Afsheen Mozammel Misha has been making waves as an industrial engineer overseas in notable ways.

After graduating from North South University in Human Resource Management and Finance & Accounting, Afsheen pursued her MS in Industrial Engineering Technology and Organizational Leadership & Supervision at Purdue University Northwest. She was also the Deputy Manager of Vendor Management and Training at Grameenphone.

She moved to Indiana to pursue her MS in Industrial Engineering Technology and Organizational Leadership & Supervision, and has worked as a Lean Six Sigma & Process Improvement Analyst, Process Engineer and Process Improvement Engineer at different points of her career. She was also the Deputy Manager of Vendor Management and Training at Grameenphone.

Afsheen's longest tenure started at DENSO, where she started off as Senior Process Engineer and then moved on to the position of Advanced Process Engineer in 2019. After DENSO, she started working for Cox Communication as Manager of Engineering Enablement.

Currently, Afsheen is the Manager of Engineering Enablement at Cox Communications.

As an experienced industrial engineer, she believes that there are immense opportunities in Bangladesh for process improvement efficiency in the manufacturing industry, especially in garments, pharmaceuticals, and even service sectors.

"Our country is heavily export-based, and there are no alternatives but to lower costs for maximum benefits to compete in the world market. The only way to increase profits without increasing prices is to lower costs. Process improvement initiatives offer the opportunity to lower costs, without hiking prices, and with optimum investment," she said.

Afsheen has worked on multiple projects nationally and internationally. One of her biggest projects was improving a model for Chrysler as Lead Engineer. She was also certified as Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB), American Society for Quality (ASQ) in 2010 and Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB), ASQ, in 2012.

"Even with awareness, the representation of women in engineering as well as leadership continues to be small. I have been a panelist for several leadership and engineering forums myself, to inspire other women. Life comes with challenges, but we have to be persistent to bring about positive changes," she added.

Afsheen aspires to invest time in Bangladesh to develop people's leadership skills, which will add value not only to their personal lives, but also to their companies and communities. She also facilitates different workshops on job interviews and resume writing.

Afsheen dreams of sharing her knowledge of industrial engineering and process improvement with the people of Bangladesh. "One way of developing people's skills here is through classes, workshops, seminars and training sessions. Another way is to work with different industries, especially garment manufacturing, to make their processes more efficient," she concluded.

The author is a freelance journalist. Email: labibakabir99@gmail.com.