Erin Mitchell

Every day is different for me. As an industrial engineer, my focus is on improving processes and helping people. This could be anything from crawling around the floor installing a vacuum system so my people don’t have to worry about debris and dust getting into the product they’re building, to working on the design and manufacturing of the next commercial synthetic vision system, helping pilots combine what their visible eye can see, what cameras can see, and what sensors and other applications can see to help pilots navigate safely and successfully.

Really, my job is asking “what if”. Finding a problem and coming up with new ways to solve it or make something faster or better.

No day is ever the same and so it keeps me on my toes, which is how I like it. I am responsible for making sure my people can get product out the door safely, comfortably, and efficiently.

Iowa State University - B.S. Industrial Engineering, Minor in French - May '18
Iowa State University - Masters in Business Admin, May '18
Johns Hopkins University - Masters in Systems Engineering - Expected Summer 2022

Getting everyone on board to make a change! Everything I've implemented has been something my people are on board with. I get their input and their feedback before I put anything out on the floor so I know that there's a higher chance of it being adopted readily vs. being shoved off into a corner and never used. I did a floor relayout in Richardson and because I got so much initial input from my people on what they would want the floor to look like or what improvements they could see, I was able to go to them with a drafted design and the only things they asked for were an additional table and a couple more panels. Keeping everyone in the loop and making their lives easier is so rewarding to me.

Being wrong/making mistakes. I'm a perfectionist so I want things done right on the first try. There are some things I try to implement on the floor that my people don't think are good ideas or that they aren't on board with, and so it doesn't happen. or there was that one time I deleted all of the information out of our material tracking system on accident. I've had to learn to own up to my mistakes a lot more - being wrong is okay, it's what you do after it that matters. I'm always disappointed if something doesn't go my way or isn't implemented the way I think it should be, but I'm learning really quickly it's better to own up to it and move on than to sulk about it or hide the error. My team is AWESOME in that we all support each other so failing or mistakes or anything else that happens happens and we figure out what went wrong and fix it for next time.

My parents are located in Minneapolis, MN. I have a younger sister studying Product Design at the University of MN - Twin Cities. My partner is also a Manufacturing Engineer for a different company! I have extended family scattered across the globe and so it's always fun being able to hop on a plane and go visit them!

I tend to do things because people tell me I can't: I had enough people tell me I couldn't be an engineer for one reason or another so I decided I was going to prove them wrong. I've always loved problem solving and figuring out how something works, whether that's a pen or a large group of people making decisions. I also participated in FIRST in high school and I loved the whole engineering process of brainstorm-try-prototype-fail-retry-fail-retry-success! It was a really hard lesson to learn for me that everything I do is probably not going to work on the first try - I'm a little bit of a perfectionist so learning how to fail was really hard but I am SO glad I've become comfortable with it.  

It might be a little bit of a weird one for someone in an engineering major, but I wish I had taken more psychology classes in high school! Industrial engineers work with people - everyone from salespeople to marketing to operators on the manufacturing line to middle/upper management to supply chain to procurement, IEs are kind of the catch-all engineering communicators. Having a background in psychology or sociology would help an IE be able to better connect with someone and understand where they are coming from; being able to have a little bit of a background based on their job, education level, etc.

Additionally, the basic math, science, physics classes that all engineers have to take! I know at my high school it wasn't required to take four years of science (I think...) but taking a year (especially your senior year!) off of a math or science is a bold (dangerous!) move if you want to be an engineer. Any hands-on shop classes or automotive classes will be incredibly beneficial to you - engineers love to problem solve, and if you have the background in manufacturing or power tools or welding, it will be sooooo beneficial to you to be able to look at a workpiece or mill and be able to understand how it works and use it, rather than having to learn from another engineer.

I love robotics! I'm super involved in the FIRST Robotics program as a mentor, coach, and volunteer and have been for ten years. I also am the CFO of Reinvented Magazine, a magazine written for young women interested in learning more about STEM!