The Women of Future Mobility: With AeroTEC

Welcome to part thirteen of our Women of Future Mobility series! This project started with the idea of being one big article featuring numerous women, however, the interest grew and grew - and the conversations I've had couldn't possibly be condensed into one article!

We're seeing more and more women follow their dreams of entering careers in STEM, and we want to ensure we continue to encourage the next generation to follow their dreams, rise through the ranks, not set themselves any limitations - and quite literally, shoot for the stars.

Today I'm lucky enough to be joined by Kate Severance, Program Manager at AeroTEC - Aerospace Testing Engineering & Certification Inc. AeroTEC develops, tests, and certifies new aircraft products using innovative and scalable development, test, and certification techniques to help large and small aerospace companies everywhere bring their products to market quickly, easily and efficiently.

A big thank you to Kate for her time and for providing some amazing insight.

Can you please introduce yourself & give us an overview of your role?

I work as a Program Manager at a company called AeroTEC. AeroTEC focuses on very specialized engineering services, particularly within aerospace testing and research and development.

As a Program Manager, I lead project teams for a portfolio of projects. On a typical day, I  monitor resource availability, update project schedules, eliminate chokepoints, assess risk scenarios, and measure project financial health.

I also work on putting together requests for proposals. Our customers might ask if we can make aircraft modifications to reach specific performance parameters or whether we can conduct an analysis of an aircraft that uses a new kind of fuel. Proposals are needed to make sure we can respond and win these bids. It can be a lot of work, but I enjoy it!

What has your journey been so far, to get to where you are now?

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pilot. My Dad was a pilot and he went to the US Air Force Academy and I thought "Okay, I guess that's where you have to go to become a pilot!" After being offered admission, I quickly accepted and started a new adventure as an Air Force Academy cadet.

While there, my interests changed and I began focusing on the study of entrepreneurship and business management rather than a future career as a pilot. Everyone who goes to the Air Force Academy has a minimum service commitment of five years following graduation. I am blessed to have served seven years in the Air Force, during which I met the most incredible people and grew tremendously.

I was a Force Support Officer, which felt like a catch-all role. Civilian equivalent roles of my various jobs would be Accounting Manager, Human Resources, and Operations. At one point, I was also a Women's Rights Advisor in Afghanistan. I learned a lot and I'm thankful for the challenges, development, and experience that the military gave me.

In 2021, I left the military to join Picnic, a Seattle-based Series A start-up, as a program manager. I was fortunate to have a friend at the company who referred me to the position.  Our scrappy team—just 20 people strong when I first joined—deployed robotics-as-a-service pizza “cobots” to kitchens worldwide. 

To make a pizza, an operator would put a dough, from their own recipe, into one side of the machine for the cobot to sauce, cheese and top the pizza before it left the egress module, ready for the oven.  We were changing the world of pizza making, one cobot at a time.

Through another connection, I got this job with AeroTEC within a number of weeks of finishing my role at Picnic.

To go back to your time as a women's rights advisor, what did this entail?

Phew, what did this job not entail? I tell people that I was a Women’s Rights Advisor because it’s easier to understand what I did in the role. Officially though, my job title was  NATO Gender Advisor. As a NATO Gender Advisor, I deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan for four months and worked alongside other NATO partners from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. 

Our team advised the Human Rights and Gender Integration (HRGI) Directorate, a branch within Afghanistan’s government, on best practices and initiatives to promote peace and equality for all Afghans. HRGI’s primary focus was inclusion, training, promotion, and retention of women in the Afghan military and police force.

More specifically, our team carried out tasks such as finding funding for literacy scholarships, ensuring that women had bathrooms available in their workplace, and advocating for the availability of childcare.

We had one specific situation where hundreds of women were coming to basic military training. Just three days before they were scheduled to arrive, our office received a frantic call from the basic training flight commander. Several women were showing up with their kids because their husbands were unwilling to watch the children while their wives were in training. Within those three days, we rapidly staffed and furnished a daycare next to the basic training facility to ensure childcare was available from day one of basic training.

Looking back on that journey, what has been your greatest accomplishment so far?

This is related to my journey of helping the women in Afghanistan. After that experience, there was the fall of Kabul in August 2021. I had worked with many Afghans while I was there and I started having a tonne of people reach out asking for help. So for several months following this, especially in the first month, I had this second life where I was trying to assist virtually with visas and getting people out.

It was so crazy—this informal network of people who had worked with Afghans were showing up to help, they were telling them about security threats at different points, where the checkpoints were, and how people could avoid these.

My goal over those months was just to get these people out. People who had worked with the US government were being hunted by the Taliban, tortured, and murdered. The information I was hearing and seeing was really sobering. I felt somewhat responsible because of my military service.

I was able to help two families get out. I worked on their visa paperwork and, miraculously, got them on the right bus to the airport. They're here in the US now and just knowing they're here, that their lives aren't in danger, and their children will grow up without threats looming over them is a relief. I can't take credit for their safe passage to the United States; the credit goes to God.

On the other side of that, what’s been the biggest challenge/obstacle you’ve had to overcome?

I don't know if I can pinpoint one thing, but the situation I just discussed was definitely very emotionally taxing. I would say throughout my career I have had to learn how to deal with burnout and how to manage when things are getting overwhelming and increasingly complex.  I’ve learned to stand back up when knocked down. Continuing to be resilient isn’t easy, but it’s necessary.

What do you think organizations can do to support and encourage more women into the industry?

It's easier for women to get into STEM and leadership when they see other women there already. I think there needs to be a greater focus on attracting women into STEM careers, industries with a high density of STEM professionals, and leadership positions.

People who are hiring, need to look at the pipeline and critically assess whether training and recruiting efforts are improving women’s participation in STEM careers and leadership roles.

Who has encouraged you and been an inspiration to you throughout your career?

There are so many people! One person I’ve always looked up to as a role model is my Dad. I’ve always admired his strength of character, compassion, and leadership.

In college, my idea of a role model began to shift.  I was no longer focused on following in my father’s footsteps as a pilot, but rather on being an officer worthy of leading Airmen through tough situations. At the Academy, women compose 20% of the cadet wing.  Being a part of the gender minority, I realized the bar for women in leadership is often higher. 

Women have to be strong, assertive, and competent to earn respect, especially in male-dominated environments.  Our Academy Superintendent at the time was a woman, and even though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was learning a lot from her and other female officers on how to talk, act, and carry myself as a female officer.

Over the years, I've also enjoyed mentorship from many bosses, colleagues, and team members. I’m forever grateful for the people who have taken the time to mold me into the woman I am today.

Thank you so much for your time and your wisdom, Kate. It was truly a pleasure learning more about your journey and hearing advice for other women in the future.

I hope you feel as inspired as I do from this conversation with Kate, and I look forward to our next article… I wonder who will be joining me next 👀