Kennametal exec named to Women Manufacturing Hall of Fame - TribLIVE

As a youngster growing up in Terre Haute, Ind., the future Kennametal Corp. executive was fascinated with how things worked and really liked studying math and chemistry, joining in the competition of the Science Olympiads. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology near Boston, she was in a distinct minority studying chemical engineering in the late 1980s — a woman in a sea of males.

When she started her engineering career in the 1990s, there were few female role models, and there even was the question of whether women could take leadership roles in a manufacturing operation.

“I think the expectation was we had to look and sound like men to achieve any type of advancement,” said Reilly, 53, of Unity.

Reilly was among a group of women who broke whatever glass ceiling remained for females in manufacturing and rose through the ranks of companies to become Kennametal Corp.’s vice president and chief technology officer. She is responsible for leading Kennametal’s global research, development and engineering organization.

For her outstanding contributions during her 25-year manufacturing career, Reilly is one of nine women who will be inducted into the Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame on Oct. 6 at the Women in Manufacturing Education Foundation’s conference in Cleveland.

“I am honored to be recognized as an inductee into the 2021 Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame and to be highlighted among this prestigious group of women leaders in technology and manufacturing,” said Reilly, who is part of the second class of the Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

She is a member of Kennametal’s executive leadership team that has three women among its seven executives. The company also has female plant managers, said Reilly, who earned a master’s degree and doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware.

Reilly joins a class of women who work or have worked at Toyota Motor North America, BorgWarner Inc., McCormick and Co., BASF and Lockheed Martin. They were nominated by their colleagues and industry peers and selected by a judging panel of Women in Manufacturing Education Foundation board members as well as its staff. The foundation is the nonprofit arm of the almost 8,000-member Women in Manufacturing Association.

“Championing diversity and inclusion in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) fields is near to my heart — particularly through mentoring women scientists and engineers,” Reilly said.

Reilly came to Kennametal in 2018 from DuPont, where she held various research and development, operations, marketing and business management roles. She has worked across a diverse range of advanced materials technologies that have included the manufacturing of chemicals, polymers, coatings, metallurgical tooling and wear solutions.

Looking over her 25-year career in terms of opportunities for women in manufacturing, she said: “I think we have definitely progressed.”

“We’re judged now on our skills and on abilities,” Reilly said, adding there will continue to be more and more female role models in manufacturing,

Even though progress has been made for opportunities for women, “we still have work to do … there are still challenges,” Reilly said.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252, jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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