The CIO World proudly features Kristy Mandigo as the “Most Aspiring Engineer Driving Change and Innovation in 2024,” celebrating her remarkable journey of resilience, leadership, and groundbreaking contributions to engineering and beyond.
Kristy Mandigo’s path to becoming a Chief Engineer at Raytheon Technologies (RTX) and founder of KMK Enterprises LLC is nothing short of inspirational. Born with cerebral palsy and significant learning disabilities in a small town in upstate New York, Kristy defied societal expectations through sheer determination and ingenuity. “I may have been left behind if I didn’t find ways to be inspired to be more than my visible and invisible disabilities,” she says.
At a young age, Kristy showed an interest in how things work. Coming out of the family of engineers, she was always trying to figure out new ways to improve the functionality of tools and systems. Kristy mastered inventiveness in the face of physical disability to be able to overcome her limitations. Then she learned to use it as an advantage, finding creative ways to do new tasks and helping others, most of whom were heart attack and stroke victims who had to face the world as it was.
In 2003, Kristy started working as an engineer in Raytheon. As she grew up in a patriotic environment and was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) combined with her devotion to excellence, she developed a sense of responsibility towards national security and technological innovation. She is now a Chief Engineer, signing off on multidisciplinary project teams and promoting inclusion, innovation, and continuous improvement
Other than her achievements in engineering, Kristy is a published author of a memoir titled Ask Why but Not Why Me describing the challenges and successes in her life. She also empowers women in the STEM field via blogging, giving ground-breaking talks, and mentoring women through KMK Enterprises LLC, which appeals to readers and listeners all around the globe. Her leadership and writing style can be explained by her thinking that it is all about competing against oneself day to day.
Kristy had proven herself through resilience, servant leadership and never-ending urge to learn. Since winning the Engineering Perseverance Award at Cedarville University to being a keynote speaker with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), she keeps inspiring others as she leads the charge in aerospace and digital innovation.
She has recently been awarded the most outstanding PRISM Award which proves her influence as a pioneer in engineering and technology. Kristy isn t sure about this, but she feels that she was destined to be an engineer. Life threw me challenges, and I got a perspective. What makes me diverse is my strength.”
Reflecting on the future, Kristy will settle on putting up environments where people can get to live, irrespective of their abilities.
