Mechatronics with Alma Fernandez

[00:00:00] Welcome to Automation Ladies, the only podcast that we know of where girls talk about industrial automation. I'm your host, or one of them, uh, Nikki Gonzalez. I'm head of partnerships at CodeBeam. com, the collaborative marketplace for industrial automation. I've been in the industrial automation industry for about 15 years and currently focus on transforming our supply chain using online collaboration tools, workflow automation, and community to make sourcing the parts we need to create automation systems easier and faster.

My background as it relates to being on the factory floor is in machine vision and mechatronics. My co host Alicia Gilpin, or better known as Allie G. is a systems integrator. Before starting her own engineering company, she spent 10 years in engineering. She started in process engineering and then transitioned to controls.

She was part of a greenfield build early in her career and learned how procurement works the hard way. She eventually went on [00:01:00] to both run a UL 508A shop and spent years traveling the U. S. setting up Burner and Gas train controls applications today. She owns her own systems integration firm and provides controls engineering services across the US through her company process and controls engineering.

LLC. She is based in Seattle and I am based in Houston, Texas. So when we come together and record, we do so remotely. Welcome to Automation Ladies. So I guess I wanted to talk, so this was about mechatronics really like. Or at least that was like one of the main topics. Cause I think that's a passion of Alma's and definitely a passion of mine.

And there's other words for it. And, you know, I think mechatronics is like one of the best words for it just because you've heard every description, right? Cause you hear SCADA engineer, you hear INC tech, you hear just PLC programmer, you hear controls technician, you hear, I mean, there's a lot of terms.

But someone that is actually like pretty well versed [00:02:00] also in the instruments and, you know, usually those are, I mean, those are mechatronics folks and like now there's actually mechatronics programs named mechatronics programs. And I think mechatronics is a newer word. There wasn't always. Something called mechatronics.

So nowadays people are asking me like, what does that actually mean? Because it's not a word from forever, but not that the technology is not from forever ago. They just figured out that they should teach it together because that makes way too much sense for so many people's jobs. And especially in automation, if you're going to be in automation and you don't know what to do.

I've actually recommended that before. They asked me like, I can get some free education because, uh, my employer, you know, wanted to, we'll do like education programs and lots of employers do give out like money for reimbursement. Like they'll pay you if you get good grades, you go take school and like get good grades.

They'll pay for it, but they want it to be related to their. business. Well, mechatronics has been related to [00:03:00] every business. So I at one point like recommended that someone actually go into a mechatronics program. But like, I had no idea what that was, and just fell in love with it from the job. So I kind of just want to hear like, how did you find it?

Why do you love it? Like, let's start with that. How did you find it? And why do you love it so much? So it's a funny story. Cause I was just thinking about this. I remember I was, so I was a service manager. My career started completely backwards. I was a receptionist and I wanted more away. I went up to my boss and I was like, you know, I want the opportunity to do more because I know I can do more.

And then he's like, well, the service manager is retiring. If you don't mind moving out to the warehouse, you know, and just check it out, and I was just like, sure. I had no idea what I was doing. I literally broke out in hives like the first two weeks. Cause I was just like, you know, I had no idea what I was doing.

But you jumped into it. I jumped into it. I took the books home every day. You know, I devoured all [00:04:00] the books they had. I went to all the trainings and it was all like hydraulics, pneumatics and electric voice. And I was like, this is really cool. I'm like, let's make it official. So I'm going to go back to school.

So I go back to school and they have two programs. They have mechanical design and mechatronics. And I had no idea what mechatronics was, but it sounded fancier. That's like legit. The only reason I took that class. I'm like, this sounds like it's hard and it sounds really fancy. So that's what I'm going to do.

So, you know, the first day I walk in there, I have no idea what I'm doing. And they're like, yeah, mechatronics is a fusion of mechanical, electrical and programming. And I was like, okay, well, I'm never going to use this, but. You know, Oh, my, my PLC class, I swore. I walked into my PLC class and I'm like, I am never, ever going to do this.

Like, I just want to be like a project manager somewhere and I'm never doing this. So I'm just going to do what I have to do and just get it over with. So I understood, you know, bits on and off. You know, you [00:05:00] power a mortar. Like I understood the gist of it, but again, I was never going to use it. So I was just like, okay, whatever.

So fast forward a couple of years, I start working for this automation company. It's custom automation. So it's 100%. custom automation. Nothing's ever been done before. And an opportunity came up for me to join the controls department as a megatronics technician. And I was just like, okay. So then they give me this really big book to commission the machine.

And then I go, you know, here's this book, make sure all the IO works. And I'm just like, what am I checking? What's the sensor? What, what is this sensor? I don't know what a prox is.

So that's really how it started. You know, I just, mechatronics sounded fancy and it ended up being like. This super amazing, fancy, you can make it. I thought it was fancy when I first heard of it too. Like when I joined Festo, [00:06:00] they were like, Oh yeah, we're mostly a pneumatics company. You know, our entire sales force is very knowledgeable about pneumatics, but some of them are not as interested in learning about the electrical side of things that we really want to, you know, get more mechatronics.

And so I was like, Oh, I'll come learn it. Jumped on it. Yeah. So what type of, um, Degree was that in terms of what, what class did you go for a, uh, like a two year or a four year? What was it? I did. Yeah, I did a two year program. So I have my associates in mechatronics. Yeah. So that's where I've seen it more.

So, and not in like four year college degrees. I had never heard of that word before what my goal was to go to be an industrial engineer, whatever that meant. Turns out nothing means what I think it means like systems engineer, industrial engineer. Like I thought I knew what I was talking. I, you know, I still walk in there and I'm like, I have no idea what I'm talking about, but I'll figure it out.

You know, that's engineering, right? Yeah. Figuring it out. Yes, yeah. And just not [00:07:00] being afraid. So do you feel like what they taught you was a good like foundation or do you feel like they could have like taught more or do you feel like you have kind of had the advantage of already seeing that some of that stuff like while you were like the service manager?

I do think that it did help to have like a little bit of background, but when it comes to school, I do feel like I, you know, I didn't have the opportunity to do a lot, especially because I feel like, you know, the programming, I don't even know how old the machines were, like the little kits that we have are ancient.

And so you don't really understand. I feel like if They would have made us do some like real life application something, then I could relate to it and I would find it more enjoyable. The labs weren't as strong as you wish. Right. If they had better labs, then you would have found more value in it. I think it would have been more fun.

Right. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Well, I think labs [00:08:00] are maybe that's how we should be telling people like to look for mechatronics programs is to be like, okay, what kind of lab do you guys have? Can I see what kind of equipment you have? Like, and make sure that you have like industrial Oh, pneumatics and controllers and just kind of like what's being used out there now.

And, but to say that like something being ancient, isn't necessarily bad just because we are in the middle of like upgrading very old stuff. So, you know, until we do upgrade all that stuff, like some of there's value still left in being able to like dissect the old stuff or even maintain it until. It really is crunch time, which is pretty, it's coming up for everybody, like, who's got these old, old controllers, but there's a lot of controllers out there that need to get upgraded, and so knowing the old stuff is not like, oh, well, we would never learn, like, PLC 5, there's a lot of reason to still kind of know how to use it, just to open them and then get a gist of those, like, ladders, and then just rebuild them in, like, [00:09:00] RS Or sorry, in studio 5, 000.

I think that's what we were using in school because I don't see five or like you may have had micrologics or something or like a slick. It might've been slick, but I remember like when I was actually working and like programming in the real world, I'm like, this is so much easier than it was in school, you know, cause you have like all these AOIs and so many different things that.

I don't know if they didn't exist before. They never used before. And I'm just like, no wonder I didn't get this stuff. It was so much harder. Speaking of AOIs, wasn't that a discussion that came up today, Ali? It was. That you jumped in on? Yeah. Yeah. Just people not being afraid of AOIs. How do you feel about AOIs?

And what do you, what have you seen other people say about AOIs? Like, what's the word about AOIs? I think it depends on how they're used. I know like my team was, I was a fan of some purpose of them, like when we had, we would use them to [00:10:00] standardize like our cylinders, you know, we had AOIs for all of them and it made programming very easy because you just literally copy and paste and that's it.

On that side, that was really nice. For someone coming in, like not knowing anything, it was very intimidating. Cause I'm just like, what is an AOI? Like, where do I put it? What are all these tags? Like, you know, how do you translate this into the HMI? Like you were talking about parameters and stuff. And I'm like, I remember this so vividly because I didn't get it.

I didn't understand it. And it's just, you know, when you try to explain to people, I mean, I, I had a great team. The guys were really, really good at helping me understand things and like helping. You know, breaking it down for me, but at first I was just like, I don't get it. I don't get why we have tags on AOIs.

Like it was challenging for sure. But it definitely takes that portion of just being on the job and thankfully having supportive coworkers because you're never going to fully get it in the lab environment until [00:11:00] you get out in the field and actually match it with like what's going on. Right? Yeah, exactly.

All right. What do you think is your biggest obstacle in mechatronics? What is the biggest, I guess, learning obstacle? It's probably a better question. The most challenging aspect is not knowing what I don't know. Cause sometimes I would be like, you know, like I said, commissioning was a big part of what I did.

So, you know, I go in and I, you know, I can get something to work and I have no idea. Like, I didn't know where to even start to look. So that was my biggest challenge is, you know, breaking down. I had to learn like everything from scratch. So we have, you know, your routines and then your subroutines and how they're all intertwined.

And that took me a long time to like comprehend and how to like go in and, you know, search the tags and then search within This massive amount of information. And I think [00:12:00] that's just the biggest challenge is kind of sorting through it. Or maybe, maybe we didn't have a good system, but I don't know. Cause that's the only place I've worked.

So I think that that has been my biggest challenge, just like not knowing where to look for information, not knowing what to look for. I think. What would you say to somebody in your position, starting with that and feeling super overwhelmed and like not knowing how to necessarily tackle something that big, how, what did you learn that maybe you could pass on, say?

Well, you never stop learning, right? So every challenge, every situation is different, like nothing will ever be the same. That's kind of what I learned. Just when you think you got it, you don't because they like, they level up, right? So just like be patient, just take it step by step and ask questions like me.

I will ask you, you know, I'm like, I don't understand this. So I will ask someone that can help me or research topic. YouTube was very, very helpful. So, you [00:13:00] know, if I don't get that answer and I try to figure it out and I keep trying and I'm not getting anywhere, then I'm going to ask again. And I'm like, okay, this is what I did.

This is what way, this is what didn't work. Like, where do I go from here? So I think that's very important having a supportive team and, you know, just having, just don't be scared to ask people. Cause a lot of people are willing to help. They love to teach. You just have to be like open to receive that information.

There's nothing wrong with admitting that you don't know something and then finding out, you know, that's what bugs me more when people like won't admit that they need the help and then nobody grows. Yeah, and then you waste so much time, especially in projects, you don't have time to waste. It's just, you know, you do what you can.

And then if you just can't figure it out, ask for help. I second that or third that, whatever. So I was going to ask, you did that commissioning or you worked at that custom machine builder for a while. What kind of machines did they, what industry were they in? Anything specific? That was the nice thing about it.

[00:14:00] They did various industries. They did medical, they did consumer, they did automotive. So I was exposed to, you know, so many branches of automation. And that's kind of what I would say to like the younger kids. Like, if you want to go into automation, look for something that You know, it's custom or something that shows you different variations of fields because you can learn what you really like and what you really don't like.

Oh, it's so true that my first job too, I got to go into like every kind of manufacturing facility. It was really cool. Not only do you get to see like how everything is made that you use every day, which is really cool. But then yeah, you get to kind of decide like, Oh, I feel like this vibe is for me. And this one's, you know, maybe not so much.

They do. They, all the industries vibe different. Definitely. Very different. Even though they use similar automation and, and, you know, there's lots of, I guess if there was a Venn diagram, there's definitely lots of crossover and then lots of specialty things. That differentiates certain industries.

Sometimes that's just regulation. And sometimes that's just [00:15:00] history that kind of like, and sometimes that's like the really good salespeople. It's another reason why certain things are done the way they are. So yeah, you can have that kind of effect as a sales in sales. So after you worked at the machine builder, did you purposely choose like where you wanted to go next in terms of what type of field or, or I feel like so many opportunities kind of just, you know, a lot of people fall into in this industry.

So I'm curious. So what's interesting is that, you know, I was doing programming and I loved every second of it. Like it was a different challenge every day. And I think that's what I enjoyed the most. You know, about the role, but I really wanted to like, you know, move up. And, you know, after I literally would ask.

Anyone that would hear me out, president, vice president, director of operations, PMs, anyone, I would tell them like, Hey, this is where I want to go. Like, what do you recommend I do? Are there any avenues? And I didn't really get the feedback [00:16:00] that I wanted. So I went out and I found it. And, um, so I'm at an automation company, but they are more of a distributor and they also service different.

fields and like even food and beverage, which is something that I haven't done. So it's still automation. It's just like kind of on a different side. I'm doing account management, but this does come with the path that I, which is I eventually want to do PM, director operations, something. Like that, but I'm not gonna lie, I really miss being inside machines, crawling under them, over them, and I really do miss that.

We're gonna just go out and do some factory tours together, okay? Cause I just booked myself my first, like, factory tour here in Houston. Now I just, I have to go touch some stuff. Like, it has been bugging me. Yes. Mm hmm. Yeah, I used to live in Seattle right before I met Allie after I moved. [00:17:00]Well, I'm in Austin, so it's a short drive.

Oh, I asked if you've always been in Austin. I just moved to Austin six months ago. Sight unseen. I don't know anybody here. I just, you know, they found me on LinkedIn. It sounded like a really great opportunity. And so far it's been amazing. Okay. So power of like being out there and showing who you are and what you're doing.

Right. They found you. That's so LinkedIn to me used to kind of be more like that. I would just get. Like recruiter calls or, you know, cause in our industry, certain companies are really well known for training people. Wow. And then like, it's a very in demand skill, right? So people can find your resume. And then I came back like a few years ago and all of a sudden now, finally, there's a much more than just a resume.

It's like an actual community with discussion and people sharing what they're working on and what they're learning, which is really cool. But like, I just now figured out that you kind of have to like, build your personal brand. Like I had always just [00:18:00] posted about my employer or you know, whatever marketing material or just not really anything You know, and it's very cool.

I mean, that's how I've met both of you, right? it's like we posted on linkedin and it's pretty awesome because There's not a lot of girls in our industry, especially not ones that are like, you know, you find people that you really have a lot in common with. Like, there's just not that many of us out there that it's easy to run into each other in person.

I know. And that's what makes me so excited about being on LinkedIn because now I have like you girls and that group you guys. formed and I'm like, Oh my God, we're all on the same page. We all get it. We all know, like the struggle, you know, and I think one of the hardest things at least for me has been like, I have such a bubbly personality.

Like I am not like the quiet person that just doesn't talk like I'm the complete opposite when I'm working. I'm just. I'm focused, right? I'm working. But, you know, during break time, during lunch, I'm talking to the [00:19:00] PMs. I'm talking to the builders. I'm talking to everybody and I'm just, you know, just that social person.

So when I first, Oh, definitely. You're like infected and with your good attitude. And if you don't have someone like that, your job sucks. When I was at that custom automation, because I told him I wanted to be a PM, I started as a buyer. And I was just like, kind of upset because I'm like, I'm an engineer.

Like, I don't want to be a buyer. They're like, you're not seeing the bigger picture. So I was like, fine. And then you learn from everything. Right. So that was a really good learning opportunity for me. But when I moved from a buyer to, okay, I'm in controls, they're just like, well, what do you know? You know, you just walk around in heels all day.

Like, what do you know about this machine? You know, that was really challenging getting my coworkers to realize that, you know, I do have half a brain and I do know what's going on somewhat. And so, you know, I had to win some people over. Like [00:20:00] the first day, the first two days, the lead machine builder gave me such a hard time.

I'm like, I'm going to get fired because I'm going to fight with this guy, like, you know, and like two days later we were like best friends and he was my biggest cheerleader, my biggest supporter and he's like, you know, you're so smart, you're the greatest programmer we have. Even though I could just do like.

I don't know, not a lot. Not like this, you know. Well, you're always your own worst critic. You're probably a lot better than you think you are. That's another thing. I feel like that took me a long time to really, like, see my worth. You know, I'm like, you know, I would tell people, I'm like, Oh yeah, I just do a very simple pick and place robot application.

I don't know how to do that. And I'm just like, Oh, 99. 9 percent of the population has no clue how to do that. So that's an engineer thing to just like, assume [00:21:00] that everyone knows. everything you're talking about. And it's, it's good to like, remind them us when we start talking like that, like, I don't know what you're saying.

And being like, I am very passionate about it. I am like, when I talk about it, I'm like, this is so fun. Like, it's like going to like Toys R Us for me when I'm inside a machine and I get to like, you know, move stuff around and like level it. And you know, you, you check your connections, you check everything.

And I'm like, to me, this is like the funnest part. Like, I love it. I think it's contagious to have that kind of attitude. But like, props to you, seriously, for being at the reception desk and looking around and saying, what can I do? That's crazy. Crazy awesome. I haven't heard that story yet. Like, oh yeah, I was just hanging out in reception and now I program controllers.

Because, and actually, I mean, I want like people to know that that's a thing and I haven't heard that one specifically, but like [00:22:00] I've heard especially like guys just like not related in any way or have, you know, definitely no formal anything. I technically, like I do have an engineering degree, but I took one electrical class, so I learned like Ohm's law and that was it.

Like, so I, you know, I don't have. And pneumatics and like, you know, anything like I mean, I definitely learned, you know, fluid equations, but like, and none of that was useful. Well, okay, it, it didn't feel useful when I had to first go buy anything, or like actually work with some of the stuff. I was like, I don't know how any of this stuff works.

And that was, you know, unfair, I feel, but not unfair, but it's kind of a common theme of education, though, in general, like I went to business school, and we learned a lot of very specific things that I never did. Like when I got out of school, oh, and it was so, oh my gosh, I didn't never thought about this until now, but they literally taught you how conservative like business is and how you have to wear pantyhose and a skirt to [00:23:00] the interview.

And if you don't like, yeah. And actually my, yes, I had to buy a suit for interview season and I could like, so not afford it. And there were no places to buy women's suits. I was like, what the fuck? There's men's suits everywhere in every store. And like, How can I not just find a plain black suit to wear?

They're like, oh, it's not the season for suits. I'm like, what the fuck is the season for suits? If I'm supposed to wear a suit to every damn interview I ever have, like, how is that fair? But yeah, my dad's an engineer and he started his own business. And he told me later on that, like, so he hired this executive assistant that then eventually became like his office manager.

And then she's a rock star, like sales. Account manager and energy right now. But anyway, he was like, I hired her cause she came in and she looked like she just, she just had this confidence. Like she had this funky haircut and she wore this, this pantsuit. And she, on the other hand was like, yeah, you know, I just [00:24:00] decided that if somebody was, she got like shoot out of interviews for wearing her pantsuit and having her crazy hair.

And in some ways it's like, well, good, good riddance like that. She wasn't working with those people. But it's still not cool and it still needs to change. But yeah, that was, that was like totally random tangent, but I learned a bunch of stuff in business school that I have never done, but I think it, you know, it prepares you in some way.

Disturbing right now. It was like just these women that have like. Been forced to be a certain way forever, and now they're just teaching us the same horrible stuff. Yeah, but I mean, the whole clothing thing still, you know, it still relates. I'm not against it, I'm just against someone making me. Yeah, exactly.

I like to wear skirts when it's my choice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's nothing wrong with girl clothes, but like, this is weird. This feels weird if you're just like, making something mandatory. Also I graduated right and I uh got a job where it says you have to dress [00:25:00] professionally because I was a sales engineer and like this company had a dress code and the guys had to wear a shirt and tie and like women had to dress.

And so I started like, I remember I was like, Oh, I really have to like buy some clothes now. And so I went to H and M and I got myself a little wardrobe after my first paycheck. And then I realized that like, Oh, I can't show up wearing sandals and a skirt to this production plant. Like, they wouldn't let me in.

And some of the fancy stuff I bought, I was never able to use. And then I found out also that in the field, like, the sales guys would take off their ties because they would get laughed out of the plant if they actually try to wear them in there. But like, they would pretend to management that they wore them at the beginning of the day when they left the office and they put it back on, you know, if they had to show back up.

But it's like, reality doesn't always match what they try to teach you before you get there. So there's really like, You know, be prepared. You're not going to know it all coming out of school. You have to keep learning just as much as soon as you get on the job. Like it'll never stop. Yeah. And be like open to learning, you [00:26:00] know, even if you think you know it, you should still listen to, you know, as seniors.

Like their perspective, because sometimes they might know something you don't know. And I think that's kind of one thing that helped me out, you know, and I kind of want to go back to that close thing because, you know, when I first went in the shop floor, they're like, cut your nails, wear jeans, like no nice clothes.

And I was like, I don't want to be that engineer. That's just kind of, it comes with the role, you know, it's the jeans. Yeah. That's for practical reasons and safety reasons. If they were just like, Oh, we don't like that. You know, that's a different thing, but depending on the type of machinery and stuff, like you have to do that for your own safety.

I kind of feel like I, you know, I had to wrap my head around that instead of being like, Oh, I don't want to be that person, you know? So you just have to be open and flexible because you never know what's going to get thrown at you. And if you're gonna You know, start objecting, then no one's going to want to teach you.

And you're never going to learn anything. You're never going to progress. Yeah. So that's definitely something too I've seen in this industry and I feel like it's [00:27:00] starting to open up more, but I noticed a thread too, it was like a discussion on LinkedIn, um, somebody that shares a lot. And a lot of people told him like, Oh, don't be sharing this stuff.

Like if everybody knows it, then we won't make money anymore. Or there won't be demand for us anymore. Or like, Oh, people should be, I paid for that class. So you shouldn't be sharing it, you know, openly. And I think both ways it's kind of gone. Like people don't want to seem like they don't know things, so they don't want to ask.

And then people that do know it, they don't want to share it because they feel like somehow they lose their worth. And like, we all need to be sharing everything because A, things are moving fast, like, changes upon us, right? Also people are retiring. But like, we all can do so much better if we work together and share our knowledge with each other.

Yeah, absolutely. I like, I see Allie's lab and like all the wires and stuff. I'm like, Oh my God, that is so cool. Like, I don't know how to do the whole wiring thing from scratch. Like once it's there, I know how to check it, but I don't know how to do any of it. And you can learn [00:28:00] as fast as you learn how to do what you do.

Cause I actually learned. Kind of them at the same time, actually. I was, so I did chemical engineering in college. So I knew how to like make a list of equipment. There's 47 valves here and eight pumps and nine tanks. Like that was my life. Like I, but not to like, especially in the education part, like none of the nitty, not like.

How do you support pipes between like, and how do you do like a 3d run of it? Like how long will the pipe actually be? Because I could tell you what size it was, like, and what schedule you should make it. And that was all based off of like flow rates and like the pipe material, but everything it actually took to like build out something that I drew in two dimensions, like I had no idea.

And just over time, like, All of those things show up, right? Cause things have to get built. And if you stay, I guess if you stay in thing in building stuff, it doesn't have to be [00:29:00] building stuff. It could be making things, but if you just like work in any companies that or service companies that make things like you're just always going to have.

Having had the different experiences, you coming up through like that kind of untraditional channel, you used to be in the service department and then you did like the commissioning and now you're on the sales, you know, engineering side, you understand what happens on the shop floor. You've done the buyer position, which at the time I'm sure was horrible.

That's gold for you to have that experience because now you're selling to the buyers and you know their pain and like what they need help with, you know, what they are going through. And I think that is something that, and maybe this is not scientifically proven, but I feel like us women are more likely to be willing to like kind of jump between like adjacent roles and learn the next thing.

And we can continually connect the dots between all those different things. And there are plenty of men that do that too. It's just. You know, it takes some, some people feel like they're more [00:30:00]willing to get out of their comfort zone and other people like, like to get really good at one thing and then they just keep doing it.

I think for me, it's just having all the puzzle pieces, right? So I'm like, the better I understand how it works from the bottom up, I feel like the better boss I will be one day. And that's kind of, that's my goal. You know, that has always been my goal. I want to like understand everything. And then of course, you're not always going to understand everything a hundred percent, but I can have an idea now how, you know, how supply chain works.

I have an idea how like the build works and, you know, the testing and everything. So I, you know, just having all that input and just kind of putting it in my box, you know. And not asking people to do stuff that you wouldn't do yourself. Some people take a lot of pride in that. And like, you know, there are people that are going to have, you're gonna have to manage people that can do things that you can't do.

But you know, for the most part, like having been through all those positions like makes you a way better leader. I don't think, I don't know if I shared with you guys, but you know, as a teenage mom, I had my son at 19, [00:31:00] I was alone. So to me just showing my son how you can go from like, Where you are to where you want to be something that you've never imagined.

Like I literally never imagined I would leave Chicago and I would be in Texas and I would be like so happy. You know, I, I honestly never imagined that. Like I'm just a girl, a girl from the hood. You know, barely making ends meet and, and I just did it because I couldn't even buy my son's school supplies.

So after going to school, being able to buy his school supplies, but you know, I, I was very fortunate. I wasn't really alone. Like his dad was, you know, always there and always supported financially, you know, he always had his school supplies because his dad provided them, but I wanted to be able. to provide him.

Like I wanted to be the one that would go and buy him his uniforms with my money and his school. It's just like, it's, it seems insignificant, but to me it was a huge deal to be able to be that provider. [00:32:00] So it's, it's the doors that engineering has opened, you know, it's not for me, it's. It's my passion. I genuinely love the robotic side, the mechanical side, the programming.

I love it. I love everything about automation. It's exciting, but it's also all the doors that it has opened for me, the opportunities. And then I get to pass that down to my community and my people and the younger girls and be like, Hey, this is really fun, really exciting. And more girls should be doing this.

Yes, and I love that, you know, the two year degree really is a totally viable option in this industry to get a really rewarding career. I am so excited to see you be like COO or CEO soon. That's how a lot of CEOs do it. Somebody told me they gave me the advice. I was thinking about going back to get my MBA after college, but I was like, if I want to be, you know, in the C suite.

Where should I start? And I got some good advice. I think [00:33:00] it was like do sales because if you can sell it, you can do like all the rest of it. But that's the place to start. And so I started there and then I never go, never went back to school because this is an industry you can learn on the job just constantly.

Almost every company will pay for your training in some way or I mean part of it is on you. You're not gonna sit around and like be spoon fed the opportunities. You have to go after them and that is okay. I'll say this bugs me a bit now like yeah There's so much great stuff on LinkedIn, but then some people just contact me.

They're like, I'm so depressed. I need a job Can you give me a job and I'm like I don't know you. Like, how am I going to get you a job? I don't know what your skills are. Like, I, uh, sorry that I'm not a recruiter. Like, I'm not sure what I can do for you when that's your entire ask. Like, get me a job. And that I look at their resume and I'm like, I'm definitely not clicking on your page.

If you manned it from me, like you could ask, and it's a [00:34:00] lot actually to ask because, you know, I don't know if you know, but like we are busy. Yeah. We don't really There's a reason we're recording at 9pm my time, like. Um, right. And so it's like So I'm gonna like, like pick this up, see a message and someone is demanding something that's just like not cool.

Yeah, and same thing goes for your co workers. Can you show a woman or do you demand men look at your stuff? Yeah, I would really be curious. What? Yeah, well those amuse me but Like, no, people, some people need help and like, and I will say that like, I have thousands of messages that I cannot read. I'm not trying to brag about it.

It's literally just like, I cannot read all that. So, if people have ever been offended by just like me not responding, like, I'm sorry, but that was not personal. But, I will say that like, some [00:35:00] people know how to write things that will get a response. I'll just say that. I feel like women do the opposite.

They run away from all negotiation and they're just like, no, I'm not a negotiate. No, they don't even like the word. And we needed to like undo that stigma or whatever. And be like, no, women aren't negotiators. I feel like Alma is a negotiator, but we need to be this type. This just like, Hey, I wasn't a negotiator until recently when I like finally do change because I wasn't either.

For me, it was, I, I hired a career coach because I was like, I have done everything that I know how to do to be here, but I wanna be like up here, so what do I need to get there? So for me, it was really, I, I needed outside help and just knowing, like I said, ask for help. That's kind of like what I'm trying to do as a side gig because I feel like everyone should be valued.

And if they were like me, like I would keep asking, like I wouldn't shy away. You [00:36:00] know, like I literally asked for opportunities. Like I always wanted more work. And then I was doing all this extra work that I wasn't supposed to do. And for me, it was just to learn it, but there's also the compensation side, like I'm worth it.

It took them too long to see it. Like I literally got a promotion and a raise the same day I got the offer letter to come to Austin. So I was just kind of like, you know, a little too late, but like I said, I really loved what I did. And I feel like everyone should love what they do for work, you know? And so that's my goal.

My goal is to encourage women to see their worth, to find something they're passionate about, and not just settling for what they think is, it's an opportunity and not, not just to chase the money. Cause I've, you know, changed jobs for the money and they would like literally kill my soul. So don't do that.

No, go for what you're passionate about, but don't let the money be a total afterthought either. It does enter the equation, just like company culture and [00:37:00] opportunity for advancement and, you know, benefits, especially, you know, if you're in a situation like us, you have kids or whatever, like those are all things you have to think about when you evaluate job offers.

But yeah, I saw this really, um, informative post the other day and I saved it. I don't remember who posted it. I'll maybe put it in the show notes later, but. It was like, these are top 10 things you can negotiate with your, uh, job offer. And it had three different tiers and it kind of obviously was like from like kind of entry level jobs, like middle level job.

And then once you're like the CEO, you can negotiate all kinds of stuff that I never even knew about existed. That's pretty awesome. You should definitely share that. Yeah. Yeah. And I was like, whoa, boom. Even the first 10 for like a normal job. They were like, they Seems somewhat insignificant, but when you look at them in totality, it's like, whoa, if I could get them to move the needle on like five of these, like, that would be a lot.

That would mean a lot to me as an employee if I was in that situation. But yeah, I also like learned early on to work with that. Like I had to learn a lot of stuff [00:38:00] on the job. My first company trained me really well with sensors and machine vision. But then I went to go work in pneumatics and I had no clue whatsoever how to like even read a schematic or how to size a cylinder or like how the valves work, like none of it.

And I got lucky. I was hired at the same time as this really awesome guy, Jeff Bradshaw, who had a ton of experience. But he kind of took me under his wing a little bit and taught me a bunch of stuff. And then there was this applications engineer who had just been in the industry for decades. His name was Ronald Hudson, and he kind of despised salespeople, but I want him over.

And I just, like, just by being really curious and respectful and figuring out, okay, what matters to him and how does he kind of want to be talked to and stuff. I just. Like, let him know, like, hey, I have no ego here, like, you know the stuff and I don't. How can you help me? But you also learn that, like, everybody you're supposed to learn from on the job, if they're not [00:39:00] specifically there to train you, they have a job to do.

And they're not, like, dying to spend their time teaching you. So you have to be helpful to them. And you have to, like, figure out how to, yeah, get that knowledge, but in a way without, like, draining your co workers also. I gotta let you teach me stuff, Allie, without draining you. We'll see how, how fast of a learner I am.

We're going to build a secondary automation lab in here. I'm super excited. Ooh, that sounds fun. Let me know if I can help with anything. Yes. Yes. You should come down here. Actually. I'm trying to get Allie to come down here to help me build it out, but she's so busy. So we'll, we'll see if, if it happens when it happens, but you're closer.

I actually almost moved to Austin last year. I bought a house in Round Rock and then I changed my mind. Thankfully, the real estate market is crazy. So I sold it and like, it was fine. Yeah, it is so insane. I'm like, I'm trying to save like all my pennies. Like I was not a cook everyday person. I cook every day.

Um, [00:40:00] it is insane, but I love this city so much. Every day. It's like every weekend, you know, we go out. And I feel like I'm on vacation every weekend. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, I love it. I love it out there. So what kind of applications are your customers, um, working on now that you're in Austin? Do you service like a specific area around the Austin area or?

We just had like a little team building event. And we were just talking about how we are helping to build Austin because we have like our hands in just about every project in here. So it's, it's really busy. We are a service. We literally are like anything that's coming up in Austin. We definitely have our hands on it.

Because there's a lot of new factories being built in Austin right now. So much. There's so much going on. Like, I'm like, how were you guys even surviving? Like, how? I'm going nuts and I just started. And there's not actually enough help. So it's actually a massive luxury that they brought you on to like relieve some of that.

[00:41:00] They're not going to be able to actually relieve them. They're just going to load you up as much as they But that's not a little bit less because they did it on purpose. That's just right now. The nature of like the business and if you have automation, maybe you're not building new things. You still need people to do like various things and you can't get them because they're on these higher paying.

Well, I mean, if you pay more, you're they'll come back but like it's they're going to the big stuff. That's pain, you know, if you're a smaller place, it's actually like Everyone's struggling. Smaller businesses are struggling or smaller shops that are smaller, you know, companies that build stuff and use automation at all.

Don't have the bodies to just come, you know, look inside their PLC or know their instrumentation or just that general like knowledge, the mechatronics knowledge. Yeah. And so that was very important for them. I'm like the only engineer in sales. [00:42:00] And that was very important for them because, you know, we want someone that understands.

You know, the components that know that knows this stuff and you know, and that's what got me really excited about it because I'm just like, okay, like I'm still, I still have to deal with some technical stuff, right? Like for me, I'm very solution driven. So like, tell me what you need and then I'll. I'll get you what you need.

And that's what I love. Like, I love the research part of it. That's kind of what I keep asking for. I'm like, I need more, you know, a more technical challenge. And they're like, Oh, it's coming. You know, they're just kind of warming me up. And I'm kind of like, be careful what you ask for, right? Where are you guys originally from?

I'm from Iceland originally. I moved to England when I was 11, I moved to Houston when I was 12, and I went to UT Austin for college, which I loved, and then I moved to San Francisco Bay Area, and then I moved to Seattle. And then now I'm back in Texas. That's a lot of moves. Yeah. And just recently, I feel like I've moved a lot.

Cause like in [00:43:00] 2018, I moved to Seattle and then last year we moved to Waco area, McGregor actually, which is seeing a lot of, uh, new manufacturing too. They're going to build the new SpaceX rocket factory over there. And then finally, now we've settled down in Houston, hopefully for a while. I'm tired of moving.

Yeah. It's a lot when you're working, you know, full time and everything too. It's just, uh, it adds up, but. It's cool to be able to, like, chase your dreams and your opportunities, and I've learned a lot, like, I'm really, really thankful to have had that chapter in my life where, like, I lived in the San Francisco area, like, now that I have kids, I, I just, you know, it's different things that you want, but having these different experiences, working in the different types of roles, um, in the industry and getting to go into all kinds of different production facilities, like, man, I learned so much in the Bay Area because they do so much R& D there, which is really cool, so I got to work on, you A bit of the R& D side of the applications as well as your standard like all kinds of stuff, you know, just food production wineries are cool.

Wineries and breweries are one of my [00:44:00] favorite places to go for automation. Yeah, usually because the samples are good, you know, so you, you guys are doing all kinds of different construction and stuff in Austin. Are there any, are there any product lines that your distributor handles that like you're not as familiar with that you've had to learn or brush up on?

So I was strictly, um, Alan Bradley. That's all I know. And now we're doing Siemens and Phoenix. So I'm just kind of like, I have no idea what any of this is. You know, I was used to like power flags and now I have to look at. I don't even know what they're called, so I still haven't learned the names, you know, so I go from like knowing like model numbers and stuff to like having no clue what anything is, like, and then like Siemens is divided in so many divisions, like so many different divisions under like their automation umbrella.

So kind of learning what goes where, like. I finally learned like [00:45:00] breakers are part of their control section. And I'm just kind of like, that's all I know. BFDs are another like section. That's kind of like my challenge right now is just, I'm trying to devour everything. I'm like, how do I learn what goes where?

Cause once I figure that out, then it's easier for me while I'm like searching for stuff, they're like, well, you know, I need it to be, you know, 120 volts and I need this and that, and I'm just like, okay, well, what book do I look in? I have no idea. It's also difficult because all the different manufacturers have their information like laid out differently and categorized differently and they'll have certain types of drawings or certain types of information the way they do their spec sheets and then another one with a comparable product will like have it completely different so it's even difficult to like compare apples to apples or you learned how to spec one brand and then you have to kind of rethink it when you're when you're doing something different but that's really good experience and like exposure yeah for sure you That's all German stuff, but I've never seen like any other programming [00:46:00] portal.

So like I have no idea how programming in Siemens is so I kind of would like to like look at it Just just to look at it at least, you know And you should download like a free trial of like TIA portal and just like go in blind Like I kind of curious what because that's what I did Is I, well, I bought like a, it was actually really cheap.

Cause you must be used to like Allen Bradley prices. Like I bought a, a Siemens starter kit that had the 1200 S7, 1200. It was like a 12, 12 C. And the like a four inch screen and all of that and the licensing was like 600 bucks. Oh, wow. Yeah. I was like, what for the screen too? I was like 600. But, but I knew you can get cheaper than that for, cause like you can get like a logo or like a micro 850 for less than that.

And that would not be Siemens. So like you can get cheaper. But I wanted like industrial grade for like machines and I went in there blind to TIA Portal and I just, I loved it. [00:47:00] But I have since heard that like Siemens actually went to like ask the market, ask us. What we didn't like about it and then fixed it because I've heard a lot of complaints in the past.

One of the things that like, we complain about, like the Americans complain about, is like too much complexity. Because in Siemens, you can do everything a million ways. And they will show you in training. But there's tons of similarities and then there's differences and then stuff is named different things.

But like, Siemens actually has a class. It's the second class and it's free to show you, like, if you know Studio 5000, like, how do you speak TIA Portal? So, you should be taking that one, and that's not even, like, a translation class was, like, a very good idea, is what I'm saying. And there should be a lot more translation classes like that, that's just like, hey, if you know this, this is what it's called in our new one.

Because I think we'll need that for, like, robotics, because, like, everything will be compared [00:48:00] to FANUC. And be like, okay, well, in FANUC it's called RoboGuide. What is your simulation software called? And it'd be nice if, yeah, there were more like, I guess that's a really good marketing strategy. Wink. Just like the software, they all have websites that are like this versus that when, and then you can like compare your, but it's all marketing.

It is helpful when you're trying to select a bunch of stuff. Like if you have a reference point to start with, you can see how the others differ from that. And then what gaps you need to fill it's free information. So I see why people don't want to be like, Oh, well, let me show you what Rockwell has too.

But it's like, that's what the people know. So if you're going to get into a market, which obviously they figured out, like if you're going to get into a market, like make your starter kits cheap and, uh, get your, um, your software out there on like free trials and. Or make a free version of your stuff for a student version.

Yeah, there's a con. Yeah, like of your stuff so that people learn how to [00:49:00] use your stuff because that's. The only way I mean, and you know, this too, like, how do you learn a PLC from a book? No, like there's no way. And like, there's lots of books. I've read many manuals, like, but I'm actually like I have the PLC and I can like struggle with the real device if you don't have that.

And that's actually like unfortunate in a lot of like larger systems integrator jobs. Like that's not like the project way the project work. You're not going to get the PLC on your desk. So it's good to know, but it's also just like, it's not the best way to learn. It runs the same obviously, but it's not the real equipment.

And I always kind of just like felt cause I, I started in a systems integrator and I had no access to any controllers. Like they were just like simulate everything. Then I moved into like, okay, I can have it on my desk and play with it. And now I can play with BFDs. And like play with real things. And like, it was just so much cooler to actually have it on your desk.

I love how we call it play. That's what I used to call it too. I'm like, go, I get to play with [00:50:00]robots today. That's how you save your job forever. If you're playing at your job, just because you got like the equipment that you got to, you know, buy, you consider it toy, that is the best situation. And that is like how this industry is.

And this is why knowing about the different manufacturers and the different brands, I think is so important because like a lot of them do have competing stuff, but most of them excel in one area or another. And like, if you're just blocking that out and not being aware of it, then you might be missing out on the best of some portion of what you doesn't mean you can necessarily always use.

like mix and match that much for a project, but you can at least be aware of what the most critical components are of your, of your machine or your project, and then try to go with a manufacturer that does really, really well in like that area. That's termed like platform agnostic, right? You're supposed to only sell whatever your customer really needs.

Yeah, every distributor like has a limited line card, they'll only have so many lines that they can sell, and so [00:51:00] you usually don't want too many competing brands on your line card because then they'll get pissed at each other or whatever, so you end up having a limited selection by default if you're a distributor.

If you're the manufacturer and like I used to be an outside sales engineer for the manufacturer directly Then of course, it's only our stuff So that is one of my things like i'm in a really fun position right now because I don't have to rep anybody Specific like I get to talk about all of it I get to learn about all of it And I feel like everybody should be and like I want that information to be more easily shared I want the information on how to spec how to Use all these different technologies to be easier to find.

I actually have a question for you guys In your experience, are there any, if I were to like build a calculator that would save you time or like make your life easier in speccing some sort of technology, because you have to like size a bunch of stuff and then you have to look through all the different options, right?

And that's a big part of what you do, I'm sure Alma, is help customers figure [00:52:00] out based on their specs what they actually need. Are there, like does your company or, because at Festo we had like different calculators for sizing things. So are there any gaps that you see that, like, would have been helpful if you had, like, a simple or easy to use calculator to help you select stuff?

I kind of feel like I have seen some tools that tell you, you know, they have, like, a really long part number, and each part number, like, each number means something specific, so it helps you break it down like that, like, do you need, you know, 420, 230 volts, like, stuff like that. I guess I never put that much thought into it, like, how can we make it easier?

I'm thinking like, if you could, here's something I, I have to do, and like, here's a calculator that you can build. If I give you a whole bunch of devices, and I guess maybe I can, I can give you the assumption that it's either going to be powered with 24 volts DC or 120, or maybe you can figure that out yourself, but like if I gave you a list of devices, Tell me the breakers and tell me how many and size [00:53:00] them and you can come back with like multiple things You can be like, okay we're gonna give you like the little the skinny solid state relays and ice cube relays and like Happy relays and sad relays and like just give them the whole list of all the relays they could use but like basically if you could make some kind of sizing calculator for I give you bomb numbers Or I give you part number, manufacturer, and you guess.

Someone will have to check, and you'll have to do iterations of it, but you just guess for me how many breakers I need. Yeah, I mean, you start with, it's not gonna be perfect from the start, but I mean, what size? Because I, obviously, like, yeah, I want a little spit out of, like, three of these, four of these, seven of these.

One of these and then give you some options because I feel like we are like building the forefront of automation and like a lot of the stuff we do is extremely repetitive and boring and not useful of our talents like you don't need to be repeating that calculation each time like that is not worth your engineering brain and I go like dig it in the pile and I'm like okay I made it this big and I'm like but I should check [00:54:00] just in case and so I just spent like 20 minutes on that one item you When it's like you, you size this before, like you don't trust the last drawing you did.

Like, and I don't, I'm like, I'm just maybe, maybe like, it's a new version. Like I just check every single time that spec. Cause I'm like, okay, I decided I want this power supply and I want all this crap. Now I got to go get breakers for everything. But that's good that you double check. Cause that one time you don't check something happens.

Oh, I got burned just like that. I'll tell the story of how I blew up. Hopefully the only VFD of my life. It wasn't my panel. It wasn't my machine that I was working. The person whose machine it was, the tech that kind of owned the project wasn't there. And so the mechanical guys wanted to run a fan. And I was like, and they're like, Allie came here and put 480 on this panel so that we can, we can run the fan.

And I'm like, okay. And I'm tired too. So I'm tired. And the other guy's not there. [00:55:00] It's not mine. And like, This panel is always 480, except this one. Oh, yeah, that's always helpful. I was like, but that's why you can never power anything without checking the freaking nameplate. And like, of course, I knew that.

I knew that. But I When you're tired You knew it, and now you know it. Yeah, I knew it, and now I paid. I paid, like It wasn't like I had to, like, pay money. And that would've been sad, but it was just, like, brutal to my ego, like And I blew it up in front of people. The whole shop just went BOOM! Like And that wasn't the first weird thing I did in that shop.

So, like But I blew up that into PowerFlex. It was a Powerflex drive that was meant to run on 230, the panel said 230, and I hooked up 480 to it, and I lit her up. And that wasn't even the only part I broke. I actually spent like four days chasing parts around town, replacing crap that I [00:56:00] blew up in that, so that I had to go get another Powerflex.

I had to go get more fuses for the transformer because I blew both those fuses and then the fuse in the PLC power supply was just like gone. It wasn't there. So, something leaked back there, blew that one up. Now you'd have a much harder time replacing those parts if you blow something up. I don't power anything.

I just, like, I triple, double, quadruple check everything and, and the other part of that is safety. If people tell you, like, okay, I turned it off, you're like, I'm gonna check. I'm sorry. Not to be offensive to you, but like, I'm just gonna check. If it's not super far away, just look. I don't know. You don't have to, but you really should.

Because sometimes people are like, oh, sorry. I thought it was. And then you have near misses or worse. So, everyone watch out for each other out there. Right, exactly. We're all on the same team. Don't be condescending with your suggestions, though. Just be helpful.[00:57:00]

Positive attitude goes a long way, man. Well, with safety? Yeah, that's true. Well, with everything, right? If you want to, like, suggest things to people and for them to actually take it seriously, I always feel like having a positive attitude really helps. But yeah, thanks for coming on. This is really awesome.

If you had like anything you feel like you would like to say to anybody out there that we didn't cover or any advice or I mean, I love your career coach advice. I feel like more women, you know, can you are worth spending that money or finding that person that can help you if you can make it happen.

Like you are worth doing that for yourself instead of always Like thinking about others and, and, you know, we do that and know that that transition happens, like we should tell all the women that, that like, that's actually not an unusual transition for women to come from having, you know, no negotiation skills and like never really just self promoting to just being like a little more like confident and like [00:58:00] assertive and knowing your words, like, and I think a lot of little girls just like, don't, you know, Get that straight up.

I didn't when I was little, like I didn't really understand, like, I don't know how all this really worked and just didn't value myself as much anywhere near as much as I should have. And I think that's a common thing for girls, just like not value yourself quite right. And if you feel like you already Cause you are, you know, right now, if you like never fight, like if you never fight for yourself and you're like, damn, I really wish I could have said something.

If you know that you already have that weakness, like maybe think about going to see one of these coaches because they can help you get out of that. Yeah, for sure. Like I said, you know, she just helped me see like, you know, I had all the ingredients already. I already had the, you know, everything ready to make this super awesome party.

And I just didn't, you know, I didn't really like see it. Like I would always downplay everything. And that was one of the things that You know, I kind of [00:59:00] realized on our first chat was like how much I would downplay all my accomplishments. I'm like, Oh, it was just a pick and place robot. Oh, I just, you know, programmed.

But you know, I literally went from receptionist to manager and I remember someone was like, Oh, well, what did you do? Who did you do? Like, really guys? That, yeah. So, you know, so for me, that was kind of like, you know, I, I wanted to prove myself and every time someone would call, Oh, can I talk to a man? How can I help you?

I've, I've had that. I've had that. I've had people not shake my hand in the room. I had people not even acknowledge me in a room. When I was a decision maker, so I made sure they didn't get that business, you know, and it's, it's just little things, but kind of in hindsight, I'm like, I should have spoken out.

I should have said like, you know what? You didn't get the business because you didn't acknowledge me. Like, had you acknowledged me, then, you know, things would have turned out different, but I didn't speak up for myself. I never did. [01:00:00] So, you know, that's one thing I learned. Another very valuable lesson is.

Especially if you, you know, study mechatronics, you will use everything at some point. You will use, you will use GD& T. You will need to use that micrometer that you never thought you could use. I like, this is good advice. you know, you never know when you're going to be sitting in a meeting discussing straightness and flatness.

So, you know, for sure, for sure. If you study mechatronics, you are going to learn, you're going to go through everything. You're going to need CAD, you're going to need electricity and you're going to need programming. So pay attention to everything. That's my last piece of advice. That's awesome. Excellent advice.

Yeah. And I think that's like, as far as my knowledge, that is one of. The most exciting opportunities out there right now that you don't have to go to school for like eight years to learn enough to go out in the field and like do cool stuff and be have the opportunity to [01:01:00] move up to this is one of those fields were like.

The experience builds on itself and that's worth a lot. Not just like academic wise, as we see with Allie, like you are not doing just chemical engineering, which is what your degree was. So yeah, I, uh, I'll stop talking. Cause I'll go forever. This has been really cool. Thank you for coming on Alma. It's super nice to meet you.

Thanks for having me guys. Okay, cool. Well, thank you guys. Good night. All right. Good night, ladies. Have a good one.

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