Women in Operations: Meet Cailynn Berg

A drive to succeed

For Cailynn Berg, striving for success is nothing new. A competitive volleyball player, she studied chemical engineering with minors in chemistry and Mandarin Chinese. After graduating, the search to solve challenging problems continued: Cailynn began her engineering career in Michigan as part of a team that produced yttrium-90, a radioisotope used in life-saving cancer treatments.

The search for further rewarding and exciting work brought Cailynn to quality engineering on the East Coast. Today, she’s been part of Ahlstrom’s Quality team for five months, and problem solving is at the heart of her role. Day to day, Cailynn ensures Ahlstrom materials are of the highest quality, managing customer complaints, supporting corrective actions, and monitoring data. She works closely with the rest of the Quality team, taking part in daily Material Review Board meetings and assisting with lab testing. She summarizes this work as “driving toward success each day.”

Collaborative problem-solving

“What attracted me to a career in manufacturing and operations is the constant business need to solve problems,” says Cailynn. The complex, multi-layered manufacturing processes she works on require continual improvement and issue resolution. 

For Cailynn, the collaborative approach to problem-solving is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. Working in operations provides an opportunity to deal with issues hands-on as they happen. As operations and manufacturing processes require a variety of experts from across Ahlstrom’s Business Units, it’s also an ideal place to broaden her understanding, skills, and experience. “I love that I can go and ask questions to colleagues in real time to further my understanding of different situations and my skills in handling them.”

Cailynn finds this aspect of her work especially fulfilling. “I view my career as a continuous opportunity to benefit from the knowledge of those around me, whilst also showing up in my own role as best I can.”

On being a woman in operations

Although operations and manufacturing have historically been male-dominated fields, Cailynn feels that operations can provide an opportunity for everyone. “It has continued to be a positive field to work in, because I try to stay eager to listen and learn from others,” she says. “My colleagues are always willing to share their own ways of thinking, communicating, and problem-solving.”

For this reason, Cailynn is excited to continue her career in operations. “Operations can be an exciting and sometimes intimidating line of work,” says Cailynn. “But everyone ultimately shares the same goal – to drive toward success, regardless of your background and level of experience.”