Patricia Eng

I am the first Accredited ISO 30401 Auditor in the world.  As one of very few who have inspection and auditing experience (30+ years in the nuclear industry) and a successful career as a Knowledge Management Professional, I have developed and now teach an ISO 30401 Auditor Certification CLass.  My students come from around the globe as I am the only one offering such a course.  I have co-authored two books on Knowledge Management and give presentations on KM and on the ISO standard for KM.  This is a far cry from the nuclear engineering that I used to do for both the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and at NASA but it keeps me busy.

Engineering is so versatile.  With an engineering background, one can do almost anything.  Engineers are hired to do a variety of things including assessing potential projects for business investments.  I am sure that others on this site can give you a good idea of how engineering prepares you for just about anything!.  IF you know how things work, you can figure out what they can and cannot do and how that could impact society or business. YOu can easily read between the lines of a newscast and see what is really happening when it comes to weather, business or technology.  I find it amazing how little the public knows about science.  The confusion about the COVID vaccine is a great example of how science is not well understood.   I didn’t choose engineering. I kind of fell into it. When I was a young girl, I wanted to be a ballet dancer or a gymnast. One day I was struggling to do a double pirouette and it was driving me crazy! I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. My dance teacher told me I needed to understand how the body works and told me to take physics when I got old enough. So I did. I found that not only did I like it, but it helped to explain why so many things are the way that they are. All of a sudden a lot of things made sense like why the stars twinkle, how to do multiple pirouettes and the kinetic difference between a back handspring and a back full twisting layout. Once I understood vectors and kinetics, dancing and gymnastics were a lot easier. I kept taking classes to learn why things are the way they are but I didn’t plan on going into engineering as a career. Nevertheless, here I am.

I went to the University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana where I majored in physics and nuclear engineering. I know that sounds like I am very smart, but in truth, I don’t think of myself as smart. I think that I went into physics because of the way that I think. I ask a lot of why questions and want to know how things affect each other. Physics helps me figure that out - so physics just made sense. I later got a Master's Degree from Virginia Tech in Science and Technology Studies which looks at the sociological, historical, and political aspects associated with science and scientific breakthroughs and how they have impacted our lives and the planet.  

I retired in 2013 on medical disability due to chronic Lyme disease.  Over the years, I have learned to manage my disease and am getting better at noticing little things and taking care of them before they become too debilitating.  Even so, I like to keep on learning new things and have taken on gardening as a hobby.  Gardening may seem simple but it is very complex when you look at why some plants grow well in some spots while others do not.  It all goes back to physics and chemistry that I learned in high school.  I have also found that people have read my books and want to talk to me about them.  That is gratifying and eventually led to me starting a small business where I teach and certify ISO 30401 auditors and educate people on the ISO standard and what it might be able to do for them.  It keeps my mind active and I have met so many interesting people from around the world.  It has also led to me being invited to speak at conferences as far away as Australia and the UK. 

WHen I was still working I changed jobs about every 2-3 years. I have done everything from working at a construction site to doing research in a government laboratory to writing national technology policy. I have worked on a lot of different things - from a waste treatment system to designing a nuclear propulsion system to go to Jupiter for NASA. But I have always tried to do things that help us to expand our knowledge, improve the quality of life or both. 

What I like the most about my work is the endless variety. No two days are alike. Some days, I get very technical and look at engineering calculations and write reports, some days I travel to go to meetings or conferences, and sometimes I get to go out to the field where I get to see hardware up close and personal. I get to see how the hardware is made and talk to people about what it can do. Occasionally I travel overseas to see how different nations solve the same problems but in different ways. I really enjoy knowing how things work and meeting and working with people who are interested in making things better.

There are two things I am particularly proud of. In the early part of my career, I was a resident inspector at a nuclear power plant. There were very few women doing that job at the time so I really stood out. I found a testing deficiency at my plant that could have led to a serious safety issue. In my role as an NRC Resident, I helped make sure the managers were aware of the issue and then watched to make sure that it was corrected quickly. I received the NRC Meritorious Service Award for Resident Inspector Excellence from the NRC for my work and was the first woman to ever get the award. The second thing that I am proud of is my work in designing and conducting a National Survey of Women and Men Engineers in the United States. I did this outside of work. Once it was done and published I found that no one else had ever done a survey like that which meant that I was sort of a pioneer. That also made me an "expert" I was invited to testify before a Congressional Subcommittee on the survey and its findings. Not bad for someone who had trouble doing double pirouettes.

I believe that most challenges are really opportunities to do something different and unexpected. I think it is a question of how you look at the issues that you face every day. If I believed half of the things that people tell me are problems, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

For me, the important thing is to be true to myself, try to make things better and to have fun in my job. That is both my short term and long term goal. Exactly how I do that is less important. I haven’t followed the "standard" career path. At some point, I will be eligible to retire from my current job, but I am looking at that as an opportunity to go and do something different.

I value the views of my parents, my friends and my many mentors. Others can give you their views and thoughts, but the trick is in figuring out who you are and what you want. With all the stuff that the media puts out there it can be hard to get to know one’s self. Just remember that what is shown on TV and in the magazines isn’t necessarily "normal." In the end, it is my life and my decisions. I have to be true to myself and let others be true to themselves. That isn’t always easy.  In my latter years, I have discovered that yoga helps a lot.

Figure out who you are and what you want. There are people out there who will try to steal your dream, and some of these folks will be people who love you and want the best for you. But they will unknowingly try to steal your dream. Don't let them. I am not saying to discount them, what I am saying is to put the views of others in perspective. Understand their concerns and fears for you.  They may see something that you cannot. Get to know yourself and what you are good at. Respect yourself, including your talents and your faults. Build on the former and tone down the latter. See the possibilities and find people who can help you to hang on. Then someday you will be there to help someone else hang on.

It is so easy to take on what others say you should or should not do.  When things get tough, try to observe what you are thinking and feeling, but without judgment.  Most things that happen to you are not meant on a personal basis.  People are wrapped up in their heads and what they think others think they should or should not do.  Don't be like that -  Don't overthink things.  Take time to be with yourself - alone.  When the noise stops, it is much easier to sort things out and choose what is right for you at that time.  And even if you make the wrong choice now, chances are that you can undo or progress onwards from that into something better.  

I think I am pretty normal because like most females, I like to eat out, shop and travel. I still love to dance and do so whenever I can.

I was an only child until my mid 30s when mother informed me that I had a half sister.  I have since met her and like her very much.  I don't have a lot of family - one aunt and two cousins that I keep in touch with, but some really good close friends and a very loving cat.