IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2020 - 14

then devise a response for the system in
each scenario.
For auto clients, product design is
a clear area where technology can help
the industry evolve. "Design used to
be with paper and pencil, then it was
automated with CAD, and now it's about
gamification and augmented reality to
really understand product features and
their human interactions in a synthetic
environment as close as possible to the
physical environment before a product
launches," she explains.
Technological progress becomes even
more crucial in light of the COVID-19
pandemic and the world's need to transition to remote work quickly in many
industries. Downey tells of one story
she heard from a former DTE colleague,
where a utility company was able to
restore power after around 250,000 outages in just four days, the fastest restoration in the company's history.
"That 's remark able," she says.
"Prior to the pandemic, when an outage
occurred, crew members would drive
to the office to receive work assignments, restoration staff would meet in
an emergency response center, and people would jump in to perform specific
roles such as field resource coordinator,
restoration lead, communication lead,
logistics lead, customer lead, and so on.
Now that everyone can't get together,
it all happened virtually. They had to
learn to collaborate and communicate
more and use digital technology to work
remotely. Because of the pandemic,
with everyone working from home, they
were ready to jump into action virtually, whereas before, with no work-fromhome culture for typically risk-averse
utility companies, technology wouldn't
have been used in such a vast way. I
think this will really change how they
work in the future."

Fulfillment From a Career in STEM
Stories like this are ones that make
Downey proud of the path that she has
followed and excited for the future ahead.
"I am so glad I've learned what I have,
studying STEM and then getting into
other fields of management and design
thinking," she says. "Maybe it's what

IEEE WOMEN IN ENGINEERING MAGAZINE

The advice
Downey tends to give
others centers around
the many ways technology
has the potential to make
our lives easier, meaning that
the opportunities afforded
to women with the
foundational knowledge
are limitless.

would have been
considered
STEAM in the
past, with the
'A' for 'art,' but
now, understanding the
user, developi n g e m p a t h y,
and translating all
of that into product
ideas is a part of STEM
today. I think that means
we'll get to learn new disciplines, but
my belief is that, once you have a foundation from a STEM education, you'll never
be obsolete."
As for developing empathy, Downey
credits volunteer work with helping her
engage and refine her soft skills. When
she first worked at GM, she was involved
with her local Women in Engineering
(WIE) Chapter and, through that group,
secured a scholarship to a WIE international conference after raising her
hand to be a conference facilitator. She
later attended an ILC event that she
calls eye-opening. "I met so many other
women and was inspired by conversations with and talks by women engineers that it motivated me to want to do
more," she says.
Downey channeled that motivation into organizing a local conference
in Detroit in 2016 and later a sold-out
event in Chicago for Women in AI. She
is currently a WIE Advisory Committee
member, served as a board member of
the IEEE Technology and Engineering
Management Society from 2016 to early
2020, was the TEMSCON2020 conference chair, and is a contributor to the
IEEE Blockchain Initiative.
"I think volunteering is amazing; you
get a lot more than you give," explains
Downey. "You meet other people for
both career networking and socializing,
and you can learn a lot, too." One of
the people she's encountered is Susanne
Tedrick, who volunteered as a webmaster for the Detroit and Chicago events
Downey organized. "Susanne is one of
the most amazing, impressive individuals I've ever met," Downey shares. "I've
never seen such a work ethic. I've given

DECEMBER 2020

her a little bit of
advice but she
has helped me
in so m a ny
ways." The two
women now
share a bond,
wit h Tedr ick
even acknowledging Downey
in her recently published book.
The advice Downey tends
to give others centers around the many
ways technology has the potential to
make our lives easier, meaning that the
opportunities afforded to women with
the foundational knowledge are limitless. "Pick an area where tech can
have an impact, but be flexible because
sometimes you may have to work on
what's available right now while waiting for the right opportunity to show
up at the right time," she advises.
Downey has personal experience here:
she once took a job that had her working in the basement, only to leave after
two weeks when her previous company
called her back.
She also counsels science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
enthusiasts to think about learning
and growing in a very broad sense.
"Don't just focus on the project, the
component, or the equipment you're
working on. Be proactive about developing an interest in the whole product,
the market, and the consumer your
company is serving," she continues.
"This will help you grow, but it will
also prevent you from getting caught
by surprise as customer tastes or regulations change."
Like the company that set a record
for fixing system outages during a
pandemic, a technology mentee who
became an author, or a young girl with
a respect for math who became a digital
transformation specialist, Downey is a
big proponent of the belief that technology really can drive boundless progress.
-Leslie Prives

IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine - December 2020