We recently spoke with Jenna Glasure, Mechatronics Engineer at Olsträd Engineering, about her on-the-job experiences, background in automation, motivations, and her professional goals.
“Originally, I went to school for pre-med but changed to Mechatronics. I love robots, and my interest in robotics really helped me make the change. In high school, I helped judge and coach for VEX. I also like sewing, home improvement, and home design. Being a design-oriented person helped me get into engineering. Small details drive me crazy if I don’t address them. I like creating spaces, and it helps when I’m working on projects.
I really like working for Olsträd because it’s a smaller team; It’s very hands-on and involved. You feel very involved in projects, rather than just being part of one team involved in one small aspect of a project. It really helps me learn about the process.
You also get thrown right into things here. You learn something new on every project, and work with a lot of different people. You learn life skills as well as technical skills. For example, I’ve done networking projects here that you’d never learn in school.
I don’t know if I’d recommend engineering to just anyone, but if you get a lot of satisfaction from solving problems, you would love being an engineer.
I’d especially like to say to girls considering engineering, ‘this isn’t a gendered job.’ I think if more girls had the opportunity to learn about the field, it wouldn’t seem like a crazy career choice. If you’re organized, like designing things, and putting them together, then you’d like engineering. I feel that If I don’t see more diversity in the work pool in ten years I’ve done something wrong.”
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