Teagan Strecker didn’t expect a materials science degree to lead her onto a manufacturing floor at 6 a.m., walking the line with engineers and operations teams to review the previous day’s safety, quality and delivery numbers. But for the materials science and engineering senior, that daily rhythm has become the proving ground for a career she’s only just discovering.
This summer, Strecker is an automation integration engineering intern with GE Healthcare’s Operations Management Leadership Program, working at a plant that uses powder forging and refractory metals to manufacture X-ray components for medical imaging machines.
Teagan Strecker
“Because the processes are very dependent on materials science, I’ve been able to apply my academic background to a professional role that I enjoy,” Strecker says.
Medical device manufacturing runs on a high-mix, low-volume model: a wide range of high-value parts, each produced in relatively small batches, all held to strict tolerance and material composition requirements. Since the plant handles raw manufacturing rather than assembly, Strecker’s work centers less on speeding up production and more on tightening quality, cutting costs and keeping the floor safe.
Her first project was “qualifying” a piece of equipment used to measure and verify the dimensions of in-process parts—a process that involves testing and documenting its safe and effective operation. Her current one is bigger: qualifying a robotic arm cell designed to automate a process that’s currently done by hand.
That project sits right at the intersection of two things Strecker cares about. “I also have a professional passion for robotics and would like to continue working to integrate automation and robotics into raw manufacturing processes,” she says.
Before this summer, that interest lived mostly in the abstract. Now it’s a live question she’s helping answer on a real production line, and it’s sharpened what she wants to do next. Strecker plans to keep building a career in manufacturing, whether that ends up on the technical side or moves her closer to operations.
Strecker credits much of her progress to the culture she found at GE Healthcare, starting with her assignment leader, Paulina Nava. “She was clear on day one that she had high expectations of me but is always available to answer my questions,” Strecker says. “She is dedicated to my success and takes time to get to know me and offer advice.”
That openness, Strecker adds, runs through the whole team: She’s never had a coworker turn down a request for a one-on-one conversation, and that access has let her learn from people across departments, not just her own.
A typical day starts early. By 6 a.m., Strecker is planning her tasks; by 7:30, she’s on the floor for the daily Gemba walk, where engineers and operations staff align on the metrics that matter for the day ahead. The rest of her time splits between the floor, her office and meetings:
reviewing rejected parts at material review board sessions, running cost-savings experiments, writing standard operating procedures, and checking in with mentors, before wrapping up around 4:30 p.m.
It’s different from the experiences she once thought she would pursue, and that’s part of the point Strecker wants other students to take from her summer. “I always felt pressure to land roles that were purely research or purely design, but there are many places where your skills and experiences can be valuable,” she says.
Her advice: Look for opportunities in a variety of places, and “create a brand for yourself that is based on your unique background, not just the curriculum you are learning.”
For Strecker, that’s exactly what this internship has opened up: not just a single summer project, but a clearer sense of where materials science can take her, and permission to define that path on her own terms.
Featured image caption: For materials science and engineering senior Teagan Strecker, an internship with GE Healthcare allowed her to apply her interests in automation and robotics in a manufacturing process setting—experience that solidified her desire to build a career in the manufacturing field. Submitted photo.