Ryan Spaulding

Background

About Ryan Spaulding

I am an ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt currently employed as a Staff Advanced Quality Engineer with Stryker. I first became interested in materials science and engineering as a senior in high school. I attended one of the summer youth program engineering camps at Michigan Tech that year and was exposed to the field for the first time. Then in high school I performed a semester long study into ceramic tiles used in bulletproof vests and vehicle armor to become more familiar with the basics materials science and engineering. It was after speaking with a professional engineer who designed these armor systems for the M1 Abrams tank that I decided I wanted to pursue a career in the field. I saw first hand how complex yet applicable materials science is and what an impact it has on people's lives all around the world. I continued to pursue my goal of earning my degree. I gained valuable hands on experience both in the labs at school and at my internship as a metallurgical engineer at Nucor Steel. I gained experience in mechanical testing, heat treatments, and steel making. I also learned about ceramics and polymers in my studies in school. I was also the Vice President of the Advanced Metalworks Enterprise, an organization that provides year-long company sponsored projects to small teams of students to work on. One of my projects included characterizing chassis components before and after being subjected to a ferritic nitrocarburizing heat treatment and attempting to identify a brittle failure mechanism in those components.