Wendy Smith Recognized With National Award
Putman Media, publisher of Chemical Processing, Control, Control Design, 
Food Processing, Pharma Manufacturing, Plant Services and Smart Industry magazines, is proud to announce the 2019 class of Influential Women in Manufacturing. (See below for full list of honorees.)
The 26 women who join the ranks of IWIM this year are recognized for their change leadership in manufacturing—their risk-embracing work that serves to move the needle on asset management and reliability, digital transformation, workforce development, and other elements critical to ensuring the manufacturing industry’s readiness to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
More than 120 nominations from across industry were received for IWIM 2019; all nominations were reviewed in April by a 15-member Putman Media voting panel. Among the honorees in this year’s class of Influential Women in Manufacturing are CEOs, senior engineers and a member of Congress. They are leading initiatives that are challenging traditional approaches to focus areas ranging from production process management to manufacturing workforce recruitment.
Says Putman Media CEO John Cappelletti: “It’s exciting to once again announce a group of outstanding individuals who are driving important changes both within their companies and for the manufacturing industry overall. The future-focused leadership and innovative problem-solving demonstrated by the 26 members of the 2019 class of Influential Women in Manufacturing inspires new and veteran members of the field alike, and it is Putman Media’s honor to recognize this incredible group. Congratulations, 2019 IWIM honorees!”
The 2019 Influential Women in Manufacturing honorees will be profiled in a dedicated e-book to be released by Putman Media in September and recognized in person at the 2019 IWIM awards luncheon, taking place Friday, Oct. 4 (Manufacturing Day) at MxD in Chicago.
The 2019 Class of Influential Women in Manufacturing
- Chandra Brown, CEO, MxD
- Diane Doise, senior staff automation engineer, Syngenta
- Jonna Gerken, deputy transitional manager, Pratt & Whitney
- Lisa J. Graham, VP of analytics engineering, Seeq
- Nandita Gupta, process controls engineer, Georgia-Pacific
- Lauren Harrington, East Region oil and gas lead, Rockwell Automation
- Mary Beth Hiller, senior quality engineering technical supervisor, Pratt & Whitney
- Calicia Johnson, facilities engineer, Chevron
- Kelli Kirchner, food safety and quality director, Kraft Heinz
- Lauren Kirschler, plant manager, Pall Corp.
- Shreya Kondapalli, senior manager, projects and performance monitoring, Bharat Petroleum Corp.
- Jennifer LaVine, program manager, Naval helicopter programs, Sikorsky Aircraft, a Lockheed Martin company
- Linda J. Miller, CEO and founder, PDT
- Adeola Olubamiji, senior additive manufacturing engineer, Cummins
- Sheri Plain, director of workforce services, AMTEC/Owensboro Community and Technical College
- Lesia Protsailo, senior director, emerging technologies, United Technologies Research Center
- Kate Rome, president, Rome Grinding Solutions
- Arial Ruble, area manager, Tate & Lyle
- Wendy Smith, VP of engineering, Optimation Technology
- Haley Stevens, U.S. Representative for Michigan’s 11th Congressional District
- Adrianna Swift, industrial engineer planner, Endress+Hauser
- Crystal Taton, digital factory systems integration section manager, Raytheon
- Cheryl Thompson, global director of prototype at American Axle & Manufacturing
- Karla Trotman, COO, Electro Soft Inc.
- Cathy Wilson, reliability technology manager, Sunair Co.
- Isabel Yang, CTO, Advanced Energy
Founded in late 2017 by Putman Media editors Erin Hallstrom, Alexis Gajewski and Christine LaFave Grace, Influential Women in Manufacturing seeks to recognize women who are effecting change in manufacturing and industrial production and engaging the next generation of manufacturing leaders.
For more information about IWIM (www.influentialwomeninmanufacturing.com) or questions about attending and/or sponsoring the 2019 IWIM awards luncheon, please contact Plant Services managing editor Christine LaFave Grace at clafavegrace@putman.net.
