnot. But when you go to like the
aerospace manufacturing industry, something that I saw was we're still
doing operations by hand because these aircrafts are highly.

Speaker 3 (29:01):
Specialized and whatnot.

Speaker 4 (29:03):
So I would love to see in the field of
IE how we start incorporating AI and machine learning into more.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
Of like the process improvement. How are we improving these systems,
How are we improving the products that we use every day?
And how does AI play in a role or play
a role in it.

Speaker 4 (29:22):
Because it's still out there, we don't know much about it.
It's gonna be very interesting to see how the I E.
School pivots into that world too.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
I love it.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
See I'm learning so much, ielling learning so much. That's
super cool because everything's changing. Yeah, it's kind of like
how like our grandparents and stuff didn't have cell phones
and laptops like now it's robotic everything, like the things
that our next generation is gonna see, like our kids
and grandkids.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
It's like, oh yeah, we didn't have robots or like whatever.
They took us so much new stuff. So it's just like, okay.

Speaker 3 (29:57):
Yeah, we'll see what happens.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
Well, thank you for that.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
Before we get you three tips for success and what's
next for you? I do want to ask, looking back,
is there anything you would have done differently?

Speaker 3 (30:09):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (30:10):
I think for me, looking back, especially in college, I
wish I took more emmy mechanical or aerospace engineering classes. Honestly,
I'll say I didn't have any thought of going into
manufacturing per se.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
I thought I was going to go work for some
tech company and whatnot. But after applying and seeing what
I use can do in manufacturing, that's what sort.

Speaker 4 (30:35):
Of shifted me towards that industry. And I think going
into manufacturing or like the aerospace industry, there's been rules
where I've been like a manufacturing engineer or even as
an applications engineer. Some of this stuff just went over
my head because I didn't even know how to read
a blueprint.

Speaker 3 (30:52):
Until I got to work. And yeah, it's kind of
I mean it's not bad, per se. Likely work really deep.

Speaker 4 (31:00):
You there's trainings, and there are multiple buddies and mentors
that had at work that helped me. But I think
taking those emmy A classes back in college would really
help me in my roles.

Speaker 2 (31:12):
That's an excellent tip. Take that note.

Speaker 4 (31:15):
Yeah, they might be hard, but it can really open
doors because you can always go up to recruiters or
companies and say, hey, I've taken these classes all along
with my degree.

Speaker 1 (31:24):
I love that happy all these episodes y'all when I film,
everyone's just stopping so much good. Notice that I just
love it. It's like I want to post it today.
I want to post it today because I'm just giving
such good things. Well help with that advice. I do
want to ask, what are three tips for success in
navigating a STEM journey like from elementary on? Like, any
three tips you want to give to our audience.

Speaker 4 (31:46):
Yeah, I would say, First off, make sure you're passionate
about it. This is something if you start off in
elementary school and you realize you don't like math, there's
science it, pivot to another degree or pivot to another
few per se because by the time you go to
high school and then you go into college, do something
you're super passionate about. If you're passionate about STEMP, then

(32:07):
go for it. Second is like being curious, having a
curious mindset, and being innovative as well, thinking of creative
solutions to solve problems, because engineering sometimes cannot be can
be gray in a black and white world when it
comes to solutions. Obviously, with your math classes, there's one

(32:27):
right answer, but when it comes to solving some engineering problems,
there could be multiple solutions out there. So being creative
and having that mindset really helps.

Speaker 3 (32:40):
And then last and last but not least.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
I will say problem solving and create our critical thinking
skills helps a lot because as an engineer, you're solving
problems every single day. So having those problem solving skills,
how do you approach your problem? How do you solve it?
What are what's your solution? What's your entire processes look like?

(33:02):
It's so important to have that because you don't go
from AID to Z quickly. There's like so many steps
that go in between.

Speaker 1 (33:12):
I love that happy thank you for those wonderful tips
for success, and then we getting your journey.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
So can you tell us what is next for you?
What are you looking forward to?

Speaker 1 (33:21):
I know you told us your dreams and aspirations, but
what is something really fun we could look forward.

Speaker 3 (33:25):
To with you?

Speaker 2 (33:27):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (33:27):
So I think next I really want to go more
into a strategic type of role. So just exploring what's
out there. It's sort of why I chose a rotational
program to realize or to find out what I like,
what roles I don't like, and how it moves me forward.
I mean, I have mentors who work in different fields.

Speaker 3 (33:47):
They tell me.

Speaker 4 (33:48):
One thing, but it's something I don't know what I
want to do until I get to do it. So
it's two different things. You have someone tell you versus
you do it. So going for the future, I think
I want something more high level, but I will say
what's helped me or what will help me is having
a strong foundation of manufacturing the day to day tasks.

(34:11):
How do we how do we go from we got
our parts to our finished product?

Speaker 3 (34:17):
So having that knowledge hopefully will help me when I
get into that strategic role.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
I love that. Thank you so much for joining us on.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
Thanks then with Ashley, we look forward to having you
back one day as well. Thank you for your time,
thank you for your gems, and we will see you
all next time.

Speaker 2 (34:34):
Bye.

Speaker 3 (34:35):
Thank you both.
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