{"id":23780,"date":"2014-10-20T14:00:04","date_gmt":"2014-10-20T18:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/?p=23780"},"modified":"2014-12-04T12:04:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-04T17:04:00","slug":"solidworks-women-in-engineering-series-rachel-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/2014\/10\/solidworks-women-in-engineering-series-rachel-york.html","title":{"rendered":"SOLIDWORKS Women in Engineering Series – Rachel York"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RachelYork\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Getting into Engineering: \u00a0<\/strong>Rachel was introduced to the engineering world at a young age, growing up around the field. Her father, a mechanic and \u201cfixer of anything\u201d, kept her involved with his work. She was the official \u201cgopher\u201d fetching all of his tools when needed, but also learning in the process. \u201cBeing an only child, I was the girl with the Dad who took me to do everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a teenager, one of her dad\u2019s stipulations before she could purchase her own car was that she would need to learn how to maintain it on her own. Because of this, Rachel took auto shop as well as other technology related classes and found out that she had a passion for drafting. \u201cI love to draw and I like to see how things go together, the instruction books that come with stuff are cool to me. When I went to technical school I just knew that I wanted to draft. \u201c<\/p>\n

The transition from hand drafting to CAD was a great experience for Rachel. Her first industry job was with 2D legacy projects and the company was going to be using SOLIDWORKS on future ones. After learning about this in her first week, she requested to be involved and immediately received SOLIDWORKS training.\"ffimage2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

User Groups:<\/strong> In the beginning, Rachel didn\u2019t go to user groups or outside community events. But while working with Reggie Mckelly, he took her to a user group meeting in Texas. \u201cIt was awesome and fun.\u201d\u00a0Rachel made the move to NY without a job, and realized that there was not a user group in her area. \u201cI thought that user groups just existed, and I didn’t have a network.\u201d After speaking with her reseller about this, Rachel started the NY user group with their help. Being a User Group Leader gave her the experience of speaking in front of large groups and she quickly became comfortable with that environment. \u201cWe all do the same thing every day; we needed people to bounce ideas off of, and had some great presentations from users. They are a fantastic, fun group of people.\u00a0 For users by users, and you can\u2019t leave without learning something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Certification: <\/strong>Because of Rachel\u2019s network and relationships within her user group, her reseller had an open position for support. After speaking with several people about the opportunity, Rachel realized this would give her a different perspective and she jumped on board. \u201cI really enjoy my job.\u201d\u00a0When she began her new job, it didn’t occur to her that she would need to be certified in the many areas that SOLIDWORKS offers. There were 6 different perspectives she needed to learn, and she felt overwhelmed for the first year. She realized that there was so much that she needed to learn and she was excited for it when she became familiar with the certification process. Today Rachel has a board in her office with the Elite AE requirements. She calls it the WALL OF AWESOME. \u201cIts hard work but its fun and it excites me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stigmas? :<\/strong> \u201cI feel like you\u2019re always going to encounter the attitude, it exists. In classes I acted like a 5 year old asking why, until I understood and could explain it to someone else. Sometimes you hit the because you\u2019re a women wall<\/em>, but most people are supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Activities outside of work: <\/strong>Besides her amazing work with user groups, Rachel participates with a FIRST<\/a> high school Robotics team.\u00a0 Helping the teacher with their questions and showing the students how things work. (Team 5236 Cambridge High school) \u00a0\u00a0\u201cI like to help connect people. I go to at least 4-6 meetings per year and I am \u00a0presenting in NYC, this year.\u201d\u00a0\"ffimage\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mentors<\/strong>: \u201cMy mentors have been Reggie and Tim, they took me from just curious about how things work and opened\u00a0up the world for me. When I moved to NY, Jonny D would answer any questions I asked. They have been amazing.<\/p>\n

Advice for girls wanting to go into the field: \u201c<\/strong>Whenever you\u2019re uncomfortable, or when you think you\u2019re going to be: wear your favorite shoes. I found that my boots have saved me a million times. You have to have comfortable shoes, they are like my security blanket since they are my favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n

Favorite video game:<\/strong> Xbox1, Halo series is the best but I have been playing Destiny lately.<\/p>\n

Have someone in mind? You can nominate the next recipient\u00a0for the SOLIDWORKS Women in Engineering Program,\u00a0honoring the\u00a0outstanding achievements that women are accomplishing day to day in the engineering community.<\/span>\u00a0Find out more information or get started today!<\/a><\/div>\n