Her Story
About Kathy
I started my career working for the Navy doing failure analysis on aircraft. If an airplane had a failed part, it would come into our lab and we would do the failure analysis. Within about a year, I was introduced to non-destructive testing and became Level 2 certified in all NDT methods - eddy current, magnetic particle, and others. It's basically detective work where you figure out how the part failed and why it failed. One of my most memorable early projects was working through the night on an urgent F-18 fuel manifold assembly that turned out to be from a Blue Angel plane that had been grounded. By working through the night, I got them back to full flight operational status and got to meet the Admiral and received special commendations. After the Navy, I became a senior materials engineer at Monsanto Chemical Company in Cantonment, Florida, where I worked on critical failures in hazardous chemical processing systems, including cyclohexane and hydrogen absorption units. I was able to diagnose that cracks initiated and grew through the wall in only 9 months by reading fatigue striation marks. I was tapped to be a subject matter expert with the Materials Technology Institute because of these failures. Later at Boeing, I co-invented a device with a friend to detect magnetized tools lost inside aircraft, which became implemented on the P8 and 767 programs. I'm now a director with the American Society for Non-Destructive Testing and am working on creating comic-style narratives to share my failure analysis stories and mentor the next generation.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kathy
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say document everything. Get your three ring binders, have folders on your laptop, have a backup. Write up your best failure analysis reports, keep all your certifications. Engineers tend to be very modest people and we often don't highlight our accomplishments or abilities. Women are the worst - we're kind of trained to always be demure. But when you keep a book like that, your attagirl book or your attaboy book, it reminds you of your accomplishments and to go back over and realize the lives you saved and the near misses you have averted. Also, to know what is required to get that next promotion and to make sure you're ready for it. Be very strategic in your career. I was, but I could have been more strategic. And if you don't highlight your accomplishments, other women won't even see themselves doing it. I had a group of young women walk up to me after I received an award, and they were most impressed that I wore red lipstick. They were asking, can we dress like women and do this work still? Can I be a woman? Can I dress like a woman? Do I have to dress like a guy to fit in? That's why it matters to be visible.
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