Meet a #futureshaper: Alicia Kempf

Alicia Kempf is like a pastry chef.

In the same way a baker would use kitchen tools and follow a specific recipe to make cookies, she makes sure every manufacturing batch is perfect.

Whether that’s making batches of pharmaceuticals, food, beverages or making specialty chemicals, she guarantees consistency and quality.

Based in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, here is her #futureshaper story.  

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was a child I wanted to be an inventor. I loved the idea of coming up with a new idea no one else had ever thought of before.

What do you do?
I develop a batch manufacturing system used for making pharmaceuticals, food and beverages and specialty chemicals. Think about making cookies. I have a recipe to follow and I have some ingredients. I measure my ingredients and follow the recipe step by step to make a “batch” of cookies. I add the ingredients in a specific order, I have equipment I need to use like a mixer, mixer bowls, an oven that needs to be pre-heated to the proper temperature. I may be able to tweak my formula, or ingredients, to make peanut butter cookies instead of chocolate chip cookies and create a whole new cookie or product.

Different batches of products have recipes for each product and each recipe has a formula and special equipment the batch is run on. However, the recipes are large in scale and complex.

Why is the future important?
I have two kids with a third on the way, so when I think about the future I often think of them. We should be making the world a better place for them to live and thrive, solve today’s problems as well as the problems of the future.

How does your job make tomorrow better and safer than today?
We help make products we use every day that are critical to our wellbeing. The solutions we offer allow our customers to ensure that the products they release for consumers are of the highest quality and meet regulatory standards. The medicine you take every morning is 100 percent safe and effective. The milk you drink and the food you eat is guaranteed to be manufactured following a consistent, repeatable process, which has been validated and tested to ensure it is of the highest quality. As our population grows, doing this in a more efficient and cost-effective manner which allows customers to serve the growing demands of the market.

What do you for fun?
I enjoy spending time with my family, my husband Zach and my sons Nate and Harrison. They keep me pretty busy! I also enjoy physical fitness and being outside running, walking and playing field hockey. In the summers we enjoy visiting our favorite beach town Ocean City, NJ – there is no happier place than at the beach.

Learn more about what it is like to be a #futureshaper.