International Women in Engineering Day

Now in its seventh year, International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) is celebrated annually on June 23. The day celebrates the accomplishments of women engineers and raises awareness of career opportunities.

Currently, Melink Corporation employs four female engineers.

“Our goal is to enrich and strengthen our teams with a more diverse workforce that can lead to better innovation and effective leadership, while improving our company’s overall performance,” said Angela Bradley, Melink Corporation’s Director of Human Resources.

Meet Melink’s women in engineering…

 

 

Sarah Evans

Embedded Software Engineer

Degree: BS Computer Engineering

 

As an engineer at Melink, my job is to take the ideas for what we want PositiV® or Intelli-Hood® to do and implement them. Since I started working at Melink, my main focus has been on PositiV, our building health monitor system. My work includes programming the PositiV devices, maintaining an application for setting up the devices, collecting and analyzing data, and testing. While all these tasks involve software development, each problem is unique and can require a number of different solutions. Essentially, my day-to-day includes solving puzzles, which I really enjoy.

 

 

Krysta Kincaid

Sales Engineer

Degree: BS Industrial and Systems Engineering

 

My day-to-day in sales at Melink is not necessarily predictable, and for that I am grateful. I support the sales team by creating test and balance proposals and managing projects for new customers. The majority of my time is spent evaluating mechanical plans and developing potential scopes to create proposals for prospective customers. When we win the project or program, I run point with the end customer and site contacts. This includes reviewing the contract, scheduling our technician with the jobsite, securing rental equipment, communicating with our technician on site, distributing any necessary information to the customer in real time, and ensuring the customer gets the final report. I will then help answer any questions the customer has about the findings. In my role, I collaborate with almost the entire sales, national account, and network leadership teams on a daily basis. I truly enjoy the human interaction with my colleagues, as well as our customers. At the end of the day, all of our efforts at Melink go toward trying to save the environment, and that gets me out of bed every morning.

 

 

Katherine Moeller

Quality Assurance Engineer

Degree: BS Industrial and Systems Engineering

 

My role in quality assurance is to ensure that the products Melink produces, as well as our internal processes used to create those products, function properly and efficiently. Daily, my role can vary from creating process documentation to testing firmware to verifying data accuracy. I help connect what is created by the product development team to something that can be replicated easily by our production team. I support the production team by providing the materials they need to create and test a high-quality product, prior to sending it to the customer. Something I really enjoy about my job is that each day is different and I get to work with multiple stakeholders across the company.

 

 

Anna Rusconi

Account Engineer

Degree: BS Mechanical Engineering

 

My role varies from day to day. When we receive a test & balance quote request from one of our national accounts, I look through the mechanical prints to prepare a quote. The quote covers the scope of work for the visit, as well as the estimated time needed for an on-site technician. Before our technicians visit on site, I make sure they are equipped with all the information they need to successfully complete the job. If the technician has any questions while on site, I work with them and our site contacts to ensure the visit goes as smooth as possible. Once the T&B is completed and the final report is sent to the customer, I will work with the customer to help them understand the information. We provide our customers with an overview of their project data; I work with the National Account Manager to pull data to present to the customers. I really enjoy this position because each day is different, and it is rewarding to help the customers and the internal team.

 

 

About International Women in Engineering Day

INWED was launched in the United Kingdom in 2014. Since then, the day has grown significantly and was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2016.

Women empowerment. Females in engineering

Becoming an Intelli-Hood Sales Engineer (During a Pandemic)

Sales Engineer. These are two words that most of us have a clear understanding of their respective meanings. But what about when they are put together? Well, I ‘m not sure what to expect either, but it sounded like a challenge, and I like those. I’m new to the Demand Control Kitchen Ventilation (DCKV) industry but well-versed in technology and mechanics due to my background. So, when I took the role of a Melink Intelli-Hood Sales Engineer, I felt well prepared.

Then, enter COVID-19.

Onboarding plan? Derailed. Customer visits? Cancelled. Installations with field service techs? Not attending. How was I supposed to embrace my role and be a valuable addition to the team?

 

 

What Next?

That’s where my Melink family stepped in. To continue with business “as normal,” we, like other companies, took advantage of virtual meetings, trainings, lunch-and-learns, and other digital tools. These tools were not thought about or utilized even just 10 years ago! As the pandemic unfolded, our work progressed, thanks to these digital tools. I immediately saw the value in my new role and Melink’s value to their customers.

For instance, indoor air quality became a topic of daily conversation. Essential facilities, like grocery stores and hospitals, were now on the front lines. I helped get Intelli-Hood® kitchen ventilation controls into these areas and ensured first responders had healthy air.

You see, Intelli-Hood learns to optimize your kitchen ventilation by using temperature probes paired with infrared optical sensors. The optics pick up on airborne contaminants in the form of smoke and then trigger the variable frequency drives. The exhaust fan’s variable frequency drive (VFD) adjust to the appropriate speed to ensure adequate evacuation of the effluent. Smoke being present does not have to mean that heat is, which is one more way that a Melink Intelli-Hood control system ensures continuous capture of all effluent. As if that was not beneficial enough, the system is also ensuring that more of the pre-conditioned air is staying in the occupied spaces instead of being wastefully exhausted from the kitchen due to continuous discharge ventilation.

 

 

Looking to the Future: Customized Solutions

Pre-COVID-19 and now, I spend each day as a Sales Engineer building customized quotes for our customers’ unique needs. As requests for new construction sites roll in, I work with my Business Development Manager to go through the plans for each site, reviewing the kitchen designs and ventilation requirements, as well as requirements that have been called out by general contractors and food service consultants. Every job requires different exhaust hood types; fan types and horsepower; and temperature monitoring preferences, as well as the possibility of tying the system into a building’s BACnet. All of these items and more are taken into consideration when preparing an accurate, customized quote for our customers.

Thus, these last few months of working in Virtual Corporate America have helped me realize just how adaptable our team at Melink — and our Intelli-Hood controls — really are. COVID-19 or not, these control systems are improving the health and wellness of employees and customers in thousands of locations worldwide, all while being the most energy efficient DCKV system on the market. And the umbrella of Melink solutions extends to other areas, too. When you pair an Intelli-Hood control system with solar panels, a PositiV® unit to monitor building health, and a high-quality Test and Balance plan, you really cannot ask for a more efficient and energy-saving space.

I may only be finishing my first quarter here at Melink as a Sales Engineer, but already I have felt the satisfaction of knowing that what I am doing is making a difference.  We really are making the world a better, greener place, one building at a time.

Intelli-Hood system