February 24, 2025
Making a Difference Through HVAC Engineering
Discover why coming to work is one of the best parts of the day for Tasha Williams, New Product Quality Reliability Engineer. Learn how she is thriving in her role while driving quality and even getting the opportunity to “blow stuff up.”
At Trane Technologies, we offer opportunities for young professionals to truly make an impact. Discover why coming to work is one of the best parts of the day for Tasha Williams, New Product Quality Reliability Engineer. Learn what makes her job at Trane Technologies both fun and interesting and even gives her the opportunity to “blow stuff up.”
Tasha originally planned to join the military after high school. Instead, she decided to join her older sister in Florida to help raise her nephew and attend the University of South Florida to study mechanical engineering.
As an undergraduate, Tasha met a future mentor at a National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) meeting who inspired her to apply for her first research role studying capacitor performance. “I had so much fun that I decided to continue to pursue research opportunities, and I went on to earn my PhD all because of that one NSBE experience.”
Tasha earned her doctorate in compressors in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University and worked as a compressor engineer intern at Trane® in La Crosse, Wisconsin, as she was completing her degree. “The La Crosse internship was very different from the research work,” she said. “I got to connect with a lot of compressor engineers that have been there for 20 and 30 years who offered a wealth of knowledge.” Pleased with her work, Trane hired her back the next two summers and during the last summer, asked her to stay through year end before hiring her full-time the spring after she graduated. Tasha worked as a full-time compressor engineer for two years before her recent promotion to new product quality reliability engineer. “
In her new role, she works within New Product Development to drive more reliable products by identifying critical parts, understanding their application and testing to predict failure modes and life predictions. She also leads root cause and corrective effort actions for specific equipment challenges in the field, at the plant and at the design stage for new products. “I tell my family and friends that I solve problems, and I make products better,” she said. “I work with just about everyone in quality at Trane and I get to travel to different plants and interact in person,” she said. “And… I get to do testing and make stuff blow up and that can be really fun as well,” she added, explaining that “blowing stuff up” involves working to understand failure modes for future product improvements.
Encourages others to consider HVAC
Tasha enjoys her work so much that she now encourages other engineers to consider working at Trane Technologies. “Most mechanical engineers look at automotive or aerospace and they aren’t saying, ‘I really want to go to an HVAC company,’” she admitted. But the opportunities are the same. “This is no difference; the same engineering takes place. It’s the same practices,” said Tasha.
“I get to look at different refrigerants; I get to see so many different components and see how the products are applied in the field,” she said. “And, we don’t just have one type of cooling application, we have several,” Tasha explained.
“If you’re new to HVAC, you’ve probably never thought about the vastness of it, how large and involved it is in terms of engineering from development and design, all the way up to manufacturing and production,” she said. “Performance testing, materials selection, understanding different chemical properties and so much more — are all part of it.”
She’s also found that her role also gives her the opportunity to address sustainability in ways she didn’t anticipate. “For example, we get to ask questions like where plastic wrapping used to protect products during delivery ends up,” she said. While that particular challenge is still being resolved, she values the opportunity to ask questions like that. “I think I’ve always had an appreciation for the environment in general,” she said. “This is where we live, and I think we should be careful how we treat it.”
Coming to work is probably one of the favorite parts of my day. I never envisioned that for myself but the things I get to be a part of, I have so much fun!
Work-life balance supported
When it comes to her life outside of work, “Trane Technologies work-life balance is pretty amazing,” according to Tasha. “Coming to work is probably one of the favorite parts of my day. I never envisioned that for myself but the things I get to be a part of, I have so much fun!”
Tasha appreciates that her co-workers support her musical talents. A strong vocalist, she was asked to sing the national anthem at the Davidson, North Carolina Veterans Day celebration. She is also a drummer and when her band plays, she is touched that her friends from work typically attend.
Tasha encourages anyone considering applying at Trane Technologies to go ahead and do so. “I think this is a great company and there’s no shortage of different roles or opportunities, so you can move throughout the company,” she said. “You want to work at a plant or corporate - you can do it all, there’s a lot of different opportunities for growth as well” she said.
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