Meet Carol Weber of Gates Corp in Downtown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Carol Weber.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Carol. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As the first — or sometimes only — woman to achieve successes in my field, it would be simple to only share those successes today, but I want to share some of the struggles as well because it was my failures and impossible challenges that shaped me as a leader. Growing up in a large, low-income large family, attending college was not a likely path, but I wanted so deeply to study engineering I found a way and paid for all of it myself. My first year in engineering school was brutal academically and socially. All I could afford was ten meals a week, so that is what I did, along with selling blood and school books each term in order to pay tuition and housing. As the only woman in many classes I was not always welcomed. I actually had a professor tell me to go home because I was taking a seat of a man. That was a long time ago, but I still see young women and people of color judged by their appearance today. My reply to that professor, in my head at least, was — just watch me, I want this and I can do this. and I graduated with my a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. I wonder what that Prof professor would think today if he knew I went on to get my master’s in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Operations Research?

There were certainly bumps along the path of my education and employment. It is not an exaggeration that I actually failed out of my first attempt at that master’s. It is also true that my grades for my PhD were extremely higher than my bachelor’s. I really wanted it and I did it — and I was not starving at the time. Most of my career has been in the aerospace industry where I was a jet engine design engineer then rocket propulsion and life support engineer. The challenges in that industry are unique, but the reaction to women engineers was common. It was not all rejection, and for every manager or colleague that underestimated me there were many more that championed me. Being underestimated also positioned me to take larger career risks, and I found my sweet spot tackling nearly impossible technical challenges that others declined. Basically, I discovered that I am not afraid to fail and I rarely quit.

At Kennedy Space Center, I led a team of engineers that solved an impossible task for astronaut rescue that was a return-to-flight mandate after a space shuttle explosion. More recently, I have led global teams that crush the competition with new products. Our attitude is: Just watch us do the impossible. And we do not just keep those words to ourselves. It is not the failures at solving the impossible tasks that define us; it is the tenacity to find another way to succeed. For fun I race in half-ironman distance triathlons, and yes this is my definition of fun. Truthfully, I sometimes am afraid to fail in races because the course is out to beat you. It is relentless, it is painful and all the training done in preparation doesn’t seem enough. But I don’t quit. Every race is dedicated to my daughter who is a survivor of childhood disease, a school shooting and a chronic illness that limits her life. She does not complain, so it would be trivial for me to complain about my self-induced pains.

Entering the last phase of my career, I want to ignite a generation of technical women to take on the hardest tasks, take risks and move society forward on our biggest challenges in education equity. We need all of our talented young minds engaged in solving new impossible challenges. If we screen out people by gender or color, we are limiting the possibilities and lowering our chance for transformation.

Gates Corp – What should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Gates is a leading manufacturer of application-specific fluid power and power transmission solutions. Fueled by our innovative applied materials science and process engineering capabilities, we provide what is often a ‘behind the scenes’ product or solution to help drive many industrial markets across the world, including construction, agriculture, energy, automotive, transportation and general industrial. Our products perform critical functions in a wide range of industrial and consumer applications, from excavators, forestry equipment, industrial robots and wind turbines, to bicycles, snowmobiles, moving walkways and virtually all forms of transportation. Gates products are everywhere and can be found around the world. Gates products are sold in 128 countries across four commercial regions: the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa; Greater China; and East Asia and India.

Established in 1911, right here in Denver, we don’t rest on our rich heritage of innovation, rather we continue to push the boundaries of materials science to engineer products that continually exceed expectations. We invest in our people, bringing real-world experience that enables us to solve our customers’ diverse challenges of today and anticipate those of tomorrow. And we are constantly expanding our product catalog and value-added service offerings to support every facet of our customers’ operations. In the most extreme environments and those more familiar, Gates is there with the right product, in the right place at the right time. Whether building original equipment or maintaining products in the aftermarket, we enable companies in every industry to be more efficient, productive, and profitable.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
The most successful person I have known was my grandmother. She did not go to college or get a special award from the astronauts for designing their rescue equipment or do triathlons. She was born in 1898, survived the 1918 Pandemic, roared in the 1920’s and drank beer after mowing her lawn when she was 92 years old. Her success was not her own because she gave back to her community when she had little to spare for her own family in the Great Depression. She did not judge people by their appearance, but by their character, and she called out the bad actors on the spot, even at 100 years old. Success is doing your absolute best without excuses, a smile on your face and a hand up to your neighbor.

Contact Info:

• Address: 330 Inverness Dr S
  Englewood, CO 80112
• Website: Gates.com
• Phone: 3037444194
• Email: carol.weber@gates.com

Image Credit:
ironman.com but I purchased these pix

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