Speaker 0 00:00:00 I just love the idea that one day, you know, we're not gonna have to rely on humans <laugh> to do everything right, like redundant tasks. We can just make a robot do it. They won't complain and they'll do it faster.
Speaker 2 00:00:18 Hello everyone. Welcome to the Robot Industry podcast. We're glad you're here. And thank you for subscribing. I'm Jim Barreta, and our guest for this podcast is Alicia Avira. And Alicia works at Ethos Automation and actually we're on site here at ethos because they're really close to me in Branford, Ontario. Alicia, welcome to the podcast and thanks for joining us. Thanks
Speaker 0 00:00:38 For having me, Jim.
Speaker 2 00:00:40 Uh, Lisa, what was, was there an influence in your wife that led you to engineering?
Speaker 0 00:00:45 Um, nothing in particular, I'd say, but growing up I had always been a very, uh, hands-on, uh, kid, you know, always wanted know how things worked and stuff. And then as I got into high school I learned like, you know what, the STEM subjects, these are my interests. I like knowing that there's a quantitative answer to everything and I got, you know, more hands-on experience and then that led me to uh, going to school for engineering.
Speaker 2 00:01:06 And so you were probably one of those kids who took apart all their toys and wanted to see what's working?
Speaker 0 00:01:10 Oh yeah, absolutely. You know, it was always Hot Wheels, Legos, like chemistry kits, all that stuff,
Speaker 2 00:01:15 <laugh>. Oh, that's great. And so did your co-op experiences help you to find your interests more clearly or help you figure out what you didn't want to do?
Speaker 0 00:01:23 Um, yeah, so when I first centered engineering first year was very like, just generalized. You kind of got a taste of all the different strains and um, you could choose, you know, in your second year what you wanted to do. Originally I thought I wanted to do biomedical engineering. I learned real fast. That was not what I wanted to do after taking a little field trip to a, uh, biomedical lab wasn't my cup of tea <laugh>. So, um, yeah, actually in my third year, so after third year, between that and fourth year I ended up getting a co-op placement at a, uh, tier one manufacturing, uh, facility. And that's where I actually met my boss Peter. And yeah, I learned really quickly that manufacturing is where I wanted to be and I really thoroughly enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 00:02:04 So how long have you been working for Ethos Automation?
Speaker 0 00:02:06 So I started here in the summer of 2021. Um, so just over two years now.
Speaker 2 00:02:12 And did you start off as project manager? Cuz that's what your role is right now, correct?
Speaker 0 00:02:16 Yes, correct. So, um, I did start off as project manager. Um, honestly when I was job searching after school, like after graduation, wasn't looking particularly for a project management title and then this opportunity came to me and you know what? I'm glad I went with it because I love it.
Speaker 2 00:02:30 When I first met you, I thought that you were doing applications engineering because I kind of saw you in all these meetings.
Speaker 0 00:02:36 Uh, yeah, I mean I would use the term project manager very loosely. I have, I had the ability to have my hands on every aspect of a job. I'm there through every step of the way from kickoff all the way till installation at a customer site. So I'd say, yeah, I do do a fair amount of applications engineering as well as managing projects.
Speaker 2 00:02:53 And so how does being a project manager differ, differ from the other engineering experiences you've had?
Speaker 0 00:02:59 Um, so only other engineering experience I had was when I was my, uh, doing my co-op term. So I was a manufacturing engineering co-op, so it was a lot of due time studies, you know, update these documents. I learned from that. I did not wanna have a desk job. I actually enjoyed my time when I was out in the factory floor much more than being in the office.
Speaker 2 00:03:19 So, and you probably got a lot of grunt jobs too, being at the tier one place, right?
Speaker 0 00:03:23 Um, honestly it wasn't so, so bad. You know, I was just a little co-op kid, so Peter, my boss would be like, Hey, go do this, go do that. And you know what he thought I wouldn't like it and I stuck it out <laugh> and I actually liked it.
Speaker 2 00:03:33 <laugh>. So as a woman in a male dominated profession in workplace, can you talk about some of the challenges that you've had?
Speaker 0 00:03:40 Um, <laugh>. So I haven't had too many, uh, uncomfortable situations luckily. Um, funny thing, my, my first day starting here, Peter pulled me aside and he goes, I want you to know something. You're a girl in a man's world. So I could have taken that two ways. So I could have taken it as, uh, to be intimidated or I could have taken it as a challenge. I decided to take it as a challenge and, you know, try to prove to everybody like, yeah, just cuz I'm a girl, I can still do what you do potentially even better.
Speaker 2 00:04:07 <laugh> ab. Excellent. And what advice would you give for young women considering entering engineering or manufacturing?
Speaker 0 00:04:14 Um, if I could give them one piece of advice is, um, don't be hesitant when faced with an uncomfortable situation. Take that as an opportunity to learn and grow your knowledge in the industry. Just because you think you can't do it doesn't mean you can't just, you have to be willing to try
Speaker 2 00:04:28 And you're, um, going into a lot of customers that are at a very male dominated as well, right? So you have to come in and not that you have to prove yourself, right? Like you are, you just have to be able to do what you do.
Speaker 0 00:04:38 Yeah. So I think it's really important to be able to hold yourself and be confident in what you're, what you're, uh, dictating to others. Um, I find a lot of times when I'm on site, I'll have crews of like 20 to 30 mill mill rights, electricians, robot programmers, all that. And the only way that I'm able to help them is if I know what I'm talking about. Right. So if you know what you're talking about, I find people respect you very fast
Speaker 2 00:05:02 And you, uh, what do you like about what you do now? Are you, like, is there one particular part? You're working with a lot of robots, you're in a lot of doing a lot of work in automated feeding, material, handling, welding.
Speaker 0 00:05:12 Yeah, honestly, I, I just love the ability to be involved in every aspect of a project. You know, I can go and play around with the robots if I wanted to, you know, I can help with the programming. I like to go and wire up tools while, while they're out on the floor. It's
Speaker 2 00:05:26 Fun. So you're doing a lot more than project management. You're getting your hands dirty. Yeah,
Speaker 0 00:05:29 I love it. We're here today on a Saturday and I'm out there helping them build tools because, you know, you gotta you gotta get it done.
Speaker 2 00:05:36 And you guys are very busy right now too, right? Yes,
Speaker 0 00:05:38 Correct.
Speaker 2 00:05:39 And um, what about ethos made you want to work there?
Speaker 0 00:05:42 So I had originally followed up with Peter when they first started the company. It was just him and the two other owners at the time. He was like, I'm not hiring right now, but you know what, keep in touch and if something comes up, I'll let you know. So fast forward about a year and a half later, I get a call from Peter and him and Calvin took me on board and honestly they took me right under their wing. They're always my biggest advocates and they're always willing to teach me anything that I'm unsure about.
Speaker 2 00:06:04 And you're learning all the time. Like I get a su I suspect that you, this is kind of a good mentorship, uh, arrangement, whether it's Peter or Calvin or some of the other toolmakers on the floor.
Speaker 0 00:06:13 Yeah, absolutely. You know, um, if I'm not sure about something I can go ask a panel builder like, Hey, you know, why did you do this this way? Explain to me.
Speaker 2 00:06:21 And is there somewhere that you don't like to do? Like, do you stay out of the design office or
Speaker 0 00:06:27 Honestly, yeah, the design reviews can get quite boring. Again, I, as I said earlier, I'm not one to just sit at a desk all day. So anytime a design review is going past like an hour, I'm, I'm zoned out
Speaker 2 00:06:36 <laugh>. And you like, I I kind of su suspect that you really like the learning part of the, uh, automation industry. Oh,
Speaker 0 00:06:42 Absolutely. It's, it's fantastic.
Speaker 2 00:06:44 And so what other things excite you about automation?
Speaker 0 00:06:47 I just love the idea that one day, you know, we're not gonna have to rely on humans <laugh> to do everything right, like redundant tasks. We can just make a robot do it, they won't complain and they'll do it faster
Speaker 2 00:06:59 <laugh>. And that's very cool. And tell me a little bit about, uh, about your educational experience.
Speaker 0 00:07:04 Um, so in 2018 I started at McMaster University. I did a broad general, um, engineering course, which then I specialized into mechanical engineering. And in my final year I specialized in manufacturing engineering.
Speaker 2 00:07:17 Great. Um, what are you seeing from your, some of your clients, because of course you're in on some of these applications, right? What are you seeing as some trends in industrial automation?
Speaker 0 00:07:27 I'm noticing a, uh, a lot more customers are coming to us wanting to, um, increase their cycle time and their volumes. They wanna be able to, um, increase production. So a lot of times that involves adding robots and it's awesome.
Speaker 2 00:07:40 And what about automated material handling? Like is this something that's kind of be becoming more and more important as kind of we're losing workers or they're not showing up for work?
Speaker 0 00:07:48 Oh, abs, absolutely. Um, we actually have a job on the go right now and it's for, um, cabinet sanding. I know that's a grunt job that a lot of people really don't enjoy doing, so they're trying to automate that now, which is kind
Speaker 2 00:08:00 Of cool. No, that's really, really interesting and fascinating to find out. And so what kind of maybe hobbies do you have outside of work?
Speaker 0 00:08:06 Um, I, I'm a foodie. I love to cook. I love to bake barbecue, love food.
Speaker 2 00:08:11 Nice. And if there are some people out there that maybe want to get ahold of you or have maybe have an application, uh, for automation, they want to get in touch with you. How, how would they, uh, do
Speaker 0 00:08:20 That? Um, they can connect with me on LinkedIn. It's just Ala Fury. And um, I also manage our Ethos Automation LinkedIn page so they can hit us up there. And we also have our new website that just launched, uh, www.ethosautomation.com.
Speaker 2 00:08:33 Well thank you so much, uh, for being with us, Alicia.
Speaker 0 00:08:36 Thank you, Jim.
Speaker 2 00:08:37 Our sponsor for this episode is Earhart Automation Systems. Earhart builds and commission turnkey automated solutions for their worldwide clients. With over 80 years of precision manufacturing, they understand the complex world of robotics, automated manufacturing and project management, delivering world-class custom automation on time and on budget. Contact one of their sales engineers to see what Earhart can build for
[email protected]. And Earhart is spelled E H R H A R D T. I'd like to thank our partner A three. They're the Association for Advancing Automation. They are the leading automation trade association for robotics, vision and imaging motion control and motors and the industrial artificial intelligence technologies. Visit automate.org to learn more. And I'd like to recognize our partner painted robot. Painted robot builds and integrates digital solutions. They're a web development firm that offers s e o digital social marketing and can set up and connect c r m and other e r p tools to unify marketing, sales, and operations. And you can find
[email protected]. And if you'd like to get in touch with us at the Robot Industry Podcast, you can find me, Jim Beretta on LinkedIn. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening. Be safe out there. Today's podcast was produced by Customer Attraction Industrial Marketing, and I'd like to recognize my nephew Chris Gray, for the music. Jeffrey Bremner for audio production. My partner Janet and our partners, a three painted robot and our sponsor, Erhardt Automation Systems.
