Alicia Kempf is an Engineering Manager for Honeywell Process Solutions.
Honeywell describes Alicia as being 'like a pastry chef' because in the same way a baker would use kitchen tools and follow a specific recipe to make cookies, she makes sure every manufacturing batch is perfect.
Read Alicia's full career story or watch the the video.
Creating and maintaining the perfect formula
"I develop a batch manufacturing system used for making pharmaceuticals, food and beverages and specialty chemicals. Think about making cookies. I have a recipe to follow and I have some ingredients. I measure my ingredients and follow the recipe step by step to make a 'batch of cookies," says Alicia, explaining her job with Honeywell.
"I add the ingredients in a specific order, I have equipment I need to use like a mixer, mixer bowls, an oven that needs to be pre-heated to the proper temperature. I may be able to tweak my formula, or ingredients, to make peanut butter cookies instead of chocolate chip cookies and create a whole new cookie or product. Different batches of products have recipes for each product and each recipe has a formula and special equipment the batch is run on. However, the recipes are large in scale and complex."
Pursuing a childhood dream
Alicia, who is based in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, was interested in science and inventing from a very young age. She knows her job plays an important part in shaping the future and, as a mother, she is happy to be doing so.
"I have two kids with a third on the way, so when I think about the future I often think of them. We should be making the world a better place for them to live and thrive, solve today’s problems as well as the problems of the future," she says. "At Honeywell, we help make products we use every day that are critical to our wellbeing. The solutions we offer allow our customers to ensure that the products they release for consumers are of the highest quality and meet regulatory standards."
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