Rachel Battershaw Age: 23 Spirit AeroSystems Wichita, KS
UNDER THIRTY W
hen you’re an engineering student in the Air Capital of the World, Wichita, KS, the odds are good you’re headed for a job in aerospace. Less likely
is being offered a job in November when you’re not graduating until May. That’s the case for Rachel Battershaw, a polymers and composites engineer in the manufacturing re- search and development group at Spirit AeroSystems, a Tier 1 aerospace supplier.
“I thought that was very unusual,” says Harold P. Allen, the retired manufacturing engineering manager at Boeing (now Spirit) who nominated Rachel for 30 Under 30. “She’s just got a lot of potential.” Partly because of that potential, Rachel is already a Level II engineer (out of five levels) at the company where she started as an intern and continued as a co-op student before being hired full-time. She’s also principal investigator for two research projects, one for the Airbus A350 and another for the Boeing 787.
overcomes any nervousness by being well prepared and having the answers to questions she anticipates being asked.
This fourth-generation aerospace worker loves working in the technical arena, but would be open to a leadership role in Spirit, and has recently com- pleted a master’s degree in operations management. Her employer may see leadership potential in her: the company recently asked Rachel to take a workplace diversity leadership class. Like many successful professionals, Rachel is active
“The A350 one is one of the largest opportunities for that program, and I have to say I was a little nervous to be tasked with that project,” says Rachel. “The 787 I felt a little more comfortable with.” As a research project leader, Rachel works with team members who are older and more experienced, and has had to overcome any vestiges of being viewed as a student. “It’s not been too big of a deal because I’ve gotten a lot of good support from my team,” she says. “I try to work hard and I think over time I’ve established credibility.” Then there’s the issue of presenting updates on projects to Spirit management. Rachel says she
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AdvancedManufacturing.org | July 2015
“Principal investigator for two research projects, one for the Airbus A350 and another for the Boeing 787.”
in her professional organizations and volunteers to mentor the next wave of engineers. She’s a member of the Society of Women Engineers and a counselor to the collegiate section at Wichita State University. She was a presiding judge for this year’s com- petitions of WSU (her alma mater) Shocker MIND- STORMS, a STEM competi- tion for students of all ages. Rachel is also an active member of the Kansas BEST Robotics Steering Team for middle and high school stu-
dents, and currently is on the committee that’s design- ing 2016’s competition project. Rachel is active on Spirit’s WSU relations board,
coordinates Spirit’s sponsorship of the engineer- ing open house at WSU, and works on other STEM outreach activities. This year is turning out to be historic for Rachel. In addition to getting her master’s degree and being honored as one of Manufacturing Engineering's 30 Under 30, she received the Outstanding Young Engineer Award from the Wichita Council of Engineering Societies.
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