REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION

July 25, 2022

Special Report by Jordan Vitick

Lynsie Almeida

Senior Global Quality Engineer,
Teknor Apex Co.

Lynsie Almeida graduated from Rhode Island College with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a biology minor and started her career in pharmaceuticals.

She worked at AstraZeneca as a medicinal/organic chemist in oncology drug design for eight years, spent three years on the instrumentation side working as an LC/MS global service and support engineer, then was a lab manager and senior chemist in a medical marijuana testing lab. She joined Teknor Apex Co. and worked for three years as a senior analytical chemist deformulating plastics in the lab before becoming a senior global quality engineer two years ago.

Women Breaking the Mold

Under her current title at the materials firm, Almeida is responsible for quality systems, such as monitoring product quality performance; quality policies, including implementation of ISO and other recognized standards; auditing, such as conducting internal audit investigations; and training employees on quality and statistical concepts.

“My interest in plastics was actually sparked by an episode of How It's Made, which detailed the process for turning plastic pellets into finished goods. I found the manufacturing process rather mesmerizing and fascinating in all of its intricacies,” she said. “While I enjoyed the episode, it had me wondering, ‘Well, where did the pellets come from and what's in them?’”

Prior to her career in chemistry, Almeida was a singer and was accepted to study at the Berklee College of Music.

“Chemistry isn't about just working in a lab,” she said. “There are so many applications and parallel fields where chemistry can be applied. I have demonstrated this by having had five different careers all with the same degree.”