Alumna Profile: Lori McDowell (MS '88)

Lori McDowell (MS '88, environmental engineering) has navigated through diverse roles in her career, from research and development to business development, but she has recently embarked on a new path. Currently, McDowell serves as the Chief Commercial Officer for Refinery Calculator, Inc. an energy data company, while also leading Reimagine U Strategies, the coaching and speaking company she founded aimed at helping individuals lead more joyful and fulfilling lives. McDowell's focus lies in helping people recognize and overcome obstacles that hinder their progress, promoting what she terms a "Reinvention Mindset," which is also the title of her forthcoming book.

ENGenuity spoke with McDowell to learn about her multifaceted career journey and the motivation behind her change in career direction.

ENGenuity: How would you describe your professional contributions and your current role?

Lori McDowell: I worked in industry for about 30 years to help companies grow, mostly related to energy, refining, chemicals, and industrial gas. I did a lot of work in research and development (R&D) helping with testing procedures to apply what you see in a lab to real world situations. Then, I moved into more of a business role where I did marketing, business development, sales, and technical support. On the business side, a lot of my contributions have been in helping connect users—the industry customers—to the suppliers and the products they need to help grow their business in an environmentally safe and productive way.

I still work in the chemical engineering industry as the Chief Commercial Officer for a company called Refinery Calculator, Inc., which is an energy data company. Our saying is that we "refine complexity." I'm helping grow this business, particularly around hydrogen. We have a product called Hydrogen Calc, which is helping to provide the clean hydrogen data that the industry needs as the demand for hydrogen grows as a fuel source. I'm doing that on a part-time basis.

Now, I am also doing something completely different. I wrote a book called The Reinvention Mindset, which will be coming out in mid to late May, and I started a company called Reimagine U Strategies. The company is a speaking/coaching business where I work with high achieving people who look like they are successful on paper—they have good jobs, they have a family, they have a good salary—but they don't really feel fulfilled or happy; they feel like something is missing. I work with them, both in group settings and individually, to help figure out what is missing and what they need to get fulfillment in their life. I help people overcome whatever is making them feel stuck, realize that they have a choice and recognize that life is a wonderful place full of opportunities and they deserve to be happy and fulfilled. That's my new passion.

ENGenuity: What inspired you to pursue this new passion?

McDowell: I lost a job in a rather horrible and shocking manner, but it made me think about what really mattered to me. I realized that I wasn't happy, but I was doing the job because it paid well, it was easy, and I had good benefits. I always liked to help people improve themselves and I was regularly working with nonprofits. I wanted to make a difference. Because I had some time, I started writing a book, and as I was writing, I realized that what I was writing could really help people. It could be a new career with a large impact.

ENGenuity: Your MS in environmental engineering at Caltech is sandwiched between a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware. What inspired you to get into environmental engineering at Caltech and how has your Caltech education influenced you since?

McDowell: I always had an interest in the environment. My first job after my BS was as an environmental engineer and that is what drove me to go to grad school. I loved the work that I was doing, but I wanted to learn more and get an advanced degree. Caltech was an amazing experience. I thought about staying and getting my PhD in environmental engineering at Caltech, but I had family on the east coast, and I didn't want to be that far away for that long. I went back to chemical engineering for my PhD not because I didn't love environmental engineering—my chemical engineering thesis actually had an environmental undertone as it was focused on a way to treat hazardous waste—but back when I was at Caltech, the environmental engineering area was so new that I felt I was better off going back into chemical engineering and then applying it to the environmental engineering field. It was my time at Caltech that opened my eyes to what I could do as an environmental engineer and how I could make a difference with pollution control and creating a greener environment.

ENGenuity: What professor made a significant impact on you at Caltech?

McDowell: My advisor was Professor Michael R. Hoffmann [John S. and Sherry Chen Professor of Environmental Science]. His focus was on air pollution, and that was an area I was very interested in. But his outlook on life was something even more valuable. He felt that people should be well rounded, not just focused on studying or working all the time. He felt that living life and having other interests was important as well, and I carried that through to my life.

ENGenuity: What advice would you give to a recent graduate or a student who is about to graduate?

McDowell: When you're looking for a job or if you have a job and you're thinking about changing it, realize that it is not so much the company or the university that is interviewing you, it is about you interviewing them. You want to make sure that whatever you do is something that does more than give you a paycheck. Make sure you are doing something that you love, and if it is not, look at something different or figure out why you don't love it. You'll be much happier if you are doing something you love. Don't settle. You may be young and just starting out, but what you offer is worthwhile and there is a place for it, no matter what it is. It is your choice how you live your life.

ENGenuity: Is there a particular project or area of your career that you are most proud of?

McDowell: While in R&D, I was working with the international sales group. I interacted with customers in Japan, South America, and all over the U.S., and we used to put on technical seminars. We were giving great technical information, but we were also bringing cultures together. Meeting all those people and seeing how they did things all over the world and how we could work together was very fulfilling.

ENGenuity: What gives you the most satisfaction in your work?

McDowell: Despite being an engineer, what has given me the most satisfaction has been at the personal level when I felt I was able to help people individually. Whether it was giving a talk at an AIChE [American Institute of Chemical Engineers] meeting when I helped a young person decide what to do with their career, or now in my coaching where I help people change their life, or even when I worked in engineering and helped someone make an amazing discovery, it hasn't necessarily been my achievements but my work in helping others that has given me the most satisfaction.

ENGenuity: What is your favorite story?

McDowell: The TV show Ted Lasso. I love that show and the whole story of how this mediocre college football coach came and inspired a soccer team. The story showed you could do anything with belief, and it didn't matter who you were or where you came from.

ENGenuity: What is your favorite destination?

McDowell: I love the beach. It's hard to say which beach. Any beach, really. Some place with sand and sea. The ocean sounds and the sand are very peaceful. There's a little island in the Bahamas called Coco Cay that some of the cruise lines stop at. That is one of my favorite beaches because the water is so turquoise and the sand is so soft.

ENGenuity: What keeps you up at night?

McDowell: Thinking about all the things that are on my to-do list and worrying that I forgot something.

ENGenuity: What gets you up in the morning?

McDowell: What gets me up in the morning is the same thing. I love what I'm doing now, so that motivates me to get to those items on my list. I look forward to starting every day. Worrying about what I have to do and what I might have missed keeps me up sometimes, but I am excited to get up and get started and I usually wake up before the alarm.