SHPE - Conference 2007 - (Page 48)

CAREERS & EMPLOYMENT At Siemens, he selected projects within the company to improve quality, delivery and cost, and worked directly with business leaders to implement the methodology and align the projects with the company’s objectives. Mixing Lean and Six, Martinez was tasked with speeding the processes while making things better. He used his engineering skills in order to understand the technology of the company’s software products. “A good engineer knows all aspects of a process,” he said. “You have to understand the business as a whole and understand that what you do impacts the big picture.” Engineers at Merck & Co., Inc., a global discoverer, developer, manufacturer and distributor of pharmaceuticals headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, are engaged in nearly all areas of the company. These areas include management, technology support of existing products or new product launches, research for new products and processes, supply chain, procurement, and site safety and environment. According to a Dun & Bradstreet database and Philadelphia Business Journal’s Book of Lists, Merck ranks among the top 10 companies in the region in terms of employing the greatest number of knowledge workers. “Within the ranks of our technical functions in research and manufacturing, we employ several thousand engineers from a broad range of academic disciplines and degree levels,” said Philip Woodrow, executive director, Science & Technology Development. Merck has a continuing need for engineers – mostly chemical and biochemical – to sustain and support its business growth, according to Woodrow. In 2008, the company plans to recruit both graduating engineers and interns. Erika Perez began her career at Merck after graduating with a B.S. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Throughout her career, she has held supervisory roles in vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturing. She has also been responsible for managing operating areas and department budgets, training the work force on new processes and supporting existing processes as a member of the technology services group for the pharmaceutical area. She helped complete a technology transErika Perez fer of a pharmaceutical product from one facility to another, and as a manufacturing area head, she now has a broad range of responsibilities, including working on critical projects at the company’s largest manufacturing facility in West Point, Pennsylvania. Perez said the people at Merck contribute to the company’s reputation and are the source of learning something new every day. “I have never met so many intelligent, hardworking self-starters in my life,” she said. When it comes to loyalty, Perez proudly said, “I am Merck.” Courtesy of Merck & Co., Inc. Freddy Martinez (far left) and the Lean Six Sigma Team at Siemens Medical Solutions have improved quality, delivery and cost of selected projects within the company. president of research for Select Greater Philadelphia, a regional economic development and marketing organization. From high-end advanced manufacturing such as robotics to emerging clusters in alternative energy and other industries, it continues to expand existing markets and expand into others. Greater Philadelphia is particularly strong in information technology, life sciences, health care, financial services, chemicals and high-tech manufacturing. In fact, the education, health care, professional and business services, financial services and information technology sectors, which require highly educated and skilled workers, make up 43 percent of the region’s total employment, according to Select Greater Philadelphia. The region’s established manufacturing companies are requiring knowledgeable workers to constantly innovate and increase productivity. With the rise of its knowledge economy, Greater Philadelphia gained about 432,500 new jobs in the private services sectors from 1990 to 2006. Continued growth in these sectors is projected to create a demand for an additional 357,000 workers in the region by 2022. Health Care and Life Sciences: Drawing on the Region’s Resources With five medical schools in the area, the health care and life sciences industries have always had a strong presence in the Greater Philadelphia region, said Hopkins. With its U.S. headquarters based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, Siemens Medical Solutions, USA, is one of the world’s largest suppliers to the health care industry. Approximately 2,550 employees nationwide are engineers, said Kerry Wright, director of staffing. One such professional is Freddy Martinez, who came to the company a year ago as a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt to revive Siemens’ Six Sigma program and deploy Lean Six Sigma. Although Martinez received a B.S. in electrical engineering, his career path with the U.S. Army and other manufacturing and technology companies honed his leadership and management skills that were aligned with Six Sigma, the improvement methodology that helps companies identify and eliminate process problems, as well as streamline processes. 48 Courtesy of Siemens Medical Solutions SHPE R Conference 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SHPE - Conference 2007

SHPE - Conference 2007 Contents President’s Letter From the Vice President Calendar Browser The Top 10 Interview Questions A Federal Case for Education Reform Managing in the Multi-Generational Work Force Ahead of Their Times: An Engineering Progression The Place to Innovate Management Growth Training Executive LeaderSHPE Institute Programs & Services Welcome Letters Highlights Conference Schedule STAR Awards Company of the Year Professional Adelante and Student Chapter Awards Speakers Professional Development Strategy SHPE Academic Olympiad AHETEMS Design Competition Morgan Stanley Web Coding Competition The Ultimate SHPE Challenge Technical Paper Competition Pre-College Symposia Graduate Program Tours Hospitality Suites Advisors Workshop Quick Guide Workshop Descriptions Sponsors and Career Fair Exhibitors Hotel and Convention Center Maps IPC Update Regional Roundup Advertisers Index Inner Circle Employer Profiles

SHPE - Conference 2007

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