GEM-SET: Mentors: LDuncan

GEM-SET : Girls' E-Mentoring Program : Science | Engineering | Technology

I am currently a senior project manager at Regis Technologies, a privately held company specializing in the development and scale up of active pharmaceutical ingredients for clients, ranging from big to virtual pharmaceutical companies. In this role, I act as a liaison between the customer and the Regis production, quality control, and quality assurance groups. It is a position that requires attention to detail, technical understanding, ability to troubleshoot, and diplomacy.

I have a B.A. in chemistry from UC Santa Cruz (1977), and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame (1985). In between those two degrees, I worked in industry primarily as a quality control chemist with a strong component of problem solving in the field.

The most exciting part of my career was the time I spent working in fatty chemicals manufacturing for Procter and Gamble. This is what I did over a four-year period:

Developed a process to remove odor from fat and fatty acid, and installed and started up the equipment;
Tested and installed an ultrafiltration system to remove fatty acid from wastewater.
Designed and installed a system to neutralize effluent pH at a glycerine refinery; and
Designed and installed an odor control system at a glycerine refinery.

Manufacturing is a rough, but results-oriented environment, and you can make a difference quickly. Abilities to make decisions and to keep calm under pressure are vital.

The toughest barriers for me to overcome have been:

Math anxiety (successfully overcome)
Beliefs that a woman can't be technically competent (more common with fellow engineers than with the factory workers!)
Unwillingness to take full credit for accomplishments (and I never will, even if it doesn't make me look like a star; I work in teams)
Balancing work and family after my daughter was born.