Kelly Malone van Meer, Ph.D.
Senior Engineer, IBM, Somers, N.Y., Age: 36
At 14, Kelly Malone van Meer envisioned a career as a chemistry professor. She was fascinated with how chemistry explained the structure, composition and properties of items around her. After meeting an IBM recruiter at a career fair, that vision changed and she joined IBM Microelectronics as an advisory engineer.
Malone van Meer now works at IBM headquarters as a senior engineer in the Office of Technology Evaluation and Intellectual property. She facilitates hardware technology evaluation for senior executives, develops corporate education materials for the company’s technical community and aids collaboration on corporate initiatives.
Among her mentors, Mark Dean, vice president of technical strategy and worldwide operations for IBM Research, gave her the opportunity to move from a purely technical position to one that enabled her to work across the company’s business units, a move that prepared her for her current role. That’s why professionals should form relationships with mentors, she insists. “To succeed you will need someone in your specialty, someone to help on the personal side and someone who provides guidance with business acumen.”
Malone van Meer led a team of IBM employees that designed and built a “virtual world” of the National Society of Black Engineers. The goal was to introduce virtual worlds to a broader audience within the Black community and to provide an opportunity for members of NSBE to build their skills within virtual worlds.
Malone van Meer earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at Auburn University and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Columbus College.
Quote: "I've learned that mistakes can often be as good a teacher as success." - Jack Welch
Fun Facts
Xbox or PlayStation: PlayStation
Facebook or LinkedIn: LinkedIn
Favorite sports team: New York Giants
First car: 1972 Pinto station wagon
First job: Researching fish mating habits at local college
Favorite comedian: Cedric the Entertainer
Number of countries visited: Five
Favorite charity: Abandoned Baby Center
Other languages spoken: Learning Dutch
