The Engineering Career Coach Podcast

In this episode, and in honor of recognizing Black History Month, I talk to Kameelah Samar Majied, PMP, Associate Director and Diversity Champion at Merck about Black women in engineering and STEM.Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of "Negro History Week," the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month.Engineering Quotes:Here Are Some of the Key Points Discussed About Black History Month and  Women in Engineering and STEM: The mission of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) is to increase the amount of responsible Black engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally, and positively impact the community. NSBE, started in the year 1975, is one of the largest student-run organizations. This year there are approximately 20,000 members. NSBE has three segments of talent: NSBE Junior: Pre-college individuals who seek exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) Collegiate: Undergraduate and graduate students majoring in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM) at a collegiate institution or graduate-level students who majored in STEM as undergraduates. NSBE Professional: Working professionals and graduate students who majored in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics who seek to fulfill NSBE's mission via avenues for networking and professional development while giving back to the community. Black History Month was first called Negro Week. It is the recognition and celebration of all the contributions of Blacks to history. Black history is so important that everyone should focus on it. The concept of people engineering is how you get people to function like a machine and to get them harmonized in terms of how they think and take an engineering approach to what they do every day. To do this, we need to get everyone involved in a project to focus on the finished product. The idea is to take the same train of thought and apply it to what we are all working toward. It is getting people to take the same concepts utilized in your discipline and what you are trained on, and solve real-life solutions. STEM is in everything we do. Science, technology, engineering, and math is the foundation of global business.  When there is a product that is being sold, there are engineers behind the design, manufacturing, and ultimately how the product can be used by the buyers. Business is driven by experts, ideas, and innovation to increase their customer base and drive their bottom-line revenue. There is a deficit in representation for Blacks and Blac

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Andrew Temte, President and Global Head of Corporate Learning at Kaplan, about his forthcoming book Balancing Act: Teach, Coach, Mentor, Inspire, which is about being an effective leader of people through teaching, coaching, mentoring, and inspiring. Andy talks about balance in life, balance at work, and balance between the two. The book, and our conversation, is packed with actionable strategies for improving one's ability to lead people, which, in my opinion, is the most important skill leaders can cultivate.Engineering Quotes:Here Are Some of the Key Points Discussed About Work-Life Balance and Strategies to Lead People: You are rarely in perfect balance in anything that you do in life. Balance is the target condition that we are striving toward, but never quite ultimately getting to. It is okay, because that is the way that it should be. In the process of learning, you purposefully put yourself in an off-balance position. A key skill is to be able to then strive to get back into a place of balance after the learning process. Sometimes you get into a comfortable, more balanced state, which is unnatural. You need to search for a way to get back into an unbalanced state to become the next best version of yourself. Similar to when driving a boat, as a leader, you are responsible for the wake that you leave behind you. The higher you climb in a leadership role, the more displacement you throw off in the environment that you are in. Having and understanding this mindset is key to understanding the power of your words and how they impact the people around you. If you are engaging people through the proper education and learning programs and giving them skills to develop, it is often appreciated more than giving them a raise. Followership is a neglected leadership trait. When you are in a leadership role, you should ask yourself how you can get people to follow you. You also need to realize that you are still a follower because you still have people in higher positions above you. Work on your ability to shift gears more fluently between being the leader and being the follower. When talking to another person, that person is not in the same frame of mind as you. You are in a different mental and physical space than the person you are talking to. Everyone has something that they are dealing with. People filter information based on their personal experiences at that moment in their life. To get your message across, you need to be consistent, persistent, and agile in having the ability to say it in numerous ways.More in This Episode…In the Take Action Today segment of the show, Andy talks about the six words that he uses at work and home to hone in his philosophy for a balanced life.About Dr. Andrew Temte, PhD, CFAAs President and Global Head of Corporate Learning, Dr. Andrew Temte, PhD, CFA, spearheads Kaplan's

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Tamara Baynham, PhD, an electrical engineer and director of Clinical Research at EBT Medical, Inc., based in Toronto, about women in STEM. She provides nine great tips on how women in STEM can navigate career challenges with confidence.Engineering Quotes:Here Are 9 Tips for Women in STEM to Navigate Career Challenges With Confidence:1. Claim Your Seat at the Table Claiming your seat at the table in your profession as a woman takes courage, boldness, and intentional navigation. The most important thing to do is not internalize the thought that you should only be happy to be invited to sit at the table. Understand that you have earned your place at the table and be vocal about what you believe and why you are there.2. Be Open to Possibilities Always stay open to take a divergent path in your career and life, no matter which path you planned to take. Being open to possibilities may take you somewhere different that can pleasantly surprise you. Sometimes when people set themselves up on a path, they become scared that they are going to fail, and become laser-focused. There is no such thing as failure — what you have is a closed door that opens you up to looking at another path. Know that you are going to be scared, but move past that!3. Build a Support Network Try to make connections with like-minded people who can help you grow in your career. Look at your employee resource group. Most companies have employee resource groups that are focused on ethnicity, gender, and different points of distinctions and uniqueness an individual might have. It will provide you with an opportunity to meet people in other parts of your company that you would have probably never interacted with, which in turn can open a lot of professional doors for you outside of just building a social network.4. Set Clear Goals Using a vision board will allow you to visualize yourself in an ideal state, and will increase your chances of achieving your goals. Be open to pivoting or making changes in your original plan. It does not mean that you have failed to achieve your goal; it means that your goals have changed due to life circumstances. Do not forget to add things that you personally want on your vision board and see how they combine with your professional goals.5. Develop a Global Mindset Many places in the world tend to group different kinds of people in separate boxes. Try to understand that everyone is different and everyone does things differently. Look at how you are different from others and how your differences can bring unique things to the table.6. Strive to Live Outside of Your Comfort Zone Just because you decide to do something does not mean you are not going to get scared and have doubts. Become comfortable liv