Melissa Wallin, Sustaining Engineer
Encoder Products Company
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Melissa Wallin is a Sustaining Engineer at Encoder Products Company, where she develops solutions to product and production problems through fixturing, improved processes, and design changes. She holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Wisconsin-Platteville. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, fishing, and baking.
Talk about the culture at your company. What makes it inclusive or supportive of women in engineering and automation?
I have always appreciated Encoder Products Company’s desire to see its employees thrive in the work they do. I’ve been asked on multiple occasions, “Are you enjoying your work? Is there any career path you’d like to explore?” If I find myself wanting a new challenge or a different path in my career, the company has always been open to it.
Describe a recent company project (in which you were involved) that went particularly well. How did you and your team go about ensuring success?
Our sustaining team was met with an unplanned part shortage, and we needed new parts as soon as possible so an order could ship on-time. The sustaining engineering team needed to work with our in-house manufacturing process to make the part, the Quality department to review and approve the new part, and production to install the new part and get the order complete before the deadline. Every department worked together and understood the urgency of the situation, and with great team effort, the order shipped on-time.
What first drew you to engineering and this industry?
Engineering was something my dad (also a mechanical engineer) put on my radar. In high school I had a Rube Goldberg project in which my team and I opened a can of soda using a chain reaction of simple machines. It required lots of time in my dad’s shop designing and assembling the device. After the project was complete, my dad remarked that the project seemed to come very naturally to me and asked if I’d ever considered engineering as a career. I enjoyed working with my hands and using the scientific method to solve problems, so mechanical engineering seemed like a good fit.
Describe your biggest career challenge. How did you solve it, or what was the outcome or lesson learned?
My biggest career challenge is knowing when to act on a problem. For example, production may be seeing issues with installing a screw. Now the question is, what is the root cause of this issue? Is it the screw? Is it the method of installing the screw? Who was involved? Et cetera. Collecting this information is time consuming and sometimes challenging, so you must discern when you have enough information to act. The challenge is knowing when that time is.
What career advice would you give to your younger self?
Don’t be afraid to be wrong. There are plenty of times when you will mess up or assume something incorrectly. That’s ok, and it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a bad engineer. I think it is very easy, especially as a woman engineer, to doubt your skills and think yourself unqualified for the task at hand. While there are always things to learn, the worst thing you can do for yourself is avoid new challenges. There is little growth when you do that.
Filed Under: Engineering Diversity & Inclusion
