What are your primary job responsibilities?

The Quality lab is in charge of sampling, testing, and releasing all the raw materials that go into the manufacturing process. We use equipment like the FTIR for chemical purity and analysis, as well as particle size analyzers and spectrophotometers to measure color of the raw material and finished slabs.

What is a typical work day-in-your-life like?

Directing technicians on day-today operations, priorities, and tasks to allow us to service the production facilities needs. I also am a project manager for IT projects for the Quality department. Long-term projects like researching new technologies and equipment to further our understanding of the raw material and how it affects the process in production.

How did you find your first job?

The U of MN career Fair.

What level of education (Bachelor's, Masters, PhD, etc.) is required to do your job? 

Bachelor's

What is your work schedule like? Do you ever work weekends or nights?

M-F, no weekends or nights anymore.

Do you travel for work? If so, in what capacity, and how often?

I visit raw material vendors to assess their quality and process controls, a few times a year.

What is your work environment like? Do you work mostly with a team or mostly independently? Do you stand, sit, or move most of the day?

I primarily am in the Quality lab now with a lot of computer work. I have a staff of 11 employees but work with 30+ technical engineers in the R&D and Process Technology departments.

What do you like most about your job?

I love to solve problems and dig into unknown issues that we have.

What are some tools or skills that you can't live without? These can be technologies, soft skills, hardware, or anything else you can think of.

Direct communication, excel, technical writing, sticky notes.

What skills, traits, talents do you have that you think make you a good fit for your job?

I am very curious and analytical and love to deep dive into the unknown, but I have found that connecting with people and practicing empathy allows me to develop relationships across the company to accomplish any task.

What's your best productivity trick?

Blocking off my calendar, setting myself busy in Zoom, and listening to music when I really need to get something completed.

Do you have any habits that are essential to your professional success that you wish you started earlier?

Taking detailed notes and setting realistic timelines for projects. Delegating to people.

What's the best career advice you've ever received? What career advice would you give to someone starting out in your field?

You never want to be the person that divulges too much information about your company, technology, and industry but you want to be able to make those connections in other companies, and vendors to learn what they know.

Get your hands dirty and make connections with operators, technicians, administrators, and general staff and you will have people that are 100 times more willing to work with you.

How do you build community in your career field? Are you part of any professional organizations?

I am a part of the Project Management Institute (PMI) group. I was also in Material Advantage while at the U.