Industrial Engineers are always looking for ways to optimize and improve various processes. They like understanding how things work and then integrating strategies, goals, and constraints into their efforts. So, it’s no wonder when Nina Barker, a Senior Advisor for AFS Registry Modernization Systems (AFB-730), and Binu John, a Manager in the Data Analytics Section (AIR-341), had a recent conversation about ways to tackle some data-related issues that Binu and his team had recently made. They were eager to share their results. Nina and Binu were happy that they had stumbled across each other and began planning for ways for their teams to work together to solve data quality issues. Upon further discussion, they began to think about what other synergies they might find by partnering with other industrial engineers in the agency. Binu suggested scheduling a meeting.
They thought an extended invitation to a meeting might help them find mentors, share ideas for future career paths, utilize more brainpower for future problem-solving, and connect and reconnect after the pandemic. So, Nina set up a meeting and was able to drive attendance by finding people on LinkedIn and then calling them through Teams - extending an invitation to attend an online meeting. She explained the intent of the meeting and the desire to have each person attend.
Not surprisingly, there was a great turnout. A one-hour online networking event was scheduled over lunch, and over 20 industrial engineers attended. Participants represented multiple lines of business, various staff offices, and duty stations nationwide. Nina shares, "We were thankful we had such a strong attendance, especially from those in high demand, like Michelle [Coppedge]."
During the initial meeting, we introduced ourselves, told each other where we currently work in the FAA and told each other how many years the agency has employed us. The time in the FAA ranged from 6 months to over 30 years, and careers varied from industrial engineers, project managers, executives, and more. Words of wisdom and funny stories were shared (as some participants have been coworkers for decades). We decided to meet again with a flexible agenda, either helping brainstorm ideas for each other or having general topics to discuss, like artificial intelligence or data analytics.
We look forward to meeting again, hoping to increase our attendance and to work together, helping one another grow. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 22, and will also be online. To keep the conversation manageable, we are limiting attendance to industrial engineers. If anyone is interested in setting up a different interest group luncheon, we’d be happy to share ideas and some lessons learned in finding your target audience, along with other meeting/scheduling logistics.
As a reminder, Employee Associations and Special Emphasis Programs are great ways to network and get more involved with the agency outside of typical work.
