March 10, 2020
We interviewed UL Engineer Casey Roach to learn more about her path to success within UL’s Wire and Cable division. A recent graduate of the University of Delaware, she received a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering. With support and guidance from family, a positive high school learning environment and fateful words from an encouraging physics teacher who saw her early potential, Roach cut through the stigma women sometimes encounter in STEM fields.
In college, Roach left class every day feeling like she was learning skills that she could bring into the workplace. With focus and dedication like that, it’s no surprise that she now finds fulfillment in doing what she does every day: helping customers. She gets personal satisfaction from the working relationships she has with her customers and her role in advancing UL’s mission of working for a safer world.
You started your career at UL as an intern, what was that like?
Being an intern at UL was such a unique experience. You get to have a hands-on understanding of what you're learning in school. So it served me well to connect what I was learning in my classes to how they're actually being implemented. It really furthered my understanding of the electrical engineering field.
What does a typical week look like for you?
I'm usually assigned new projects to handle for the Wire and Cable division plus I typically have projects that carry over from previous weeks. When I am assigned a project, I'll start communicating with the customer immediately to find out what exactly they are looking for in their listing because that's what we're here to do, we're here to help them. I talk with them about sample requirements and the test program. We have a different sample requirement for each program, such as the length and components of the cable. Once the samples come in, we send them to the laboratory. I'll have a one-on-one meeting with the technician who's running the test just to make sure that we're all on the same page. Then once the data comes out, I'll write the report and add the report revisions to their UL file.
What's it like working with UL’s customers?
I love it. It came pretty naturally to me. I have certain customers that I work with almost exclusively, so I have built a very good working relationship with them. They know what I’m looking for to start the project and how to keep the project moving, and I know how often they want communication or things like that.
How do you build trust in the products and services used by consumers around the world?
In engineering, I'm dealing more with customers one-on-one. For me, building trust with customers is all about communication. Whether good news or bad news, you need to be honest with them from the beginning. Because if you're not maintaining an honest relationship with a customer, they'll lose trust in you very quickly.
