Final Five
With Joan Wagner, systems engineer at Spirit AeroSystems, Wichita, Kansas
Joan Wagner is a longtime IISE member and
volunteer. She also is an active runner and
fundraiser for Team in Training (TNT), an
endurance sports training program that raises
money for blood cancer research through The
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).
What led you to an industrial
engineering career in
aerospace?
Growing up in Wichita, you are surrounded
by aircraft companies: Beechcraft,
Cessna, Learjet, Boeing and an
Air Force base. It was hard to get away
from aircraft. My dad worked at Beech,
and my brother and I would have to go
to his office after school sometimes. I
remember being fascinated … not just
with the aircraft, but also the machinery
used to build it. Fast forward to college
at Wichita State, and I found industrial
engineering, which fit my personality
and what I wanted to do with my career.
I did try to avoid aircraft for a while and
spent almost six years at a commodity
manufacturer, but eventually the lure
of big projects and opportunities to improve
on a large scale were too enticing.
And I went to work for Boeing shortly
before they sold the plants that are now
Spirit AeroSystems.
When did you get started
with Team in Training?
Around 2007, my dad was diagnosed
with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He
had a great prognosis and eventually
passed his five-year "all clear." A good
friend of my family [who] had been
active with Team in Training told me
I needed to give back and do an event.
By 2011, I felt I could take on a marathon
and signed up to do Nike Women's
Marathon in San Francisco. That was
one of the most terrifying things for me
to do. I couldn't run due to asthma as a
child, and I signed up to run 26.2 miles
as a 34-year-old. I have now done nine
fundraising events in running, hiking,
triathlon and cycling to honor my dad
and many other cancer warriors and
have raised over $30,000 for blood cancer
research and patient support.
How have you been able to
apply your IE skills to TNT?
As nonprofits are pushed to reduce staff
expenses, volunteers are having to take
on more of what a paid staff member
used to do. LLS has pulled back on staff
support and elevated it to a regional
level, which leaves smaller markets like
Wichita with minimal staff support. As a
result, I am leading an effort in Wichita
to transition to volunteer-led-and-driven
recruitment, fundraising and training
support. Even though we have a great
team, everyone is pressed for time, so
they need their volunteering work well-defined
and in manageable chunks. I developed
a responsibility matrix, a communication
plan and standard work for
repetitive volunteer tasks (like providing
water and supplies to our runners for the
Saturday runs).
What benefits have you found
by running with TNT?
The program has proven to me that the
concept of building a detailed plan and
following it is as applicable to preparing
for a triathlon as it is to installing a
five-axis milling machine. That is a
great mindset with which to approach
all of your professional and personal
challenges.
I also have met some of the most
amazing people whose lives have also
been affected by blood cancer, from
survivors to the loved ones of the
warriors we have lost. When my dad
developed leukemia and ultimately lost
his battle in 2015, they were my support
group and have been there for my family
and me through it all.
How do you use industrial
engineering to mentor others?
Engineering management helped me
understand managing to an individual's
strengths and helping manage weaknesses.
When I am mentoring professionals,
students, or even as a fundraising mentor
for Team in Training, I help them
build plans focusing on their strengths
and developing methods to overcome
the weaknesses.
– Interview by David Brandt