Once valves and actuators are installed and commissioned on site, the manufacturer’s involvement often lapses to an occasional service call. However, because they’re unaware of the subsequent life of the automated valve, they miss valuable feedback that an end user could give on how that equipment performs.

The United States added more than half a million manufacturing jobs in the last three years and more jobs are coming from firms that are reshoring thanks to lower energy prices and the diminishing spread between labor costs in North America and China.

However, while the U.S. manufacturing sector grows, the number of women working in the sector is not keeping pace. Women hold about half of the jobs in the U.S. economy today, yet they occupy less than 25% of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs and it is estimated that only about 30% of the approximately 14 million Americans who work in manufacturing are women. This is despite the fact that, according to a recent study released by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute, the majority of women involved in manufacturing reported being very satisfied with their careers.

Like so many of the people involved in the valve industry, 40-year-veteran Richard Coffman can trace much of his success to being in the right place at the right time, and being confident enough to take advantage of an opportunity.

Coffman received his Bachelors of Science in Electrical Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia and began his career as a mechanical designer at GE in the Specialty Controls Department. There he worked in the value engineering department where he designed GE-printed circuit boards used to drive servovalves, which controlled the turbine speed on many GE turbine control systems.

Like many of the valve industry icons we’ve interviewed, Tom Mignogna’s notable career in the valve industry started out not so much by design, perhaps, but by good fortune.