The day began with a guided tour of DMC’s Chicago headquarters, where students visited each service area to hear directly from team members about their work, tools, clients, and favorite projects. The group also toured DMC’s fabrication studio to observe how custom control panels are designed and assembled, gaining insight into the hands-on manufacturing processes that support DMC’s automation solutions.

To give students meaningful technical exposure, DMC’s two largest service areas, Automation & Manufacturing Intelligence (Automation) and Test & Measurement Automation (T&M), each led an immersive lab experience modeled after real client projects. These activities showcased the distinct tools and workflows used by DMC engineers across disciplines. In the Automation lab, students worked with Siemens’ TIA Portal to program a PLC in Ladder Logic, designing and commissioning a two-way stoplight control system. The exercise reflected the complete project lifecycle followed by DMC automation engineers, from system design and code development to hardware integration and testing. Several externs described this activity as a highlight of the day, sharing that “I thought the activity was very engaging and fun, and I learned a lot about how PLCs work, ladder logic, and the process of problem-solving as a team.”

In the T&M lab, students were introduced to test automation and data acquisition tools that support DMC’s verification and validation projects. Using a NI cDAQ and LabVIEW with NI MAX, participants investigated a simulated stoplight malfunction, analyzed the system’s behavior, and identified the software as the source of the issue. Guided by DMC engineers, they implemented and verified code updates to restore proper function, gaining hands-on insight into DMC’s problem-solving process and collaborative engineering approach. One participant commented, “I liked the detective work and figuring out which lights corresponded to which outputs. The logic aspect was really fun—it felt like a puzzle to determine which output should connect to which light when we clicked the red or green light.”

Following the lab sessions, externs had the opportunity to connect with some of the women engineers at DMC over lunch for an open discussion about professional growth and experiences as women in STEM. These conversations provided valuable insight into the diverse career paths within engineering and fostered meaningful mentorship connections.

The afternoon continued with project highlights from DMC’s various service areas, including Automation & Manufacturing Intelligence, Application Development, Embedded Systems, and Test & Measurement Automation, showcasing the breadth of technical expertise across the company. One extern shared that they “loved seeing how DMC works on everything from large automatic overhead track systems to internal projects to test and measurement systems for the Artemis boosters,” adding that “each project was presented in a very engaging way.”

The event wrapped up with a Q&A session with DMC’s CEO, Frank Riordan, who shared his perspective on leadership, company culture, and the evolving engineering industry. Students were encouraged to ask questions about his career journey and the challenges and rewards of leading a growing engineering firm. One student shared, “I loved being able to meet Frank and hear his experience starting DMC and what direction he sees for the company in the future. I liked how open the Q&A session was, rather than a lecture.”

The externship was an engaging and rewarding experience for both the visiting students and DMC engineers. We were thrilled to share our work and culture with the next generation of engineers and look forward to hosting similar events in the future to continue connecting with emerging STEM talent.

Learn more about DMC’s company culture and check out our open positions!

The post DMC Hosts SWE Members for a One-Day Externship appeared first on DMC, Inc..

The DEI Award honors a Rockwell partner that has made DEI part of its business strategy and taken steps to make the industry more diverse. 

Giana Fallara, Systems Engineer, and Marilyn Sedlak, Project Engineer, accepted the award on behalf of DMC by video. Kristie Shea, Vice President, accepted the award in person at the PartnerNetwork Conference. 

“One of DMC’s core values is to make things happen. The employee-driven nature of DMC’s DEI efforts make them personal, impactful, and flexible to meet the actual needs of employees,” said Fallara. 

DMC supports diversity, equity, and inclusion through Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) created by DMC employees who share a minority identity. Additionally, the FRIEND (Fostering Relationships, Inclusion, Equity aNd Diversity) user group at DMC encourages community members to share their experiences and identify areas for improvement. Beyond the company workforce, DMC is a proud sponsor of Society of Women Engineers (SWE) chapters at a handful of universities. 

“Rockwell’s prioritization of DEI initiatives meshes with DMC’s focus on creating a workplace culture where everyone feels safe, supported, and valued," Sedlak shared. "This is one of the factors that contributes to our successful partnership."

This recognition reflects DMC’s ongoing commitment to creating an inclusive culture where every team member feels empowered to thrive. 

DMC previously received the 2024 Rockwell System Integrator Innovation Award at the PartnerNetwork Conference. 

Learn more about DMC’s Rockwell Automation Gold System Integrator partnership and contact us today for your next project. 

The post DMC Receives DEI Award from Rockwell Automation appeared first on DMC, Inc..

This belief was vividly on display during our second annual Pride Tie-Dye event, organized in collaboration with our Queer Employee Resource Group (ERG). This year, the event saw a vibrant twist: we tied-dyed tote bags, bringing together creativity and community spirit in a celebration of pride and inclusivity. 

A Day of Colorful Unity 

This event is quickly becoming one of our favorite traditions. Organized in collaboration with our Queer Employee Resource Group (ERG), our offices were transformed into colorful studios, as employees of all backgrounds came together to create their own unique tote bags. With assorted candies and a build-your-own rainbow mimosa bar, the energy in the room was palpable as we all embraced the playful chaos of the tie-dye process. 

Tie-dye in action at DMC Chicago

Educating and Empowering Through the Queer ERG 

Our Queer Employee Resource Group (ERG) has been instrumental in promoting understanding and inclusivity within our company. Their presentations at our Monthly Company Meetings have shed light on various LGBTQ+ topics, from the challenges faced by the community to the nuances of human expression. These sessions are not just informative; they are transformative, helping us all become more conscious and supportive colleagues. 

The Queer ERG’s efforts provide valuable insights that help us grow as a community. Their dedication ensures that we continually engage in meaningful conversations about diversity and inclusion. It’s through these dialogues that we build a more understanding and empathetic workplace. 

The DMC Denver team is getting creative with tie-dye

Commitment to Inclusivity 

Working at a company that actively supports and celebrates diversity is something I take immense pride in. Our commitment goes beyond policy; it’s reflected in our daily interactions and the initiatives we champion. The success of events like our Pride Tie-Dye underscores our collective effort to create an environment where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued. 

As we look forward to future events and initiatives, I’m reminded of the power of community and the importance of ongoing support for diversity and inclusion. It’s not just about celebrating during Pride Month; it’s about embedding these values into the fabric of our workplace every day. 

Here’s to many more colorful celebrations and continued progress towards a more inclusive and equitable workplace. Together, we make DMC not only a great place to work but a community of diversity and support. 

Celebrating Pride in Chicago with a colorful event

Learn more about DMC’s company culture and explore our open positions!

The post Celebrating Pride and Inclusivity: Our Second Annual Tie-Dye Event appeared first on DMC, Inc..

Rose-Hulman

Welcome Back Wednesday

DMC is a Gold Sponsor for Rose-Hulman’s Welcome Back Wednesday, an event to kick off the school year when all students come back to campus. This year, we brought DrinkBot and handed out flavored sodas.

DMC was proud to be one of the primary sponsors for the event as we have many Rose-Hulman alumni – Ben Griffith, Bryce Pruemer, Caleb Stoll, Carolyn Corcoran, Christian Owen, Dan Freve, Glen Janson, Jason Ims, John Sullivan, Jon Carson, Keith Janson, Leigh Matthews, Ryan Landwehr, Sam Alvares, and Shay Merley.

While on campus, Shay discovered that his and Bryce’s picture is now plastered on the side of a new building.

Dr. Ryder Winck’s Industrial Controls Class

DMC will continue to partner with Dr. Ryder Winck’s industrial controls class on campus this academic year.

DMC first partnered with Dr. Winck in 2019 to create the class. We helped to come up with a lot of the course content, refine the curriculum, create homework assignments and lab work, and give our insights for what working in industry looks like.

“It’s definitely a first-of-its-kind class for Rose-Hulman in terms of collaborating with a company to be able to teach. I think this is super interesting. Not a lot of schools have any sort of industrial controls classwork,” Carolyn Corcoran, a Senior Project Engineer at DMC and Rose-Hulman alumni who helped create the class, said. “Dr. Winck is hoping to spread these to other schools and teach other professors how to teach these kinds of concepts. Rose-Hulman puts a lot of pride in getting students ready for industry jobs, and I think this is a huge missing piece in some of the course curriculum that students don’t have exposure to how industrial manufacturing works – and that’s such a huge part of what you might be doing as a mechanical engineer.”

During the class, Carolyn and alumni John Sullivan, Senior Director, West Region at DMC, do weekly check-ins, call in to do code reviews in front of class and give feedback, and answer any questions students ask in a shared Slack workspace.

Carolyn went to campus in fall semester of 2022 and gave a demonstration of the Winding Demo – a motion demo Rose-Hulman students designed and DMC then built as a FedEx Day project that can display speed or tension control.

Winding Demo

“That level of corporate involvement in class and being able to emphasize that what you’re learning in this class is something that is useful in the world outside of Rose Hulman [is so important],” Carolyn said. “So much of what you do in college is all theoretical and you’re making all sorts of crazy assumptions, and it’s cool to see how control concepts actually get applied in industry.”

The class will be running again this school year in the Spring, according to Carolyn, and DMC is bringing in more Rose-Hulman alumni to network, interface with students, share some of our Core Values, and teach more about what it is that we do and why DMC is an awesome company to work with.

Rice University

Rice Eclipse

DMC is an Interplanetary Sponsor for Eclipse, Rice University’s rocketry team.

Within the club there are three main divisions: Aerodynamics, Propulsion, and Avionics. Then there are 20 sub teams divided amongst the divisions with some adjacent sub teams like the certificates program, and an officer board which oversees club operations.

The club has two main focuses: to build a hybrid rocket engine and to build a custom carbon fiber rocket airframe that can fly with it. The Aerodynamics team designs and builds the team’s rocket airframes, while the Propulsion team’s goal is to build a hybrid rocket engine that has enough thrust to fly. This has been the club’s mission since its inception, and after many rockets and engine design iterations, the club is closer than ever to accomplishing its goal.

Last year, Eclipse alumni from DMC attended and brought pizza to one of the Eclipse meetings on campus. They gave an About DMC presentation and had the opportunity to walk around the club space, see what they had been working on, and network with current students. DMC will be attending an Eclipse meeting again this year on October 23 at 5pm.

“DMC’s involvement exposes the students to our industry, and, because Rice is a more academic research-focused institution rather than an industry institution, one of the big drawbacks of Rice is that there isn’t as much industry exposure,” Luke Howe-Kerr, a Systems Engineer at DMC and Rice Eclipse alumni, said. “Being able to go to these meetings and showcase what we do as a company is really valuable because a lot of people do not even realize that companies like us exist. Also, the fact that we have a really strong history of hiring Rice people is a testament to the company culture rather than just being random faces at a career fair. It’s just that little bit of a personal connection [that] really helps with vouching for the company culture, which is important to a lot of people.”

Luke Howe-Kerr, Teddy Hoisington, and Natalie Pippolo, former Rice Eclipse members and now DMC engineers, holding the rockets they built to earn their L1 and L2 Rocketry Certifications

Good culture is what keeps a lot of people around Eclipse as well, according to Luke, and he is happy to help as a Rice Eclipse alumnus.

DMCers Natalie Pippolo and Teddy Hoisington hanging out at the test sit while members of Eclipse

Another Rice Eclipse alumni, Teddy Hoisington, a Systems Engineer at DMC, adds that our contribution strengthens the Rice alumni network.

“Rice Eclipse is one of the largest engineering clubs on campus at Rice, and the scope of work they are doing costs a decent amount of money,” Teddy said. “It does mean a lot that their Eclipse alums are able to get their employers to help sponsor the club activities and keep this network of alums still involved. Our donation helps them accomplish their goals and strengthens our alumni network with them.”

The money DMC donates goes directly towards buying materials and allows the club to continue working towards their goals, according to Teddy, while learning data acquisition and testing, as well as other applicable skills that can be transferred when working in industry.

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at RICE

DMC has hired many alumni from Rice – specifically, many women – and we are proud to be a Gold Alliance Partner with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Rice.

“SWE is an organization that focuses on building community and promoting the advancement of women in STEM,” Elizabeth Goodnight, a Project Engineer at DMC and Rice alumni, said. “In your career, it also provides a lot of different opportunities for training, advancement, and networking to provide a support system – especially for those of us who might continue to work in a male-dominated field, industry, or work environment.”

The organization focuses on diversity and inclusion and is also open to gender minorities as a whole.

“Anybody who identifies as a woman or any gender minority who is in engineering can be a part of it,” Natalie Pippolo, a Systems Engineer at DMC and Rice alumni, said. “Most universities have chapters where people who are studying engineering can get scholarships from SWE, or SWE will help you find internships, help you out with a job search, and just be a community and host events for women in engineering.”

Last year and again this year DMC will host an event with the club where our Rice alumni will give a presentation regarding professional development or engineering awareness. In the past, these have included resume reviews and presentations on What is Technical Consulting? Or What to Expect in a Technical Interview.

Our Rice alumni include – Andreas Piaggio, Andy Corbato, Caroline Courbois, Casimir Smith, Cecilia Tetlow, Elizabeth Goodnight, Eric Voigt, Fadil Eledath, Gabby Martinez, Jacob Rupp, John Michael Frullo, John Williams, Luke Howe-Kerr, Natalie Pippolo, Nick Leisle, Odnan Galvan, Perry Lin, Teddy Hoisington, and Vedant Patwari.

Notre Dame

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at Notre Dame

DMC will also be partnering with Notre Dame SWE as well this year.

SWE at Notre Dame had a large impact on alumni Mia Gorman as she found out about DMC through a SWE email.

“Company sponsorships of SWE had a large impact on where I applied because of name recognition and getting to network with people at presentations about the companies,” Mia said. “In-person presentations specifically gave SWE members an opportunity to get a great feel for the people who work at these companies and see women in their field talk about their successes at the company, which was huge for me when applying.”

Our Notre Dame alumni include – Aaron Dorrance, Abby Greentree, Adam Wojcik, David Berno, Eddie Hunckler, Jason Mayes, Jason Wassel, Jeff McCormick, Jesse Batsche, John Dusing, Kyle Grebb, Steven Dusing, Max Domenech, Paul Mangels, Rose Appel, and Tim Hosty.

Robot Football Club

DMC will be sponsoring the Notre Dame Robot Football Club again this year. The club builds robots to compete in football matches played on basketball courts against other universities.

Our contribution directly impacts the club and allows the club to buy new parts and build new robots or repair those that are broken, according to Aaron Dorrance, a Systems Engineer at DMC and Notre Dame Robot Football Club alumni.

As alumni of the club, Aaron and Eddie Hunkler leverage their embedded systems engineering skills from DMC and volunteer their time to the College Robot Football Conference, a conference to organize all robot football teams and expand the sport, to create more reliable, new tackle sensors for all the robots.

Like last year, we will be sponsoring the Combine event hosted at Notre Dame on November 11, 2023, along with a networking event where students can chat with Aaron and Eddie about DMC.

“Robot football is a great activity that really builds good fundamental and practical engineering skills – especially relevant for DMC because [members] are building robots,” Aaron said. “They’re learning how electrical communications work between different parts of robots, learning how to do motor control, learning how to build robust machines because these robots really take a beating, learning how to build the best way to interact with these robots through controllers or whatever interface they want to use. In that sense, it’s really good practical engineering.”

Fixing robots on the fly is also really good under pressure engineering, according to Aaron.

“For DMC, this is exactly the type of engineering event that we want to support. These are the types of engineers that we want to hire.”

Northwestern

The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at Northwestern

For the first time, DMC will be sponsoring SWE at Northwestern.

“Northwestern SWE was an important source of support both socially and professionally,” Emily Blackman, a Systems Engineer at DMC and Northwestern alumni, said. “I hope DMC’s sponsorship will enable Northwestern SWE to continue giving women the support to not only continue in STEM, but to thrive in it.”

Later this year we will be joining for a member meeting with alumni for a professional development workshop.

Northwestern University Robotics Club (NURC)

DMC will also be a Silver Partner for NURC for the first time this year. Our contribution will help fund their projects for the year. 

Northwestern alumni Stephen Shull, a Systems Engineer at DMC, and Brandon Tanner, a Project Engineer at DMC, also recently went back to campus and hosted an informational session about DMC with the club as well.

“We talked about what DMC does and how the work that they do with their robotics club relates to work that we do in industry,” Brandon said. “It was also an opportunity for student to ask questions about life after college and things to expect when entering the workforce.”

Our Northwestern alumni include – Aaron Shoemaker, Alex Sabala, Blake Strebel, Brandon Tanner, Brent Hoerman, Bridget Miles, Emily Blackman, Jacob Bruce, Kevin Service, Mark Locascio, Nikhil Holay, Rachel Hughes, Stephen Shull, Tim Herrmann, TJ Dohm, and Zen Iwankiw.

Advisory Board Involvement

Some of our alumni are especially passionate about improving the next generations of engineers and sit on the industry advisory boards for their alma maters.

John Sullivan, Senior Director of DMC’s West Region and Rose-Hulman alumni, sits on the Industry Advisory Board at Rose-Hulman.

Jason Mayes, Senior Director of DMC’s South Region and Notre Dame alumni, sits on the Industry Advisory Board at Notre Dame.

Ray King, a Senior Project Engineer in our Houston, Texas office and Texas A&M alumni, sits on the Industry Advisory Board for the Electronic Systems Engineering Technology program at Texas A&M.

The three return to campus for annual meetings, consult with the faculty in the department for course direction and curriculum, and network and advise students interested in careers in industrial controls.

DMC is happy to engage with academia and contribute to these programs to support current DMC employees who are passionate about their universities’ programs as well as the future generation of engineers.

Learn more about DMC’s company culture and check out our open positions!

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Virtual Backgrounds

In honor of Pride Month last year, Sam Levin, Senior UX/UI Designer, created some virtual backgrounds that DMC’s DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) team encouraged DMCers to use during virtual meetings. Below is one example!

DMC’s History of Celebrating Pride

Another way DMC celebrated Pride Month last year was through the creation of informative posters.

“A year ago, we made laminated posters about queer people throughout history, and we mailed them to the offices,” Becca said. “In New York, we never took them down, so they’ve been hung up all year; it’s cool! There are about 10 of them throughout the office, and they look great!”

Queer Icons

Queer ERG Tie-dyeing Event

Across our offices nationwide, DMCers gathered last month for a tie-dyeing event lead by the Queer Employee Resource Group (ERG) to socialize and commemorate Pride Month.

“The Queer ERG here at DMC, alongside some other very helpful folks, put on an event for Pride Month. There are a lot of terrible things happening in and to the LGBTQ+ community right now, so finding ways to have celebration and have those chances for visibility without making it sad or upsetting,” Bridget Miles, Human Resources Manager, said. “Plus, the event is just something people would enjoy and want to be a part of.”

The idea for a tie-dyeing event came from one of the queer ERG discussion meetings. The Queer ERG meets once a month during Fridays at lunch.

“This event came out of the Queer ERG when we were brainstorming something that we could do for Pride Month,” Becca said. “I think it was nice that we were given the space to plan our own event as a Queer ERG. It was lighthearted, fun, and kind of cute, which felt like a nice low key way to celebrate pride and help provide the feeling of support in the DMC offices.”

While there are many different versions of the definition for queer, the Queer ERG has their own as iteration well.

“We mean queer in the most expansive sense of the term, so anyone who identifies as part of the LGBT+ or queer spectrum is welcome to join,” Becca said.

Chicago

DMC Chicago had a happy hour on the roof where DMCers enjoyed tie-dyeing hats, eating empanadas and cupcakes, drinking Pride themed Sangria, and enjoying each other’s company.

“It was a really nice night to celebrate queerness, especially queerness specifically at DMC, and feel visible in that space, but also feel really supported by a lot of non queer folks and coworkers who also wanted to be a part of this,” Bridget said.

As part of the planning process and setup crew, Bridget says she enjoyed the excitement before the event.

“Natalie bought the little pride flag decorations, and she was putting the sangria together. We were all making sure the tables were set up and getting all the hats and supplies together,” Bridget said. “I really appreciated that a lot of people from a lot of different parts of DMC said ‘yeah, I’ll help with this,’. It really felt like more than just the folks who are specifically in the Queer ERG wanted this to happen.”

The event also allowed for comfortable conversations about queerness, according to Bridget.

“There were a couple of conversations last night that I really appreciated and helped normalize queerness,” Bridget said. “I thought it was a really positive thing from last night; I felt like the event naturally allowed for conversations that centered some of those people or even just brought up stories in media in conversations that didn’t have to feel forced or weird. I think it’s a hard line to walk of the reality that not everyone wants to be publicly queer, but I think I have seen, overall, from my interactions, a general improvement in people’s views and comfortability with LGBTQ+ folks’ issues and problems.”

“It feels nice to be seen, and the fact that DMC is making space for queer people to celebrate is cool,” according to Courtney Stegenga, Project Coordinator.

“It’s really nice to be in a space that exists solely to celebrate Pride. It just makes stepping into that space a little bit more special,” Courtney said. “For me, I think it’s as simple as visibility. I think that exposure to the normalcy of queer people and your queer coworkers is something that this country especially needs right now. It’s such a simple thing to spend time in a place that is attributing importance to queer identity.”

Boston

The Boston office also tie-dyed bucket hats and had some sweet results!

Everyone had a great time – even their pets joined in on the fun post tie-dyeing!

Pepper – Kara Burton’s dog

Nola – Jamie Handelman’s dog

Marbles – Gabby Martinez’s cat

The Denver office duck

Houston

The Houston office enjoyed tie-dyeing along with great drinks from DMC mixologist Elizabeth Hill Reed! She created a watermelon, mint simple syrup, and lime drink as well as a mango, pineapple, basil simple syrup, and lime drink.

The office enjoyed a Spotify Pride Party playlist too!

Houston also pulled out some Texas-themed Pride decorations, as well as the sheets from last year displaying cool facts about LGBT+ historical figures.

New York

The New York office celebrated with pizza, themed decoration, and tie-dyeing as well.

“It was nice because a lot of people were in the office, so it was fun to kind of all hang out. We just laid out like the tablecloth on the table, and we tie-dyed bucket hats,” Becca said. “Jon found some of these white DMC baseball hats, so we dyed those as well. Then, we ordered pizza, and we complimented each other’s stuff. We also had rainbow flags and rainbow plates that we used, so that was cute.”

Later in the evening, New York, Houston, and San Diego all hopped on a Zoom together to chat with each other.

San Diego

DMC San Diego with a big old pizza party, according to Nick Leisle, Project Engineer.

“We pulled up a bunch of bucket hat tie-dyeing YouTube videos while we ate while some pizza. Afterwards, we put a bunch of trash bags on our kitchen table and tried carefully not to get dye anywhere,” Nick said. “In terms of fun, we had lots of fun – we also played ping pong.”

This was the first time our two newest hires in the San Diego office both attended an activity fund event together with the rest of the group, so that was a lot of fun with everyone there, according to Nick.

“This was a good introduction to DMC culture in terms of just fun things that we do,” Nick said. “At the very beginning of ours, which was the tail end of the East Coast, the Houston and New York teams called in via Microsoft Teams meeting, and we all kind of chatted for a bit, which was fun. I think that was also a good introduction for our newer hires here to see some of the people in the other offices.”

The crew even wore their finished bucket hats at the San Diego County Fair.

Seattle

DMC Seattle ordered cupcakes from a local LGBTQIA+ bakery that had fun flavors and gave a donation to a local charity!

St. Louis

DMC St. Louis got Garvanzo Mediterranean food for dinner before tie-dyeing. They also decorated the table with bright tablecloths, a mason jar full of rainbow beads, and a Pride flag.

Learn more about DMC’s company culture and check out our open positions!

The post DMC Celebrates Pride Month appeared first on DMC, Inc..

What is an ERG?

ERGs are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. Created by DMC employees who share a minority identity, they provide support in personal or career development and a safe community where employees can bring their whole selves to the table.

Since the concept was born, DMCers have formed seven ERGs covering the following topics: Disabilities, Working Parents, Women of Color, Moms, Queer, Minority Genders at DMC, and now, International Employees.

The IERG is Born

While attending the San Diego Yearly Office Event (YOE) this past October, many DMCers from different offices met others for the first time in-person. This was true for Tikhon (T) Pachin, software engineer based in Chicago, and Debbie Leung, systems engineer based in New York. After conversing and finding they were both internationals, they decided to start the International Employee Resource Group (IERG).

“I had the thought of starting an ERG for a while after hearing about the concept, but I never really had the opportunity to talk with someone. When I heard T was an international, I thought maybe I could collaborate,” Debbie said. “I think finding someone to start the ERG with was instrumental for me. I wouldn’t have been able to start it off or know what to do alone because I didn’t know how many internationals there were or whether this would be a good initiative to start at DMC. Knowing that there is an international population and there is a need for that motivated me to push this forward.”

The Mission of the IERG

As co-leaders, they each bring different interpersonal skills to complement one another, according to T. Starting this ERG allows them to provide more resources for internationals to have a safe space to ask questions.

“I love the culture here at DMC – though, I didn’t feel I had a safe space to discuss certain international questions. I did not know if it was just me or more people felt that way,” T said. “Debbie and I talked about it, and we looked at the Queer ERG. It seemed like a safe space for people who wanted to have a safe space. [Since starting the IERG], we started to have a bigger voice here in the company.”

The IERG serves the purpose of giving internationals a bigger voice, similar to other ERGs, because internationals are a minority group at DMC.

“Building this community and support network where we can all lean against one another for support in navigating through the different challenges in the United States that we face as internationals: that’s the whole point of the IERG,” Debbie said. “One facet is to provide support within our own community to one another.”

T says he feels this support has been a great resource for himself.

“This ERG is not necessarily for immigrational purposes. It’s mostly for educational purposes for both immigrants and nonimmigrants,” T said. “For example, I had no idea how to do taxes when I came to the U.S., and I had no idea how to get a driver’s license in the U.S. I knew one other international had already gone through those processes, and I asked them. The only reason I knew this was through the ERG.”

While the IERG is a resource for internationals at DMC, the hope is for it to also be a resource for the company. As DMC continues growing their client base and working with companies from all over the world, Debbie says that another facet of the IERG is to raise awareness at DMC about international cultural differences, which are important to be cognizant of when interacting with international clients.

“DMC values diversity and recruiting internationals is part of building that diversity,” Debbie said. “Hopefully, with our knowledge – being internationals, having lived in other countries – we can provide insights into what the proper etiquette is when interacting with clients from different cultures. Another way internationals could contribute to client work is bridging the language gap between DMC engineers and international contractors. As an example, I was involved in a project that worked with a Chinese contractor where I played the role as the translator.”

The IERG Welcomes All

DMC values their international employees as part of its diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. The IERG gives international employees a safe space to connect with and learn from others, but it is not exclusive to international employees. Anyone interested is encouraged to join the group!

“We welcome everybody, though some of our content might be targeted at internationals specifically,” Debbie said. “While we do talk about issues that internationals face, which may not apply to everyone, we also cover other cultural topics. So if you’re interested in learning about international cultures or simply making international friends, we welcome you to join!”

The IERG holds their meetings on the first Friday of every month with a structured schedule.

“Our meetings generally start off with an ice breaker question that involves something international. We’ve had questions like what is your favorite place to travel in the world? Then, we have a presentation prepared by one or two people in the ERG on an international-related topic such as OPT, followed by a Q&A,” Debbie said. “In the next segment of the meeting, we talk about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for our Monthly Company Meeting (MCM) presentations and Activity Fund events we can do as an IERG or as a company using the OneDMC Fund. Again, there are two facets of the mission of the IERG—to provide a support network and community within the group as well as to contribute to the company. So our meetings reflect that.”

The ERG also talks about other international-related topics that could be helpful to people who are simply interested in international culture, work abroad, or how they can help; therefore, all DMCers who are interested are welcome to join. On the contrary, there is also no pressure.

“If you don’t wish to be identified as an international, even by internationals, you don’t have to join,” T said. “We don’t know who our internationals are, and not all people in the ERG are internationals.”

Take Initiative at DMC

In addition to DMC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives, one of DMC’s Core Values is Make Things Happen.

“The biggest thing I enjoy about DMC is the freedom of initiative because very few companies, if any, would allow me to start an International ERG on the level that DMC allows it,” T said. “Here, I can be heard.”

Everyone at DMC is empowered and expected to independently accomplish tasks for the benefit of DMC and our customers. The freedom to create an ERG is one way employees can take initiative.

“I really like that T and I can just take charge in starting something up even though we are just junior engineers,” Debbie said. “There is a platform and a channel for us to be able to do that. Starting the idea for ERGs was a great initiative.”

Learn more about DMC’s company culture and check out our open positions!

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First Impressions

It was the first time at the conference for most of DMC’s four attendees and DMC’s first time attending as a company. Everyone was excited for the opportunity to connect with more women in engineering and expand the DMC talent pool.

Cecilia Tetlow, Project Engineer at DMC’s Houston office, was a first time conference attendee. 

“I thought, this is going to be a great opportunity for DMC to reach out and increase our diversity,” Tetlow said. “It was exciting to show up and see that many female engineers and engineers in general supporting each other at the conference.”

Jason Mayes, Senior Director of DMC’s South Region, is no stranger to gender disparity in the tech industry. 

“I sit on the Industry Advisory Board at Notre Dame and diversity is a constant challenge we discuss each year. Engineering has been a male dominated industry for a long time so it was exciting to see so many talented engineers at WE22 and know that the gap is narrowing.”

The annual conference boasts companies, engineers, and universities from all over the country.

“Once you actually go in to the conference area and you see all the different booths and […] big names that are showing up like Apple and Siemens and Tesla, […] its really exciting,” Tetlow said.

Mayes was also glad to see the variety of exhibitors at the conference.

“So many great tech companies from across the country are all here for one reason: to find the best engineers and their future leaders.”

Making Connections

DMC got the opportunity to connect with many students, engineers and organizations during the conference.

Caroline Courbois, systems engineer at DMC’s Houston office, attended SWE for the first time outside of college.

“It was cool to meet so many other women engineers,” Courbois said. “A lot of them were college students, so we were talking about their studies, their experiences in their programs, and their accomplishments. A lot of people, who were not necessarily looking for jobs, […] would come by and ask about our Tilt Table and then talk about their own work and careers as a woman in engineering.”

Natalie Pippolo, systems engineer at DMC Houston, also enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere.

“Even when I was still setting up the table, people would come up and chat with me. It was cool to see all of these booths from big companies just full of women,” Pippolo said. “You get to see all of the women who work at all of these big, male-dominated companies.”

In addition to making new connections, Tetlow and Courbois got to reconnect with some friends from their undergraduate programs, which was really fun, according to Courbois.

WE22 was also a great opportunity to connect with some of DMC’s partners and clients. 

“It was really cool to see a lot of companies that are also our clients doing recruiting there and interacting with a few,” Courbois said.

Pippolo also had the opportunity to connect with some familiar organizations.

“We were right next to the Siemens booth, so I got to talk to some people who knew about DMC at Siemens,” Pippolo said.

DMC’s Tilt Table Demo

DMC was excited to share the Tilt Table Demo with WE22 attendees.

“We were getting a lot of attention for it from people who were interested in DMC and those who had never heard of DMC,” Tetlow said. “That was definitely a lot of fun, just explaining how the ball demo works and how it relates to what we do at DMC.”

“It was fun to get to share that with some other companies,” Mayes agreed.

Conference Takeaways

DMC is grateful to have had the opportunity to connect with the many talented women in the engineering and technology community. 

“It was a great opportunity to get exposed to a lot of great candidates that we don’t typically get to make impressions on […],” Mayes said. “It was great to be a part of it, [and] it was fantastic to meet a lot of really talented engineers. Hopefully, we can widen our candidate pool and find an even better cross-section of engineers.”

Tetlow also noted the significance of attending WE22.  

“Hopefully, people who read this blog will see that DMC cares about diversity and supporting women and gender minorities in engineering,” Tetlow said. “I think it’s good that DMC is being involved in this space, with the added benefit that it will help us to recruit more smart people.”

Upcoming SWE Chapter Events

DMC is a proud sponsor of the SWE chapters at University of Notre Dame and Rice University. We look forward to connecting with SWE members at future events!

Learn more about DMC’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

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What SWE Does

“SWE is an organization that focuses on building community and promoting the advancement of women in STEM,” Elizabeth Goodnight, project engineer who attended the conference while at Rice University, said. “In your career, it also provides a lot of different opportunities for training, advancement, and networking to provide a support system – especially for those of us who might continue to work in a male-dominated field, industry, or work environment.”

The organization focuses on diversity and inclusion and is also open to gender minorities as a whole.

“Anybody who identifies as a woman or any gender minority who is in engineering can be a part of it,” Natalie Pippolo, systems engineer who attended the conference while at Rice University, said. “Most universities have chapters where people who are studying engineering can get scholarships from SWE, or SWE will help you find internships, help you out with job search, and just be a community and host events for women in engineering.”

The Conference

This year, three other DMC engineers will be attending the conference in addition to Pippolo – Cecilia Brookshier, Caroline Courbois, and Jason Mayes.

Some DMCers were involved in the conference during college – like Goodnight.

“When I was at Rice, I was really involved. I was an officer. For a couple of years, I was specifically the Conference Chair, so I was responsible for coordinating everybody’s attendance,” Goodnight said. “We would do scholarships and stuff for some students who couldn’t necessarily pay their own way. We would pay for hotel rooms and stuff to get people going. That’s actually where I got my first internship. There is always a career fair, and sometimes that is why a lot of people go. They also do speeches, workshops, and panels.

Alike to being a part of SWE, any gender may attend the conference, and Goodnight says she “fully supports this.”

“I would encourage anybody to go because everybody should see women achieving,” Goodnight said. “If you’re going to try to benefit from this conference, then you should also be prepared to support the overall mission – which is supporting and advancing women in engineering. Go to a talk, learn some things, apply that in your future, and then absolutely be a part of the community. Do it as an ally, not as an appropriator.”

The conference allows companies the space to hire a broader demographic of people in a space where these genders feel welcomed. While large, Pippolo says the opportunity to be surrounded by others like you is exciting – as she knows from attending the conference while attending Rice University.

“There’re so many companies, and it’s really cool to be in a giant convention center room full of a bunch of just women in engineering – which is a pretty rare opportunity, so that was really cool,” Pippolo said. “I know a lot of people from college who have gotten jobs and internships from the SWE conference, so I am really excited that DMC is going for the first time this year.”

Goodnight agrees that it is rare to see women featured in the workplace in this way.

“I think, for me, it was first time I ever saw women at the top of their field,” Goodnight said. “When you look at the people that kind of run the engineering world, you don’t see a lot of women. It’s a very cool environment to just see people who are really good at what they do and also who look like you, have a similar background, or have been through the same thing.”

While attending Rice University, Elizabeth Goodnight (left) attended the SWE conference.

The Next Generation

Since 2018, Goodnight has been pushing for DMC to attend the conference and recruit there.

“I think it’s absolutely worth it for exposure and demonstrating that you actually care about something,” Goodnight said. “It’s one thing to say ‘we care about promoting diversity in our workplace.’ It’s another thing to say ‘we are spending money on being there, being present, and being actively engaged.”

The conference actively engages with high school students by hosting Girl Scouts and other groups that participate in invention competitions.

“They also do an invention competition for high school students typically to do some kind of robotics invention task – which includes a bunch of girls and SWE volunteers all working together on some kind of design challenge,” Goodnight said. “It’s really cool. It’s more about, not just reaching out to current women in engineering or current women who are studying to be engineers but building up the pipeline early on.”

As SWE supports the next generation of engineers through events such as these, DMC is as well by sponsoring the SWE chapter at Rice University.

“This is our first year we are trying to sponsor a student club like that,” Goodnight said. “We are kind of stepping that up in general from an outreach perspective, so I think that also played into this – getting involved with SWE at one of our target schools and the conference happened to be there this year. There’s just a lot of things that came together where it made sense. I’m hoping that – seeing it as a positive experience this year – will make it worthwhile to attend in future years.”

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Topic Overview

After becoming open to a discussion in session one, we examined systemic racism in session two. Our third and final session in this series discussed “Becoming an Anti-Racist.”

Definition 

We shared the following definition of an anti-racist. “People who are actively seeking not only to raise their consciousness about race and racism but also to take action when they see racial power inequities in everyday life. Being an antiracist is very different from just being “nonracist.”

This diagram illustrates becoming an anti-racist.

Racial Biases

Next, we watched a video of Ibram Xolani Kendi. He is an American author, professor, and historian of race and discriminatory policy in America. Kendi explains that there is no such thing as a non-racist. All policies and ideas either hamper or advance equality.

Source: VCU Libraries

Dr. Kendi has also stated, “Racist and antiracist are not fixed identities. We can be racist one minute and an antiracist the next.”

As we’ve learned in our last two sessions, everyone has racial biases. Our culture and media are all rooted in racial inequity, so just by the nature of growing up exposed to this type of content, we will have racial biases.

We discussed that scholars teach that a big part of being anti-racist is acknowledging that you have internal racism and you can act in ways or support things that are racist. A big part of anti-racism is acknowledging that and then working to dismantle racism in yourself. In order to be anti-racist, we have to continually examine ourselves.

Steps to Ending Racial Inequality

Next, we shared Dr. Kendi’s steps to ending racial inequality and asked attendees to reflect on these ideas.

• Acknowledge that the problem is caused by policy, not people
• Acknowledge that racial inequity is intersectional
• Find out which specific policies are causing inequity
• Come up with new antiracist policies to replace them
• Determine which individuals or groups have the power to put antiracist policies into place
• Educate the public about specific racist policies and antiracist replacements
• Connect with antiracist policymakers to get the new antiracist policies implemented
• Get rid of racist policymakers by asking antiracist policymakers to force them out of office
• Make sure the new antiracist policy is having an equalizing effect
• If the policies aren’t working, look for new policies, not new people
• Keep an eye on policymakers to make sure no new racist policies come into effect

Discussion Questions

Finally, we brought in some voices from throughout DMC to answer discussion questions. Our goal was to share information with each other so we can all learn and grow in our journeys to be anti-racist and normalize these reflections. 

• Can you think of a time when you noticed growth in your ability to recognize racism?
• What works for effectively dismantling racism within your community (friends, family, church, teams, workplace)?
• What works for effectively dismantling racism within a conversation or with an individual?
• What works for effectively dismantling racism in institutions (donations, advocacy, political involvement)?
• How will you personally work to address bias when performing recruiting, managing others, and other subjective processes in the workplace?
• If you received feedback that something you or another in the workplace had done/said that perpetuated racism, how would you want to approach receiving that feedback? What actions might you take?
• Do you have any tips for disrupting racism in the workplace? What steps have you found to be useful? What steps have been ineffective?
• What are good ways to be an ally and supportive without being performative, a “white savior”, or overstepping? Is there a line between being supportive and overstepping which could hurt the movement?

We hope that this series empowered attendees to be informed and positively influence racism in the world!

Learn about the other topics in this series:
Part One: Being Open to a Discussion
Part Two: Systemic Racism

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Part One: Being Open to a Discussion

Topic Overview

After becoming open to a discussion in session one, our next session addressed systemic racism. We all know that discrimination was “outlawed” after the civil rights movement. So why is there still disparities between races? The answer – systemic racism.

We discussed the definition of systemic racism and why institutional racism is more subtle and harder to recognize than individual racism.  

Educational Timeline

Next, we discussed the history of racism in America. Much of this content was pulled from “What is Owed” by Nicole Hannah-Jones.

We watched a clip from Netflix’s special Racial Wealth Gap to learn what happened after the end of the Civil War. We also discussed Black Codes and the Homestead Act. 

Credit: Netflix

Moving into the Twentieth Century, we discussed redlining. Redlining is a discriminatory practice in which services were denied to residents of certain neighborhoods on the basis of their race or ethnicity. Redlining prohibited black and brown individuals from being able to obtain loans, and thus buy property, in certain neighborhoods. At the same time, white people were empowered towards homeownership with government-subsidized loans. This became a source of intergenerational wealth disparity with very large impacts on our world today.

We learned about racial violence, including the Tulsa Massacre. We also covered Jim Crow laws and the New Jim Crow. 

Credit: Macat

Systemic Racism

We further explored the topic of systemic racism and started by watching this video on institutional racism. 

Our discussion on systemic racism included its perpetuation by the media, police brutality, the criminal justice system, the prison industrial complex, education, and systemic wealth and housing. 

Special Guest Expert

For the next portion of the session, we welcomed Reginald Champagne as our special guest expert to help us navigate the complicated topic of system racism who we answering our questions on the content. Reginald Champagne is Senior Counsel for Beam Suntory and teaches classes at Northeastern University in Boston. He holds a JD and Masters of Law from Boston University School of Law and studied Sociology at The Pennsylvania State University.

Reginald addressed some questions that DMC employees submitted regarding systemic racism and anti-racism. 

Check back as we share content from our final session on Unpacking Racism.

Learn more about DMC’s company culture. 

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