- [Germara] As you're walking through your grocery store, you can look at the shelf and see the products that people like me have designed to make people's lives a little bit better.

- Hi, my name's Rylee and I'm on a mission to talk to as many engineers as I can about their lives, designing the world around them.

Today, I'm talking to an engineer who designs the medicines that keep us healthy.

I want to find out what she designs everyday and how she engineered her future.

Ready?

Let's go.

Hi Germara.

- Hi Rylee.

- Is it true that you shown research into finished products?

- Yeah, that's absolutely true.

So, I work as in research and development engineer in Procter & Gamble and my work consists on understanding what do people want and how do we make products to deliver on those needs.

- When I think of research, I think of a lot of reading but I bet that your job is so much more than that, right?

- Absolutely.

So while there is some reading involved, we develop prototypes and then we go and test them with consumers to understand did we deliver what people wanted?

And in my job, I get to design the whole experience.

Have you ever taken NyQuil in your life?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

So, I'm sorry that you were sick when you took it, but let's say, that you're sick and you're taking NyQuil.

So, the way that the products taste, the way that it coats your throat, those are things that people like me design for so that you can get the relief you need in this case.

People are at the heart of everything we design for.

- So, what got you interested in engineering?

- I felt like it really encompassed a lot of things that I like and that are important to me.

Growing up in Puerto Rico, I definitely saw how the environment changed around me.

I ended up choosing chemical engineering with an environmental certification and I was very interested in how we can do things better by our environment and also, how the products we consume might impact that environment.

- So, what was it like traveling from Puerto Rico to the United States?

- So, coming to the United States from Puerto Rico, there is still a really big cultural shift.

My whole life was in Spanish, that's how I speak with my parents and I had some of a language shock and a culture shock, even though I grew up speaking English as well.

Puerto Rican culture and heritage is all rooted in family and kind of those core values that I still maintain very close to my heart.

And as I've moved here to Ohio, I had to find ways to build that belonging but I've definitely found my way.

- That's cool.

So, how do you think your cultural heritage has helped you in P&G?

- I grew up speaking Spanish and English and when I get to talk to partners across the globe, it's almost like, I'm showing them like, my whole part of my identity, not just the part that I moved to Cincinnati with.

One of my favorite projects I've worked with was actually Vicks liquid that was dual language.

It means a lot and then you realize like, you're doing important work and you're doing stuff that means something to people.

- So, when you're not designing the most perfect products possible, what do do you like to do in your free time?

- So, in my free time I love to travel.

I love to be outdoors.

I have a dog that I love to spend time with.

- What kind of dog do you have?

- I have a mini Aussiedoodle.

He's beautiful and I love him.

He's my best friend.

- They're so cute.

- I'm also very interested in art, so, in my free time, I like to paint or I like to draw.

It's kind of a hobby for me that I like to do your to decompress on the side.

- So, I heard you also volunteer with a few programs that help kids like me get into STEM.

What do you do?

- So, I volunteer in this program that I co-founded within P&G.

It's called P&G Trabaja de la mano Program.

So, that program is actually building links with a community of Greater Cincinnati.

I also volunteer in a P&G Aspire Program and YMCA Black and Latino Achievers Club, which is about giving them the tools to work in STEM right out of high school and also succeed in college.

- That is great.

So, you're actually helping middle schoolers like me get through school.

So, who helped you get through school?

- So, first and foremost, my parents, like, they made a lot of sacrifices for me to go to the school I went to.

My mom always said that education was the best gift she could give me.

I appreciate what they did to get me that education and how far it's taken me today.

And then also, my 11th grade Latin American literature professor really helped me understand that hey, you can fall in love with art, you can fall in love with literature and you can also like engineering.

And this is a strength, not something that I need to choose between.

- Do you have any advice for kids my age who might wanna get into STEM like you?

- Absolutely.

First of all, stay creative.

I think middle schoolers are super creative and some of the best people I've seen in STEM have a lot of creative problem solving.

Second, defy expectations.

Everybody has a different background or has a different type of experience that they bring into this field.

Anybody can be an engineer.

So, challenge what we think or believe about engineering.

My third advice would be to persevere.

So, I think there's gonna be obstacles we run into along the way.

It's not always going to be easy but if we know what we're going after, then I would say just keep going.

- Thank you so much for joining us, Germara and showing us how you engineered your future.

Bye.

- Adios.

(upbeat music) - Mission accomplished.