Meet Kelly Hartzell

Kelly Hartzell earned her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University. She is pursuing her Masters of Science in Engineering Management from Arizona State University. She currently works as an AWD Core Calibration and Systems Engineer at Ford Motor Company. In her spare time, she likes to hike, snowboard, climb, travel, cook, and read.

When did your love of STEM begin?

Both of my parents are engineers, so growing up it always seemed like an obvious choice for me! I got seriously interested STEM during high school, and took every science class that I could fit into my schedule. It wasn't always easy, but I just loved learning about all the different ways that the world worked and that passion kick-started my interest in pursuing engineering as a career.

What did you love most about study in your field of STEM?

The best part about working as an engineer in the field of STEM is the opportunity to develop products that have a direct, tangible impact on people's day-to-day lives. Technology is so integrated into our daily life, that almost everything we use was informed, developed or built by someone in a STEM field and it's amazing to be a part of that.

What advice would you give to young women considering a career in STEM?

My advice is to be curious, try everything, and stick with it! STEM encompasses so many different fields of work and study that you can find your niche - but it may take some trial and error to get there. If something sounds interesting - check it out! You might love it, you might hate it, but you'll never know unless you try. In STEM, just like in everything, we tend to highlight the bright, shiny end result (which is admittedly really cool), but there's also a lot of work that goes into getting there so embrace the challenges and stick with it!