The Council is honored to highlight member Kelly Reid as our December Member Spotlight!

Current Position/Field of Work:

Project Engineer at UTC Aerospace

What is the most interesting part of your job?

I’ve been in this role for just a couple of months, working in engines systems.

The most interesting part of my role is just how many different components, pieces and people need to work together to create this large system that is vitally important. You analyze every single thing that goes into it. It’s exciting and gratifying to know that I had an effect on what millions or billions of people are using on a daily basis.

Can you describe your most recent travel experience?

In a previous role I was a product support engineer, which led me on a three week stint in Asia – Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan – working with maintenance and technicians, teaching them how to operate and troubleshoot their systems. That was an exciting opportunity to work with people I had never met before and get to travel to places I might not have otherwise been able to go.

Where would you like to travel next?

New Zealand!

I might also be heading to Poland through my role at UTC. Exploring that area of the world and its rich cultural history is really exciting. I would love to see Prague – I love art museums and European art in particular. The opportunity to see what shaped these artists would be fascinating.

Global issue you find fascinating right now:

I’m passionate about the refugee crisis, whether it be in the Middle East, Africa, or South East Asia. In many cases people are forced to decide to leave or face death. It is important that we make sure to show these people support in any way we can. In many places around the world, it looks like it’s going to continue to get worse. This is something we need to be paying attention to now.

Proudest accomplishment?

When I was in college, I noticed there weren’t many women in engineering and I became really involved with the Society of Women Engineering. When I moved to Ohio, I founded a women in technology and aerospace group with a colleague. Over a year, we expanded it to other sites – it became an international resource group for peers in our field. There’s a couple hundred people involved with over 7 sites now, officially recognized by UTC as a resource group. Being able to take that into the community and help get girls interested in STEM – and show how cool it is – that’s fulfilling.

Why you support the Council:

For our generation in particular, we need to make sure we’re engaged. We need to make sure we’re the voices of how we want our country to be shaped. To be able to engage in political conversation and make sure we learn about the issues – both sides of the conversation – is extremely important. Having this organization is really important to help facilitate that.