The Future of Engineering Begins with Sharing What We Know
At Technology and Innovation Day with Kevin Trebinke (left) and Great Lakes Chapter President Chris Timmerman (right)
Reflections from the ISPE Great Lakes Chapter Technology and Innovation Day
I spent Tuesday, 22 September in Madison, Wisconsin, USA with a few hundred colleagues at the ISPE Great Lakes Chapter’s Technology and Innovation Day. I was grateful for the invitation to give the keynote and even more grateful for the conversations throughout the event.
Some conversations were with people I have known for years. Others were with colleagues I had just met. We talked about the challenges facing pharmaceutical manufacturing, the work underway in our facilities, and the people who helped us learn our craft. Those conversations reminded me how much we have in common across companies, disciplines, and generations.
My keynote focused on the future of engineering in pharma. I began with a memory from 1986, when I was a new engineer learning that what works on a drawing board still has to work in the field. The tools have changed enormously since then. Today we can explore designs through digital models, test operating scenarios before startup, and use AI to help us work through complex information. But someone still has to ask whether the answer makes sense. Experience and sound judgment remain essential.
That is why an event like this matters. No one company can teach us everything we need to know. When engineers, manufacturers, suppliers, and other experts make time to share what they have learned, someone may find an answer to a problem they have been carrying for months. A conversation may also spark an idea neither person would have reached alone.
I spoke about the importance of teaching as part of developing expertise. Explaining our thinking to someone else has a way of exposing what we understand and what we still need to learn. I saw that spirit in Madison, both in the formal program and in the conversations around it. People were generous with their experience and curious about one another’s work.
After the keynote, that discussion continued in the exhibit hall, in the hallways, and at the networking reception. People asked thoughtful questions about AI, what it means for expertise, and how we share knowledge with one another. I heard examples of AI use ranging from people’s children to a 90-year-old father. It is fascinating to see how widely people are exploring these tools, and the questions they raise make conversations like these especially valuable.
That is the strength of the ISPE community. Our Affiliates and Chapters create places where lasting relationships form and knowledge moves across organizational and geographic borders. The benefits are practical. We return to our work with new contacts, fresh questions, and ideas we can put into use. Over time, those exchanges help our industry make progress.
Connecting with colleagues at the networking reception
Thank you to the ISPE Great Lakes Chapter for including me in such a meaningful day. I especially want to thank Chris Timmerman for his help and for his service as President of the ISPE Great Lakes Chapter. My thanks also go to the volunteers whose time and dedication made the event possible. Organizing a show of this quality takes considerable work, and you gave a few hundred people a valuable opportunity to learn from one another.
I left the ISPE Great Lakes Chapter Technology and Innovation Day encouraged by the people I met and reconnected with. The future of engineering will depend on the tools we develop, but it will also depend on our willingness to share what we know and help the next person grow.
If you're looking to expand your network, exchange knowledge, and help shape the future of our industry, I strongly encourage you to connect with the ISPE Great Lakes Chapter or any of ISPE’s 40+ Affiliates and Chapters globally. Becoming a member of this worldwide community is one of the best ways to grow professionally and give back.
