How Supportive Teams Shape Great Engineers with Katie Friday

Katie Friday is a sales engineer who took the scenic route into manufacturing. She started in social work, battled through an engineering pivot at WVU, worked her way from project engineering to sales, and now lives at the intersection of customers, controls, and culture. We talk about resilient learning, why great SOPs read like fifth grade science, the reality of safety projects, and how leadership sets the tone for teams. There is a rom-com opening scene, a baby blue Beetle, and a giant robot in Wilmington. Most of all, there is a clear picture of how supportive culture turns new hires into future leaders.

Why this conversation matters

Culture is a team sport and leadership is the lever. Katie shows how cross-functional respect between engineering, maintenance, and operations speeds projects up, how good documentation creates confidence on the floor, and why automation does not erase jobs. It raises the skill ceiling and demands better training.

Conversation highlights

Meeting story at IMTS and a friendship that started in an elevator.

Katie’s rom-com life pitch featuring a 2013 baby blue Beetle and a bee.

Switching from social work to industrial engineering and learning resilience the hard way.

From receptionist to project engineer to sales engineer and why talking to customers clicked.

The coolest project sighting, a towering broadcast robot and the crews that build stages for NASCAR, ESPN, and even the Super Bowl.

Safety projects move first and fast, and the scheduling whiplash that brings.

SOPs that actually teach, pictures over jargon, and testing docs with non engineers.

Women navigating a male heavy field, boundaries, and a shoutout to mentor Kimberly Pelke.

Why new adopters of automation are the next wave and how AI will show up on the plant floor.

Topics covered

Company culture as daily behavior, not a poster on the wall.

Leadership modeling communication and teamwork.

Sales engineering as translator between customers and controls teams.

Budget timing, stakeholders, and the real blockers to moving from design to execution.

Operator training that matches the tech.

Automation as job shifter and skill builder, not a job eraser.

Women in STEM, representation that changes decisions, and early pipeline programs.

Quotes

“I do not mind being the dumbest in the room. It just means I am learning.”

“Good culture feels like a team that actually communicates and still pulls toward the same goal.”

“Automation does not eliminate people. It asks them to learn new skills.”

“Great SOPs should read like fifth grade science. Pictures help people keep the line running.”

Guest

Katie Friday is a sales engineer working across pharma, food and beverage, rubber and tire, and other regulated environments. She graduated from West Virginia University in industrial engineering, cut her teeth in project engineering, and now helps manufacturers scope, justify, and deliver automation upgrades with Industrial Automated Systems and sister company Triune Electric.

Shoutouts and resources mentioned

Industrial Automated Systems and Triune Electric.

Mentor Kimberly Pelke, director of business development.

Move Over Bob, a culture first magazine introducing young women to trades.

Rosie Riveters, early STEM confidence through productive struggle.

Vendors seen on the floor, including Siemens, Rockwell, and Schneider Electric.

WVU, the scene of the pivot and the grind.

Sponsor

Med Device Boston is a sourcing and education expo at Boston’s BCEC, September 30 to October 1. Two hundred plus suppliers, hands on workshops, and expert led sessions focused on the next generation of med tech. Register at meddeviceboston.com and plan your visit. The link is in the show notes.

Connect

Host, Jim Mayer. Subscribe to Manufacturing Culture on YouTube and your favorite podcast app. Share the episode with a friend who is wrestling with training and documentation after an automation upgrade.