Congratulations to Kimberley Reid, Dallas SWE’s May 2022 Member of the Month! Check out Kimberley’s story below.
I started my engineering journey at the University of Michigan. Upon graduation, I joined Occidental Chemical and spent 11 years there working as a Chemical Engineer in a variety of roles supporting the chemical manufacturing operations. While working full-time, I attended the business administration program at Canisius College and earned my MBA degree. Through the MBA program I learned about management information systems which helps companies run their business operations. This opened the door to join a corporate team focused on helping our company implement a new Enterprise Resource planning solution called SAP. The SAP software solution served as a launchpad for me into a business and information technology consulting career that has spanned nearly 24 years.
I now work for Hitachi Vantara and serve as the Vice President for Digital Enterprise Solutions focused on SAP. In this role, I am responsible for managing a team of consultants who advise clients on strategic information systems planning initiatives, business cases for change, implementations of the software, and training in the SAP applications to ensure high user adoption rates and attainment of business value through the software. I never imagined that my process engineering days at the chemical manufacturing plant would lead to the role that I have today. It is quite a dream come true to help clients solve business challenges through software solutions. I work with customers in a variety of industries ranging from Food processing, Consumer Products, Aerospace and Defense, Life Sciences, Industrial Manufacturing, and Chemical manufacturing.
While in college, there were not many women in my engineering classes. SWE was a great resource for me and helped to provide a support network and pathway to develop my leadership skills in college. The opportunity to support the local SWE initiatives here in Dallas and volunteer for the great programs is quite rewarding. I am grateful for the chance to help. Giving back is a way to say Thank You to the long list of mentors, coaches, tutors, and encouraging people who have influenced my career journey to date. I like how SWE shows that careers in engineering can be rewarding and open doors to adventures that you might not ever imagine.
What I like most about SWE is the chance to influence young people to pursue careers in science, engineering, and math. The chance to share how engineering careers can be the launchpad to amazing life journeys is just awesome.
