Computer Aided Manufacturing and a Purpose Driven Life: Meghan West’s Story

Why Meghan West is a woman in American manufacturing worth knowing

Her father actually started the business and named the CAD/CAM tool “Meghan.” The name has since changed (obviously), but the family feel of their Connecticut-based company has not. Today, they have thousands of resellers worldwide who provide Mastercam to manufacturers of all types and sizes across the globe. Meghan West credits a trip she took at the age of 14 with her father to Japan to meet some of their resellers as the moment she knew this was the career path for her. Since then, it was simply executing on the steps that she knew she needed to take (and that her family wanted her to take) before she could join the company and eventually become President and CEO.

Aside from the impressive career and business acumen, Meghan is down-to-earth, has a great sense of humor, and definitely also has a sneaky adventurous side. She is one of the many women who make pursuing manufacturing careers look and sound incredible, and represents the industry so well!

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A surprising thing that came out of the conversation

At a leadership retreat with her team a few years ago, a bird pooped right on her head.

More seriously, though, a fun fact about CNC Software is that her father founded the company a mere two weeks before Meghan was due, and she was about to be her father and mother’s first child. I love this anecdote, as it’s a reminder that no time is ever a “good time,” and sometimes you just have to go for it. It clearly worked out for this crew!

Key Takeaway: The world is built off of manufacturing

In this episode, Meghan assures that ”if it wasn’t grown from the ground or on a tree, it was likely manufactured.” She’s right, and it’s often an overlooked reality of the world around us. We forget how many things are MADE, and made on a massive scale, in order to reach our homes, our workplaces, and our fingertips.

Favorite Answer From Rapid Fire Questions

She spent this past winter in Oahu, Hawaii simply because she and her family could! Talk about jealousy…