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Chemical engineering graduate Amy Banko-Howell ‘93, inorganic salts production superintendent at Mallinckrodt Baker Inc., discussed career paths in chemical engineering noon April 29 in Acopian Engineering Center room 315.
Sponsored by the student chapter of American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the event was open to the campus community. Free pizza was provided.
Banko’s talk focused on what chemical engineering majors should look for in a job.
“I will also talk about skills that they will want to have in 10 years and the different paths they might take, which could include systems analyst, marketing, sales, business management, technical support, customer service, and quality,” she said before the event.
Banko manages a high-purity inorganic salts operation that services the biotech/pharmaceutical, lab chemical, and microelectronic industries, with annual product values of more than $20 million. She has re-engineered the manufacturing process, resulting in savings of more than $1 million annually.
As inorganic salts process engineer from 1993-2000, Banko rotated through team management, safety, cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Process regulations), and environmental coordinator assignments. Her duties included maintaining, troubleshooting, and improving over 50 inorganic salt manufacturing processes. She commercialized new GMP products in full-scale manufacturing to meet customer demand, fostering a group of products with more than $5 million in annual sales. She completed more than 20 installation projects ranging from $5,000 to $75,000.
Banko served as senior quality engineer from July 2000 through April 2002, taking responsibility for identifying site needs and training and developing personnel, primarily in the realm of GMP and quality assurance. She completed six Sigma projects for a total benefit of approximately $1.5 million annually. She also participated in development of the MBI Supplier Quality Program and Site Process Control System.
She is active in the Lehigh Valley Chapter of American Society for Quality, participating in its statistics group.
Graduating from Lafayette cum laude, Banko was a Marquis Scholar, EXCEL Scholar, member of Phi Beta Kappa, and president of the AIChE chapter. One of her mentors was Polly Piergiovanni, associate professor of chemical engineering.
“Polly was a great source of inspiration to many of us women taking chemical engineering,” she says. “She continues to astound me with her dedication to both her home life with three children and her students. I fondly remember going to her during office hours and enjoying her classes, albeit on difficult subjects such as Dynamic Design. Her lectures were always well prepared and she made the coursework seem easy. She is also largely responsible for the creation of the biochemical engineering course to give students a wider view of what chemical engineers do.”