Employee Spotlight: Dori Andrade

Dori grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida and attended North Carolina A&T State University where she majored in mechanical engineering. Why engineering? “As a kid, I was always curious about how things worked and always taking things apart to find out. I broke a lot of watches and calculators!” She added that she’s always loved math, saying that math is the same in every language.

But why mechanical engineering? “Mechanical engineering is the foundation of everything. Before we had all the technology we do today to help us do our jobs, we had to figure out the mechanics of how something worked. Also, mechanical engineers have a hand in just about every industry.”

Dori was hired by Cross right after graduating, although that wasn’t her first exposure to the company. The Cross Mobile Systems Integration engineering team were industry mentors for her team’s senior project, which involved hydraulics, pneumatics and electronics. “They helped with our hydraulic and electronic systems, donated parts for us to incorporate into our project, and taught us a lot in the process.”

As a new engineer in the automation group, Dori spends a lot of her time training and learning how to integrate the equipment we supply to our customers. “That’s cool, because I like to learn. I’m also getting to travel a bit, working with different customers and manufacturers.” She’s also working on projects to help Cross’s customers improve their machines by incorporating electromechanics like linear actuators and servo motors.

The part of her job that Dori likes the most is the variety of what she does every day. “Nothing is mundane!” She also gets to meet people and network much more than a typical engineer would, which she enjoys. In addition, Dori enjoys working with the people at Cross. “Everyone here is genuinely kind and helpful.”

Outside of work, Dori likes to read, cook and is a novice gardener. When she’s not at home, she’s out exploring new neighborhoods in the big city she’s just relocated to.