McKenna Souza and Shane Meyer share their inspiring journeys on World Engineering Day

From an early age, both McKenna Souza, product engineer I, and Shane Meyer, product engineer II, knew they wanted to pursue engineering. In celebration of World Engineering Day, they are sharing their personal and professional journeys. Their stories highlight the passion and dedication driving JELD-WEN's engineering team. Their commitment not only advances JELD-WEN, but also serves as inspiration for the next generation of engineers. 

McKenna Souza

What made you want to become an engineer? 

The title of my favorite book as a kid was “The Way Things Work,” and with a curiosity to understand the world around me, I often tinkered with broken mechanisms. I loved every subject in school and was eager to acquire as much knowledge as possible. Later, when I started my college engineering classes, I immediately felt I chose the right major. There were so many opportunities to problem solve and fill my inquisitive mind, and my career at JELD-WEN has helped me to further develop my technical, analytical and problem-solving skills. 

One of McKenna's earliest memories, learning to count to 100

What led you to JELD-WEN?

A Milton Berle quote has long been my motto: “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” I saw a few job listings in Klamath Falls, Oregon at JELD-WEN, a company that literally builds doors. My husband and I had taken a trip to the area with our horses and were enthralled by the picturesque views. It felt meant to be. I currently work on the exterior door team, and that quote sits on my desk. 

What is a common misconception about engineering? 

A misconception about engineering is that it is only for the intellectually elite and that the work is always tedious, boring or lacks creativity. I am a creative person who had to overcome challenges to keep up with the intellect of my peers. But if you break down any complex issue, you’ll find it’s just a series of simple steps.

If you are willing and open to learn from those around you and those who came before you, you can solve any issue. I believe engineering takes hard work and tenacity rather than an abundance of intellect. 

McKenna's long-term motto

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Be honest with yourself about what you are passionate about and pursue it regardless of the obstacles that stand in your way. The difficult path is often the right one – don’t let the fear of failure stand in your way.

As a teen, I apprenticed at a family friend’s body shop, learning how to restore classic cars. He had a collection of vintage 60s and 70s dirt bikes he let me take home, take apart and get running again. This fueled my passion for mechanical things and especially vintage cars and motorcycles. Ever since then, my main hobby has been restoring or working on vintage things. Toward the end of high school, engineering seemed to align with my passion to understand the mechanical nature of our world and use that knowledge to help push the technology frontier further. 

Shane and one of his first project bikes

What led you to JELD-WEN?

I have a Mechanical Engineering degree from the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, Oregon, JELD-WEN’s hometown. In 2016, while I was still in school, my roommate referred me for an internship at JELD-WEN, and the rest is history.

What is a common misconception about engineering? 

There’s a joke in Research and Development that the outside world looks at windows and thinks, “How hard can it be? It’s four sticks and a piece of glass!”

Well, what we all know is that it’s so much more complicated than that. Looking at just Siteline® clad casements – based off the various options including width and height possibilities – a unit coming down the assembly line could be one of 738,167,522,551,294,000,000 possible combinations. There are very, very few things manufactured in the world that have that level of variability, and that’s just one product line of many we offer.

Shane and the first vehicle he restored in high school

What JELD-WEN value do you identify with the most, and why? 

Inspire customers through innovation and improve every day. As a product engineer, I am always looking for ways to move the fenestration technological frontier forward for our customers. This starts with understanding where we’ve been and improving upon what we already know. Innovation doesn’t generally occur by leaps and bounds but through iterative improvements on existing knowledge.