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Driving The Global Marketplace
Mechanical And Industrial Sectors Open Many Doors.
By Barbara Woodworth
Advances in math, science, and engineering drive the U.S. and the world.
Mechanical and industrial engineers are among those who make that happen.
Maureen Curtiss,
General Manager, Health & Positioning Control,
The Timken Company
For Maureen Curtiss, a degree in mechanical engineering not only opened
doors, it resulted in a unique recruitment opportunity to become part
of a global enterprise: “Join The Timken Company and see the world”
was the novel approach that sparked her interest. Content in her first
professional position after graduating in 1993 from both Providence College
with a bachelor’s degree in systems science and Columbia University
School of Engineering and Applied Science with a BSME, Curtiss accepted
Timken’s offer.
At the time, Canton, OH-based Timken (www.timken.com)—a technology
leader in alloy steel and highly engineered components and assemblies
—was looking for an applications engineer to specialize in working
with customers in Europe. “Evidently my work ethic and thought processes
matched the company’s needs,” says Curtiss, who was trained
in Timken products and design in the United States prior to assuming her
European-based position. For the next three years, she traveled to, and
worked in, numerous countries—Germany, Italy, England, and France
among others. “Working with associates abroad allowed me to see
the value engineers provide to customers,” she states.
Since joining Timken in 1998, Curtiss has steadily advanced. Today, as
general manager of Timken’s health & positioning control business,
she continues to travel widely while overseeing four major facilities
employing as many as 2,500 associates. The main thrust of her job is responsibility
for the strategic planning and business plan execution of the business
segment, which provides sophisticated technologies for customers in the
medical, aerospace, and defense industries—some of which are critical
to such well-known NASA missions as the Mars Rover.
With so much riding on her unit’s work, Curtiss must ensure she
has the best talent in place to succeed, which includes sales support,
product managers, engineers, and the operational teams necessary to collectively
and successfully meet customer needs. Her training in engineering provided
useful preparation for this management role.
Although her job no longer involves hands-on mechanical engineering applications,
Curtiss believes she was well served by immersion in this curriculum.
“The skills I learned enabled me to branch out. I learned how to
logically approach a problem
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