Staff Reports
The Society of Women Engineers has recognized Karen Ramsey-Idem of Cummins, Inc. for her contributions to the organization and the engineering community by honoring her with the Global Leadership Award.
Ramsey-Idem will accept the award at the organization’s annual conference WE17 in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 27.
Ramsey-Idem directs global technical operations and resources strategy for Cummins Component Business.
“We need to use the privileges we have to make the world a better place,” she said. “I’m fortunate in that I work for a company that has very strong core values that are aligned to my personal core values. We believe strongly in diversity, inclusion, global mindsets and corporate responsibility. I really believe in paying it forward.”
The award recognizes Ramsey-Idem’s continuing dedication to the society’s mission of striving to highlight the impact and importance of women in engineering around the globe, leading by example and demonstrating that a career in engineering can be a fulfilling, rewarding pursuit for women of any background.
She joined the company 20 years ago and has held a variety of technical responsibilities, including an expat assignment in India.
In her current role, she defines and executes the technical capital portfolio strategy across the five product businesses which compose Cummins components business. For the past six years, this has included being a core team leader for projects in India and China.
She is also technical project manager for Cummins’ return-to-engineering program “Cummins RePower” which launched in 2016 and will soon begin its second cohort. She champions Cummins’ participation as a founding member of the society’s iRelaunch STEM re-entry task force and shares lessons learned with other organizations.
She holds bachelor’s, master’s and a doctorate in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in applied mechanics and materials engineering. She is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and Sponsor, serves as an accomplished facilitator for unconscious bias and moderated inclusion discussions and is a trainer in leadership development.
For more on the Society of Women Engineers, visit swe.org.
