This week’s Industry Person of the Week is Leah Friberg, a senior strategist with Destrier Communications.
Q: How did you get started working in your field?
Leah: As with many people who “enjoy knowing how things work” I gravitated toward the teaching side of engineering, eventually settling in at Fluke where I worked with in-house and field engineers, electricians and specialists to develop a variety of continuing education materials and skill-development programs. Looking back, it all makes sense now, but as a college student I struggled to fit all of my interests together into one field: business, math, communications, education, and comparative studies. Thank goodness for mentorship! I learned so much from experts in the field who were willing to take me under their wing, whether in the avionics and telecommunications sector where I started or at Fluke where I really found my groove. I also spent time working in the arts, helping build community and networks (before the days of social media when it was done with newspaper and art walks!). Those lessons stick with you – the value of creativity, reaching out, building networks, and taking time to mentor others.
Q: What do you love the most about your job? What are you most proud of?
Leah: What incredible fortune it has been to work alongside the greats in electrical and reliability engineering and maintenance, from some of the ingenious minds at Fluke to noted authors in reliability engineering and leaders in the trades. Learning as part of the job, and then helping other people learn and reach their next goal, is such a rewarding experience. I am probably most proud of the work I did in driving awareness of the efficiency gains possible through improved machine maintenance. Ill-maintained motors are wasteful! Leaky air compressors and steam pipes – wasteful! Studying power quality and harmonics was a little mind-bending and seeing thermography take off in manufacturing was just plain awesome. The most fun project was probably getting in on the ground floor of IIoT, as part of a measurement company no less: data central! What a roller coaster of “how is this going to work” and “where will it take off” and “what will it look like.”
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering this line of work or new to the field?
Leah: One of my current projects is moderating the Accelix Connected Reliability group on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12078874/). We have an outstanding collection of over 1800 reliability professionals from around the world, all so passionate about their field and ready to share insights. The conversations are fantastic! I am a huge fan of the reliability engineering community and being part of this group simply re-inforces that feeling every day. The membership is open, please join us!
Q: Can you talk about a project you recently worked on?
Leah: Last year (2020) was terribly hard for so many and I am terribly proud of the strength and resilience demonstrated by the reliability community. They doubled-down and in so many cases, delivered innovative process adjustments that allowed their facilities to keep on going during ever-changing conditions.
Q: Anything Else you would like to add?
Leah: I am most active on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahmfriberg/
THANK YOU, LEAH! WE LOOK FORWARD TO KEEPING UP WITH YOU THROUGH THE #PUMPTALK COMMUNITY!
KNOW AN AMAZING PERSON WHO IS MAKING VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS WITHIN INDUSTRY? NOMINATE THEM TO BE AN “INDUSTRY PERSON OF THE WEEK”!
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