NSBE - March/April 2008 - (Page 40)

PrEMiEr PROFILE B y to r y n . p a r r i s h Tonya Erwin, Assistant Manager of Quality Upward Bound at Toyota few months after Tonya Erwin began attending college, she knew she had made the wrong choice. As a freshman communications major at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, N.C., in 1988, Erwin had been committed to becoming a TV news anchor. “And then the more I thought about the whole public speaking aspect of it, I was like, ‘OK, this is not what I want to do,’ ” says Erwin, a Morganton, N.C., native. She decided to delve into other interests, including drafting and schematic design, which led her to change her major to electronics engineering in the second semester of her freshman year. “Labs and good professors made me stick with engineering,” says Erwin, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering in 1991. Seventeen years and several career steppingstones have brought Erwin to Erlanger, Ky., where she has been employed at Toyota Engineering & Manufacturing North America since 1997. She was promoted to her current position as assistant manager in the quality division in 2006. Although Erwin has worked for several companies in engineering capacities — including automotive brake company ITT Teves in Morganton, where she spent four years, and aerospace company Kaiser Fluid Technology, in Charlotte, N.C., where she was employed for two and a half years — her current position is not specifically related to her engineering training. She does, however, benefit from her technical knowledge, as she helps develop strategic plans from a quality perspective at Toyota, she says. “Without the (engineering) background… when there is a problem, you can’t articulate what the issues may be,” says Erwin, 37. A “I want to be that female that is able to progress within Toyota in the technical field with a technical degree. I want to utilize this degree to take full advantage.” Although black technical professionals are underrepresented in the U.S., Erwin says she is determined to stay on an upwardly bound career path at Toyota, whose U.S. sales in 2007 allowed it to unseat Ford Motor Company as the nation’s No. 2 automaker, ending Ford’s 76-year run in that slot. Women working in the technical field face unique challenges, Erwin says. “It’s a very difficult balancing act,” says Erwin, who also juggles the responsibilities of her family — husband Robert, daughter Imani, 10, and son Patrick, 18 — at their home in Florence, Ky. Still, she doesn’t see herself stepping out of the technical arena. “I want to be that female that is able to progress within Toyota in the technical field with a technical degree. I want to utilize this degree to take full advantage,” says Erwin, who is now taking distance-learning classes through Stanford University’s product realization networks certificate program, which is geared toward professionals working full-time jobs and seeking more knowledge of engineering. The importance of furthering one’s education in the ever-competitive global market is something she wants young up-and-comers in engineering to know. “No one can interfere with your learning…. Continually educate and develop yourself, and build relationships,” she says. Toyota has improved its recruiting programs in the past several years to increase diversity, but Erwin believes the company needs more focus on mentoring and coaching programs to attract interns and trainees and help them transition into full-time employees. Her alma mater is one of Toyota’s focus schools for engineers, and the requirements for new graduates are stiff. ■ 40 • march/april 2008 • www.nsbe.org http://www.nsbe.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NSBE - March/April 2008

NSBE - March/April 2008
Contents
The Flame of Change
What Is Your Smile Saying?
International News: Telecom Training In Nigeria
Get Involved, Get International!
NSBE International, History in Brief
Truth Power!
Is Government Work for You?
Partners for Positive Impact
Regional News: Region III Economic Overview
GM Flexes Its Green
NSBE Calendar
Hot…Not
A Well-Deserved Break
Goodness Ikeri of Caterpillar
Tonya Erwin of Toyota
Albert Rodriques of Lehman Brothers
Igniting the Torch
Finding Career Fair Success
The AE Niche
Working in Harm’s Way
Reality Check
AE Members on the Move
Advertisers Index

NSBE - March/April 2008