Alumnus defines her path in the engineering world

A native of Beaver, Ohio, alumna Courtney Shaw originally planned to attend Shawnee State University to pursue an allied health science degree. After shadowing in the field, she quickly realized it wasn’t the career path for her. Relying on her love of math and science, Shawn decided to look into the Engineering Technologies programs, finding a passion for Plastics Engineering Technology.  

“After taking a tour of the labs and classrooms, I decided to study Plastics Engineering for a semester to see if I liked it – and I loved it,” she said. “I really liked the hands-on work and being in the lab. It was always interesting and it wasn’t monotonous either, which is the kind of career I wanted.”

While in her program, Shaw became the first student at the university to complete an internship at the engineering company Milacron. Completing two different internships within the company, after graduating in 2016 she received a job offer to continue her work. She currently works as the company’s Applications & Systems Engineer. 

“The position not only suited my degree better but it also had opportunities to learn and grow,” said Shaw. “In my position, I work directly and consistently on machine and equipment development for our customers. I’m pretty much the go-to gal at Milacron for processing, part analysis, machine testing, and injection molding machine configurations.”

Being the only female at the start of her plastics engineering path at SSU, Shaw had to rise to the occasion and break the mold of the stereotypes surrounding her profession.

“When I first entered the industry, I found myself constantly surrounded by men who had been in the industry nearly as long as I had been alive, so I really struggled remaining confident in myself and my knowledge,” she said. “I really struggled to find my voice, but now, only five years later, I’m more knowledgeable, I’m more confident, and those men come to me for assistance.”

Celebrating her fifth year in the industry, Shaw hopes her story sparks a similar passion with those current students considering a future in the plastics.

“If you want to make a difference, there are plenty of opportunities to do that in the plastics industry,” said Shaw. “There’s such a high demand for individuals with education and experience in this industry. With plastics, you have so many different routes that you can take, there are endless career opportunities.”

This spotlight is part of an ongoing series by the SSU Alumni Association in celebration of the university’s 35 Years milestone. To learn more about alumni making a difference in their careers, visit shawneestatealumni.com for more features.