I was first introduced to engineering at a young age since my mom was an electrical engineer. When it came time for me to decide what I wanted to major in for college, she recommended that I try engineering because I was good at math and physics. I thought it would be good to try and worst case I could always try something else if I didn’t like it.
I went to the University of Rhode Island’s student day with the intention of pursuing engineering, but I had no specific engineering discipline in mind. That day I decided on Industrial Engineering based on all the different engineers I spoke with. The Industrial engineers I spoke to framed it up as “common sense” engineering where you are optimizing systems and processes.
I found this interesting as I had never heard about industrial engineering before, and thought would fit me well! I didn’t see myself as a technical person back then, but I really liked problem-solving and making things easier for people.
I couldn’t see myself doing design work or working in a lab all day and wanted to be more interactive in my day to day. I thought industrial engineering could be a nice balance of everything I was looking for out of a profession.
I earned my Bachelor’s of Science in Industrial Engineering from The University of Rhode Island in 2017. While in college, I participated in many different organizational clubs such as the Society of Women Engineers, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, Big Brother Big Sister and URI students actively volunteering and engaging in service. Through all of these organizations I gained many valuable relationships.
I was a part of SWE all four years of school and held an officer position three out of those four years. My senior year I was the URI SWE section president. One thing I found the most valuable about being a part of SWE were all the connections and networking opportunities it provided me. As a part of SWE, I went to national conferences and had local speakers that came to our meetings, exposing me to many different career opportunities.
In college, I had the opportunity to get an internship at Frito Lay. I had previous internship experience at an insurance company and did not like how stagnant it was, so I was looking for something very hands-on, people and project focused, and I liked the idea of a manufacturing environment where you are making the products on hand and optimizing the systems you see in front of you.
My internship opportunity was in the Supply Chain, so after experiencing that I was hooked. I did a 5S project in my internship which was something I had learned about in class, and it impacted me because it made me realize something as simple as organization and visualization can help make people’s lives easier.
It was also the first time that something I learned in class I was able to apply in real life and I was able to help someone by doing the work. I thought that was neat! During my internships I learned a lot about managing my time, how to communicate with others, how to set expectations and follow up on tasks, and what it means to interact and work with people!
Industrial Engineering: A Typical Day at Work
In my current role, I am the Supply Chain Performance Manager at the Middletown NY Frito Lay Facility. I am responsible for managing the financial performance (forecasting, business process planning, gap analysis, etc.), raw materials, and indirect functions at the site.
At this site, we make Popcorners Chips! We manage our own supply chain where we receive raw materials of corn grit at the site, process, package, and ship it to our distribution centers and customers.
In a typical workday I interact with both operations and logistics, distribution, and the transportation teams to ensure we are meeting day to day production targets and optimizing our business. This includes frontline team members, team supervisors, department managers, HQ partners, and Supply chain finance teams.
When I first started at Frito Lay full-time, I was a frontline packaging and processing supply chain leader. In these roles I worked on the off shift, managed the day-to-day manufacturing operation, and learned how to lead people. I had a team of 50 operators that reported to me who were responsible for making and packaging the product.
Then I held a role as a productivity supply chain leader where I focused on department account ownership and projects in the processing department. I partnered with HQ to implement new slicing equipment in our kitchen that saved over $100,000 in our ingredients and labor accounts. This role allowed me to get more technical in understanding our equipment but forced me to look at the big picture when it comes to business and project planning. It helped teach me how to execute and sustain new processes.
One of the reasons I have loved working at Frito Lay is because you are encouraged to get involved in things outside of just your day to day. In my current role, I am the site Great Place to Work team leader, I help lead the capability and R&R agenda, and am involved in DEI&B groups.
To anyone interested in engineering but aren’t sure if it’d be the right fit for you, I would highly encourage going into industrial engineering as it can really branch out into everything that we do! Once you’re in an engineering related field, you end up doing more industrial engineering than you would think!
My favorite part about industrial engineering is how people underestimate us and how much value we can add to a supply chain (or in any industry) by just simplifying the work we see around us! Engineering is full of many different opportunities; if it sounds interesting to you, don’t be afraid to try!
