Dean Peckham

Faith Caplan,
Engineering & Manufacturing Lead Academy Teacher
Cordova High School, FCUSD

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In recognition of International Women’s Day, the Sacramento Valley Manufacturing Alliance (SVMA), would like to recognize some of the Women in Manufacturing in the Sacramento Region and share their stories with the region’s manufacturers.  If you know of a woman in manufacturing, or a woman contemplating her future in manufacturing, please share these stories, and inspire the next the generation of manufacturing excellence.

As we all know, the future of manufacturing requires inspiring the next generation through education, enlightenment and opportunities.  Faith Caplan is the Engineering & Manufacturing Lead Academy Teacher at Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova.   Faith has been a teacher at Cordova for 13 years.

Faith has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Oregon State.  Following OSU, she worked at Hewlett-Packard for five years, taught math for 5 years at Cordova and since 2014 she has been building the engineering and manufacturing academy at Cordova.

As anyone who has collaborated with Faith knows, she is passionate about the program, serving her students and building relationships with employers in pursuit of classroom projects and employment opportunities for her students. Last summer, Faith was able to support four of her students secure employment with local manufacturers upon graduating.

Faith has noticed a change in men’s attitudes toward women in engineering & manufacturing over the years, but noted that when she graduated from OSU, only 8% of the engineering students were women.  Today she notices the small things, like going to a Lowe’s and being instructed about screw sizing and threading.  These experiences motivate Faith to support the female students at Cordova to follow their dreams.

Faith noted that the prevalence of gender stereotypes impedes many young women from considering manufacturing, adding that exposure to even basic hand and power tools can change their attitudes, even in class or when participating in tours of local manufacturers.  Giving young women an equal opportunity in the classroom is key to their success in manufacturing. (remove in LI Story)

Faith’s words of advice to women interested in manufacturing, “You will be outnumbered.  Stay focused and stand up for yourself.  You have just as much reason to be there as any man.”

Faith shared that her biggest challenge is finding the time to have fun learn new things.  She believes it is important that her students can see her passion and desire to learn while still having fun.  Her second challenge, motivating her students to remain focused, strive for their best, and yes, not use their phones during class.

Faith shared that her personal goal is for Cordova HS to be invited to the MIT InvenTeam competition.  Second, she would like to write a curriculum (making, manufacturing, STEM) that is kid-friendly and scalable depending upon the students’ ages.  Manufacturers, if you share Faith’s passion and belief about inspiring the next generation, you know where to find her!

 

KAI DILLINGHAM,
Supplier Quality Engineer, Siemens Mobility, Inc.

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In recognition of International Women’s Day, the Sacramento Valley Manufacturing Alliance (SVMA), would like to recognize some of the Women in Manufacturing in the Sacramento Region and share their stories with the region’s manufacturers.  If you know of a woman in manufacturing, or a woman contemplating her future in manufacturing, please share these stories, and inspire the next the generation of manufacturing excellence.

Kai Dilliingham is a supplier quality engineer, with Siemens Mobility, Inc., located in Sacramento, CA.  Siemens is a manufacturer of rail transit vehicles and locomotives for the North American market.  Kai has been with Siemens for 9 months, after graduating from Sac St with a BS in mechanical engineering.

Kai said her favorite part of the job is always expanding her knowledge about the design and operations of the locomotives assembled on-site, while ensuring the quality with every locomotive that Siemens delivers.  Every day presents a new challenge but she finds the Siemens quality team to be extremely supportive.  With that said, she finds the biggest challenge is finding solutions to issues in a timely manner that ensures Siemens meets their delivery due dates.

While still fairly new at Siemens, Kai is already looking at her future and the opportunities to move into a managerial role.

Kai notes that while she has found the work environment to be overall supportive, her biggest challenge is the mindset of some males who feel that women are not supposed to work in a manufacturing/production environment.

Kai’s words of advice to women interested in manufacturing, “Don’t give up. Even if it seems hard at first, I promise you it will get better.  Never feel as though you’re alone and can’t reach out for support.   There are many women that came before you and would love to help mentor you along your pathway in manufacturing.

Kai feels passionately that the manufacturers and organizations like SVMA need to hold more showcase events, tours or pop-up events for the public because it provides an opportunity for women to actually see manufacturing in action and converse with people in the industry.

Kai cites Mike Bell, Director of WFD at the CA Mobility Center as her mentor,   Mike’s advice:  Learn as much as you can.  Research an engineering topic you’re interested in and build your expertise.

Kai already has her eyes on the future as she plans to be her first home next year.

 

ISABEL MARTIN,
PRESIDENT OF FLIGHT LIGHT, INC.

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In recognition of International Women’s Month, the Sacramento Valley Manufacturing Alliance (SVMA), would like to recognize some of the Women in Manufacturing in the Sacramento Region and share their stories with the region’s manufacturers.  If you know of a woman in manufacturing, or a woman contemplating her future in manufacturing, please share these stories, and inspire the next the generation of manufacturing excellence.

Our first profile is of Ms. Isabel Martin, the president of Flight Light, Inc.  Flight Light is a Sacramento manufacturer of lighting systems for airports and heliports globally, serving major international airports as well as U.S. Department of Defense bases.

Isabel has been with Flight Light for 22 years.  She has progressed through the organization  as a sales person, sales manager, vice-president of sales, general manager, and now as president.  Isabel cites her mentor as Kyle Owens, the owner of Flight Light, who recognized her leadership talent.  Kyle’s words of advice to Isabel – “Follow your gut instincts.”

Isabel said that her favorite part of the job is the unpredictable nature of the business – every day is different.  She is motivated knowing that every day is a new challenge, requiring her to use all of her talents to support her team and the company.

As almost every manufacturer will tell you, including Isabel, the two biggest challenges she finds is sourcing product in an era of disrupted supply chains and recruiting new talent.  With that said, Isabel recently hired two, motivated, young women, Ms. Arelly Benavidez and Ms. Mizan Johnson.  Neither had prior manufacturing experience, but a desire to learn and contribute to their families.  Both young ladies expressed profound admiration for Isabel and her concern for the Flight Light team.

As we all know, manufacturing has always been a male-dominated work environment.  Current statistics nationwide and in the Sacramento Region show that 70 percent of the workforce is still male, although this population will be retiring over the next 20 years.  Labor statistics state that 45% of the workforce will be retiring over the next 20 years.   Isabel stated that workplace attitudes and perspectives have changed dramatically as more women join the workplace.

Isabel’s advice to attract more women in to manufacturing: “Don’t be afraid!”  She shared with me that a major source of pride is knowing that every time she sees a picture of a hospital helipad, she know that Flight Light built the light system that will help helicopters land and bring patients to the hospital safely.

Isabel’s personal goals are to be healthy, happy and to retire in Spain, her home country.

 

Kevin McGrew Quote:

Our first profile is of Ms. Isabel Martin, the president of Flight Light, Inc.  Flight Light is a Sacramento manufacturer of lighting systems for airports and heliports globally, serving major international airports as well as U.S. Department of Defense bases.

Isabel has been with Flight Light for 22 years.  She has progressed through the organization  as a sales person, sales manager, vice-president of sales, general manager, and now as president.  Isabel cites her mentor as Kyle Owens, the owner of Flight Light, who recognized her leadership talent.  Kyle’s words of advice to Isabel – “Follow your gut instincts.”

Isabel said that her favorite part of the job is the unpredictable nature of the business – every day is different.  She is motivated knowing that every day is a new challenge, requiring her to use all of her talents to support her team and the company.

As almost every manufacturer will tell you, including Isabel, the two biggest challenges she finds is sourcing product in an era of disrupted supply chains and recruiting new talent.  With that said, Isabel recently hired two, motivated, young women, Ms. Arelly Benavidez and Ms. Mizan Johnson.  Neither had prior manufacturing experience, but a desire to learn and contribute to their families.  Both young ladies expressed profound admiration for Isabel and her concern for the Flight Light team.

As we all know, manufacturing has always been a male-dominated work environment.  Current statistics nationwide and in the Sacramento Region show that 70 percent of the workforce is still male, although this population will be retiring over the next 20 years.  Labor statistics state that 45% of the workforce will be retiring over the next 20 years.   Isabel stated that workplace attitudes and perspectives have changed dramatically as more women join the workplace.

Isabel’s advice to attract more women in to manufacturing: “Don’t be afraid!”  She shared with me that a major source of pride is knowing that every time she sees a picture of a hospital helipad, she know that Flight Light built the light system that will help helicopters land and bring patients to the hospital safely.

Isabel’s personal goals are to be healthy, happy and to retire in Spain, her home country.

Kevin McGrew Quote:

 

LORIE SYMON,
CEO/PRES.  AEROMETALS

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In recognition of International Women’s Day, the Sacramento Valley Manufacturing Alliance (SVMA), would like to recognize some of the Women in Manufacturing in the Sacramento Region and share their stories with the region’s manufacturers.

Lorie Symon serves as the CEO/President of Aerometals, a comprehensive aerospace manufacturer, located in El Dorado Hills.  Lorie has been with Aerometals for 15 years, assuming the role of CEO/President in 2019.  Lorie has a background  as a CPA and banker, prior to moving from Texas to California.  Lorie started at Aerometals as an account manager, and the owners assigned her to other departments to increase organizational efficiencies, serving as controller, executive director, vice-president and president.

Lorie shared that her favorite part of the job is the people and a wonderful organizational culture which makes Aerometals a great company and a great place to work.  With that being said, Covid has presented many challenges to the way people interact with one another, from fellow employees, to customers, vendors, suppliers, etc.  As a result, the human interaction between people has waned.

Lorie noted that growing up, her family encouraged her to look at female-friendly careers such as teaching, nursing or accounting.  Given her natural attraction to math, she became an account.  Today, her biggest challenge as a woman in manufacturing is not that she is a woman, but rather, that she is not an engineer.

Lorie’s words of advice to women interested in manufacturing: “Go for it.  Women have the ability to see the big picture while still paying attention to the details.”  She added that if manufacturing is going to attract young women we need to do a better job of engaging with them while they are in high school engineering and manufacturing classes.  Even women interested in non-traditional fields such as artisans,  would do very well in a manufacturing environmental, utilizing their creative talents.

Lorie cited former owners, Rex Kamphefner and Guy Icenogle, prior owners of Aerometals, as her mentors, allowing her to get involved in all aspects of the company.  They had very different management styles which helped Lorie develop and curate her own management style.  Today, she is supported by two of her board members, Don Yee and Gary Orr, serving as a sounding board for ideas, strategies,  and problem solving.

When Lorie was asked about her personal goals, she responded:  “Just keep doing what I am doing.  I truly love my position and the company.  I hope to be here until I retire.”

Nadia C. Mendoza,
FMI Manager, Siemens Mobility, Sacramento

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Nadia Mendoza is a Final Modification Instruction Manager at Siemens Mobility in Sacramento, CA.  Nadia is responsible for any supervising final modifications to trains before being shipped out. Nadia has been employed by Siemens for just over one year, recently completing her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Sacramento State.

Nadia’s pathway to Siemens has been neither straight, nor easy. As the single mother of 3 children and a survivor of domestic violence, Nadia has faced challenges few of us can imagine: homelessness, limited financial resources, lack of affordable day care, an unreliable vehicle combined with the daily challenges of using public transportation to transport her children to and from home, day care, work, and school.

Even with these challenges, Nadia utilized every available opportunity to support her family, complete her degree and focusing on her dreams and never giving up on herself. SVMA first met Nadia in 2020 when she enrolled in a Manufacturing Pre-Apprenticeship Program at the Charles A Jones, followed by the CA Mobility Center, and eventually Siemens Mobility.

Nadia shared that her personal life experiences, limited exposure to work, and the challenges of being a low-income Hispanic woman have been her biggest challenge as a woman in manufacturing. She knows that she is already behind her male counterparts. With that said, Nadia has her sights set on achieving her Professional Project Manager certification. Fortunately, the Sacramento State School of Professional Development is just down the street from Siemens Mobility.
Nadia’s recommendation to attract more women into manufacturing, “Women face a multitude of responsibilities, beyond just going to work. If manufacturing wants to attract more women, we need support not just their professional development but also provide flexible work schedules and partner with community and government organizations to provide the social networks to support women.

Nadia shared that she was blessed to have the support of many women and men throughout her college journey. “I think that is one of the many things that makes CSUS a great university. The faculty helped and encouraged me in my personal life and career. They were there when I needed them the most.”

Nadia’s final words of advice to women interested in manufacturing, “Never give up! If you truly want to achieve your goal, find a way. Some doors may close, but that is just another opportunity to find a new door. Be open and flexible to the different paths that lead to your goals.”