AMP Inclusion & Diversity

Describe your experience as a woman in engineering. What are some of the challenges you’ve faced, and how have you overcome them?

It can be really lonely sometimes, in a way that sneaks up on you at first. In my experience, there’s always company swag in my size (because most engineers wear normal sizes like large), and there’s often not personal protective gear in my size. When all the tools are on shelves that require seven-foot reach and your high-visibility clothing hangs halfway to your knees, it’s hard not to feel like you’re politely asking to exist in a world that isn’t meant for you.

This isn’t a new problem, nor a showstopping one. I had 12 women in my undergraduate class, and that was the largest number of women I’ve shared a department with, by a long shot. Most of us already know we’re in the same boat — or, at the very least, in separate boats in the same ocean.

But what now? Is this world meant for me? Why doesn’t it feel like it is? This is something that I’ve — mostly — been growing out of, as I get older and realize there’s no specific point at which adulthood comes easily. It can get messy. Engineering is messy! We get the stepladders for the high shelves, and we share what wins we can, and we keep going.

What are your professional goals, and how has AMP enabled you to pursue them? What career growth resources/opportunities are available?

Conceptually, I find myself shying away from the idea of long-term professional goals in much the same way that a rat in a dumpster might flee deeper to avoid the noise of a garbage truck, unaware that this does not in fact fix the bigger problem. This seems to at least be the case with a lot of engineers. I’ve been in the field for a while now! The thought surprises and unnerves me.

I like building things, and AMP has a lot of things to build — a match made in heaven. Recently, I’ve managed to carve out an engineering niche of being the go-to person for doing all sorts of “trash magic/science,” and writing impossibly detailed speculation on why the trash behaves the way it does, and eventually teaching big robots to do it all over again. This was not entirely in the original job description and feels a bit like a role that was expanded specifically for me, because I was the kind of person who enjoys reading white papers on literal garbage.

Principal trash-toucher? Trash engineering manager? Hard to say. AMP’s given me the runway and space to branch into research and engineering, which I’ve really loved.

What advice do you have for women in engineering or other technical roles regarding how to identify a company and team that will support their growth and development?

“Simply ask the other women” can be an impossibly high bar without meaning much. I’ve been the first or only woman in my department in every job I’ve had since earning my undergraduate degree, and I’ve had overwhelmingly positive experiences.

I think it’s important to recognize that hostile work environments are rarely going to be toxic only in terms of being unsupportive of women. Likewise, it’s key to understand that it can be incredibly hard — borderline impossible — to defensively navigate coworkers who don’t see you as an equal. Successfully existing in a combative space that doesn’t want you is one of those “technically achievable, probably shouldn’t” goals that so often sneaks up on engineers.

At the end of the day, I look for companies that focus on problem-solving rather than blame. In engineering, something is always one fire; when the cards fold, it’s crazy how the witchhunts tend to find at least one burnable witch. Avoiding mistakes in engineering is a fool’s errand, but I find it’s far more sustainable to look for companies that focus on learning from mistakes and moving forward, which has kept me moving forward as well.