Apr 21, 2019 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 8 min read

As an acronym, the STEAM educational approach, wraps up with mathematics.

So it would take a math whiz to succeed in that or the other STEAM fields: science, technology, engineering or arts.

Correct?

“As far as my path to being an engineer, I don’t like math,” Alanna Colvin, who works for Penn State’s Technical Assistance Program, told a group of female Upper St. Clair High School students recently during the third annual Women in STEAM USC Event, directed by math and physics instructor Douglas Petrick.

The students heard similar observations from other professionals as they discussed their careers and offered advice on attaining goals.

“I was OK in English. Terrible at math,” Carrie Hartnett admitted about her studies, even though she is a senior research scientist for Magee-Womens Research Institute.

Nor was mathematics a strong suit for Lisa Carver, the first female principal in the history of Pittsburgh-based PWWG Architects. Physical therapist Kelly Kuhn flat-out said she “hated math.”

And so the students in attendance learned lacking an affinity for working with numbers hardly rules out a STEAM-related future.

But it hardly hurts, either, according to two women on the panel whose math skills helped guide them into their fields: Cindy Kutchko, a group leader with PPG Industries, and Susan Lovett, a staff member in Upper St. Clair School District’s technology department.

Along with presenting a variety of ideas for career choices, the six speakers shared similarly varied paths toward achieving their goals.

’Represent yourself'

For Colvin, that meant overcoming a college adviser telling her after a rough first semester: “You’re not very technical. You can’t do this. You shouldn’t be in engineering.”

“I decided that woman was wrong, and that I would regroup and refocus,” Colvin said. “I took a lot of literature courses to just kind of mellow out and do something different. I also took summer classes to catch up, because I knew I wanted to graduate in four years.”

She did so, earning her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, and today she works as a technical adviser with expertise in energy efficiency, pollution prevention and environmental compliance.

“It’s one of those moments where people have an opinion,” Colvin said. “You also get to have an opinion, and your opinion is honestly the best opinion because it’s you and you represent yourself. So you should represent yourself and do what you need to do to get it done.”

’Make it happen'

A 31-year veteran at PPG, Kutchko leads a group that specializes in three-dimensional printing.

“I get to work on really cool technologies and take them from a feasibility stage into a stage where I can transfer that into an actual business unit,” she said. “That’s what I do now. But to get there, it was a long road.”

She worked as a secretary after graduating from high school while earning an associate degree in laboratory technology from Community College of Allegheny County. Following her hiring by PPG, she learned the company offered full tuition reimbursement, and so she embarked on her bachelor’s degree at the University of Pittsburgh, while continuing to work and raise a family.

“Not an ideal way to do it, by the way,” Kutchko said.

Meanwhile, she continued to advance within her company.

“I started getting promoted time after time, because I was extremely persistent,” she said.

Kutchko advised the students they need to take a proactive approach to their careers.

“If you stand back and you think people are going to do things for you, that’s not going to happen. You need to make it happen. So you need to be the one who is going to take the opportunity to start looking at: How can I progress my career? What can I do?”

’No path is straight'

The answer may involve veering off an initial course, according to Hartnett.

“Keep your eyes open,” she said. “No path is straight. Every path goes in a little detour here and there.”

Prompted by her experiences in high school advanced-placement biology, Hartnett knew she wanted to pursue a career in science. While in college, she took an introduction to laboratory techniques course, which convinced her that was the way to go.

For five years, she worked at the University of Maryland Cancer Center before deciding to shift gears and earn her master’s degree in forensic science, with the intent of working in a crime lab. But that wasn’t for her, either, and she opted for a job in Pittsburgh at Magee, where she has been for 15 years as a researcher and educator.

Hartnett encouraged the Upper St. Clair students to consider applying for a 2020 internship at the research institute.

“You do your own research project with some of the most renowned researchers in the world, and at the end, you get to do a presentation,” she said. “And you get to put that on your résumé.”

’Listen to your parents'

Lovett’s résumé includes jobs in technology because she followed some words of wisdom.

“I decided to major in information systems because my parents talked me out of majoring in clarinet,” the Bishop Canevin High School graduate recalled. “It sounds cliché, but listen to your parents. They do know stuff. I know that I could never have made a paying career playing clarinet.”

As it turned out, she was among the few female students in Clarion University of Pennsylvania’s computer information systems program at the time. And she is in somewhat of a similar situation at Upper St. Clair.

“I’m the only female in a department of seven, but I’ve never, ever been treated differently because of that,” she said.

“Don’t let the male-dominated field intimidate you,” she added. “You are just as good as anybody there.”

’Buy-in of your peers'

Also benefiting from parental advice was Carver, who knew she wanted to be an architect from an early age, primarily because of her interest in building with Legos.

When she was a freshman at the University of Virginia, she came home during a break with the intention of resuming her high school job at a fast-food restaurant. Her father, though, handed her a list of Pittsburgh’s 10 biggest architectural firms.

“He said, ‘You’re going back to work at Wendy’s, or you can write all of these firms letters and you can get a job at an architecture firm,'” she said. “I got one response, a multinational firm with a location in Pittsburgh. I worked there my first Christmas break, answering phones, filing, doing just random stuff. And I went back every break, worked for this firm every break, every summer and Christmas, for four years.”

She then was hired full-time after she graduated.

Carver later earned her master’s in architecture from the University of Oregon, and in 2006 she joined PWWG, where she has excelled.

“I am the first female principal in the 44-year history of the firm, and that is attributable to my male colleagues believing in me and supporting me,” Carver said. “So it’s not just having women support you, especially in male-dominated fields. You really have to get the buy-in of your peers.”

’Learning everything I can'

For Kuhn, who has worked at Restorations Physical Therapy in Upper St. Clair since 2013, her career path started when she took an interest in the treatment she received following a sports-related injury.

“I like the idea of actually problem solving with people,” she said. “You come to me with your pain, and we’re going to problem solve it. We’re going to figure out what’s going on and get you feeling better.”

After graduating with her master of physical therapy from the University of Florida, Kuhn worked primarily with athletes before moving to Baltimore with the opportunity to run a clinic.

“I didn’t love the business side of things, but I learned it,” she said. “I was involved in the actual building of the clinic, all the insurance regulations, the hiring, the firing, all the nitty-gritty stuff. I at least got to learn.”

And that continues to be a priority for her.

“When school stops, you don’t necessarily stop learning,” she said.

Kuhn’s focus now is on pain science, the understanding of everything associated with why a person hurts.

“Over the past six years, every single day, I’ve connected with another therapist or I’ve taken a course or I’ve read a journal article, and I’ve been learning everything I can about pain science,” she said.