National Engineers Week: Meet Keleshia Tinker

February 20-26th is National Engineers Week. This week is dedicated to the notable and influential work engineers do every day. We hope to inspire you to learn about their contributions and hope others choose a career in engineering and technology. We want to introduce you to the significant contributions our Albemarle Employees are making every single day.

Check out career opportunities at Albemarle Corporation.

Engineer Spotlight: Keleshia Tinker

Keleshia Tinker is an Instrumentation & Control Systems Lead Engineer at Albemarle's Houston, Texas location. She earned her bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of South Carolina and Master of Business Administration from Claflin University. She also holds a Professional Engineering License and is a Certified Functional Safety Engineer.

She's passionate about her work and job at Albemarle, and her co-workers say she's easy to work with.

She loves watching and playing sports, traveling with her family, and playing board games to pass the time. Her favorite pastime is spending time with her partner and puppy.

How did you end up in the Electrical Engineering Industry?

Keleshia Tinker: I took an interest in robotics early on and decided to pursue a degree in Electrical Engineering. Robotics has been interesting to me ever since the shows "Robot Wars" and "Battle Bots" initially aired in the early 2000s. I watched people create and control robotic vehicles to compete against each other in a battle arena, and it was exciting to see the robotic capabilities back then. That took me to the University of South Carolina, where I earned my degree. In my senior year, I created a robotic arm that could grab and lift small balls and place them in a designated area using a controller. I was lucky to be hired right after college at a company close to home, Albemarle Corporation. I'm now in the Global Project Services Group, where I manage I&C Design and Execution within the Bromine and Lithium businesses.

Tell us about a project you are proud to be a part of:

Keleshia Tinker: The most recent project I am proud to be a part of is the Process Hazard Analysis Improvement project. With a team of talented engineers and technicians, we made sure to design safer facilities and processes across our global sites. We upgraded the operator screens, added new safety devices, and installed a safety panel that locks the operator's keys during dangerous parts of the process so the operator cannot utilize them until the process gets back within safe temperature/pressure limits. This ensures the safety of the public and our employees.