Kennametal's Chief Technology Officer Goes Live on Business as Usual

Transcription: 

Okay, good afternoon, everyone. This is Audrey Russo, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council. Welcome to another Actually, today marks a year, but we're gonna celebrate with our great guest today, Carlotta Reilly, and I will formally introduce you to her in a moment from kennametal. And I want to thank everyone for being with us on this journey for the past year. And we have a packed schedule even coming up post today. So lots of people to talk to lots of ways to shine the light on folks, as well as stay connected. So thanks to Huntington bank for their work and supporting us in the community all throughout this year. And being so supportive and all the experiments that we run in terms of telling stories, and and highlighting those people and companies, we're making a difference in our region. And then that's 40 by 80, longitude and latitude of Pittsburgh. And that's the wholly owned subsidiary of the Pittsburgh tech Council, where we focus on workforce development and entrepreneurship. And you'll hear a little bit more in a few months about our apprenticeship program, which we're very excited about. So muted your microphones done that on purpose. And hopefully my dogs will not bark they have not been behaving today. So I've removed them into different rooms. Hopefully that will work. And we have a chat and the chat is all about our guests. It is not about the time for you to shine the light on your own companies. But it's really to ask questions of our guests. So Jonathan kersting is with us here. And he is vice president of all things media and marketing for the tech Council and he will be keeping his eye on our questions. So now I let's bring to the forefront and I'm very excited to welcome both formally welcome her to Pittsburgh, even though she's been here for a little over two years. Welcome Carlotta. Riley, PhD, I don't know if she refers to herself as Doctor. But when you get a PhD, I think you deserve to be called doctor. And she is Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at kennametal. And very, very thrilled to have her here and connect with her and just get to know her just a little bit because we only have a finite period of time. So Carlotta Welcome, welcome to the program. Thank you so much for being here and taking the time with us. Welcome to Pittsburgh. But before we get started before we sort of talk about kennametal and all the amazing things that you've done, you have an amazing story yourself. And I would like I mean, we could start in high school where you were about to pour in. Right. You were valedictorian of your, of your class in Indiana, but you've had a deep chemistry background, and you've had a fascinating journey. So where would what would you like to share with our guests today? To learn a little bit about you? Wow. Well, thank

you very much, Audrey, I really appreciate the opportunity to come to talk about a lot of different things. And particularly Mike coming to Pittsburgh, and I've just really enjoyed my two, almost two and a half years now here. Oh, yeah. So I grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana, and very proud of that heritage. So I'm a country girl at heart and grew up fishing and loving the outdoors. And I like doing that here in the Pittsburgh area. So what what's the most interesting thing about me, I think one of the most interesting things about me was when I graduated from a high school, I tried to go to a little College in Terre Haute, Indiana called Rose hulman Institute of Technology. My my grandfather, actually my father's father was a custodian there for about 40 years. And he always wanted me to go there. It's a it's a small engineering school. And it's actually highly rated for the size. And I tried to get an application there. And I wrote them as see Russell. Russell is my main name. And and then they you know, they they found out, they wrote my high school and found out the only see Russell in my graduating class was Carolina Russell. And found out that I was not a male. And at the time, this was back in the late 80s. It was still an all male institution. So I could not go to Rose hulman Institute of Technology. So I ended up going to MIT instead of where

you go. There you go.

Today since then have become co Ed and it's a fantastic story there at Rose hulman great school. But I did not get to go there. I was denied the opportunity to go there because it at the time was only for for men. So I ended up going to MIT and then I got my PhD at how much

well listen Someone in here says MIT is so much of a better place. Well,

I learned a lot more. I enjoyed my time and in the Boston area, for sure. And it was a great school. So I think there are a lot of great schools. But MIT was, is definitely was a great experience.

So you just tell us quickly about your degrees?

Yeah. So I have a Bachelors of Science from MIT and chemical engineering. And then I also have a master's in a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware, and I did all of my internships, and then also had sponsorship of my PhD from at the time Mobil Oil Corp. And no now No, that is Exxon Mobil, right. So I came to Delaware, really, with going into the catellus Research Center, which Delaware has a world class can tell us as research center there.

Also, you knew early on chemistry slash engineering, you knew that was going to be your path, didn't you?

I did, I always like to always like to understand how things worked, how things were made, I loved the math, the math problems where you had to figure out, you know, a train was going this fast one way and other people were going this fast the other way, when, you know, where would they meet, you know, I love figuring those things out. I saw a practical nature to it. And then I ended up doing a, a paper in science class, my junior year in high school on fractional distillation of crude oil. And I just I fell in love with just how gasoline was made. So yeah, I became an engineer, and particularly a chemical engineer. That's awesome.

I don't think I was doing that in 11th grade. So my hat's off to you. I don't think I have that same journey. But that's a lot of clarity. And that's a lot. That's a lot of focus. So listen, you're relatively new in terms of your transplant to Pittsburgh and half, almost half of the time you've been in quarantine. Right. So how have you helped? How have you held up and how have you navigated? You seem to have like an amazing positive attitude about the region, and obviously about kennametal but you know, any reactions to Pittsburgh, anything that you do for fun you mentioned, you know, one thing you do for fun, but

I absolutely love the region because I it there's a hometown feeling, not only in the Westmoreland County area where I live, but also in the Allegheny County area. And Pittsburgh, I traveled to Pittsburgh, often right, I did before that I demmick. Um, I love the restaurants and Pittsburgh, and, you know, on Mount Washington overlooking the city, the entertainment, I've been to the August Wilson Center a couple of times for a couple of events, the community there, and not to mention the sports teams, you know, pirates and the Steelers, you know, I love the Steelers. And I've you know, big become a fan. But I also like the surrounding areas. And so out in the Laurel Highland region, just so many lakes and streams that you can just hike around. I love fishing. I've started to play golf. And we have some golf outings in our, in our organization. And so, you know, Arnold Palmer was from Latrobe. And our tech center is located right there in Latrobe. So, you know, how could you not learn how to play play golf, and I've really enjoyed some of the relationships that I've dealt with people. You know, while I've been able to be in that community here, that's

great. We do a crazy golf outing at the end of August. We're hoping we're doing it. So we're gonna have to pull on you for that. We have a lot of fun.

We did our annual golf supplier golf outing for the United Way back in August. And the Latrobe Country Club did a fantastic job at keeping everyone safe. And you know, we followed a lot of protocols there. It was a great time, you know, during a difficult time, but we raised a lot of money for the community, which was great.

That's great. And so let's talk about your work and your role at kennametal. right in and it also includes research and development. So tell us a little bit about kennametal. We might need to refresh people's minds that you know, kennametal was a technology startup back in, I think 38.

That's correct. Matter of fact, we just passed her at third year. It was created by Philip McKenna, back on March 1 1938. And Mr. McKenna was a metallurgist, and so base, the base material that he used was tungsten titanium carbide. And so we've evolved to using tungsten carbide as a primary metal alloy material that we make tooling, industrial materials where ponents for a variety of different industries. And so our company is really built on innovation, material science, design, engineering, and then also just a thirst for understanding what the application needs are out in the marketplace and working with customers to meet those. And so we started back in 1938. It's amazing to think we started here in Latrobe, or, you know, I'm at the tech center right today with 12 employees, and I think about $30,000 in revenue in those early years, and now we're close to 9000 employees operating in 60 countries with about $1.9 billion in revenues. It's It's fantastic. And that is I mean, we are an innovation company. We are a material science company, we solve the some of the greatest issues out there too, for tooling and were components. And there's a lot of science that goes into what we do. There's a lot of engineering that goes into what we do.

Well, I think, you know, it's interesting, like, and so the focus on r&d has to be pivotal to the success of the company. And so talk about your role a little bit. I mean, because I think, you know, you're it's a C suite role, if I understand it correctly. So it's, it's critical, in terms of, you know, typically for companies, but to have it elevated at the C suite level means you're embedded in the business. So talk talk about that role, what you oversee.

Right, so we are a technology company, and so, at the heart is innovation. And so you're absolutely right, my role is a C suite role. So I report directly to the the president and CEO Chris Rossi of, of kennametal. And I have a seat at the table to bring a technology, a science perspective to business. And I think there is an importance as a technology company to have that voice at the table to talk about how we can solve our customer's needs. And do that while also benefiting our company. And so, you know, we I have responsibility for our research and development. So our material science organization, as well as our engineering organization, it's close to about 1000 people located all across the world. And, you know, it's a global role. And I absolutely love that you we start here in the Pittsburgh region, but we work with a lot of different people all over the all over the world. So my role is very pivotal, as a an executive, to bring that voice of technology into the room, but then also to understand the business aspect. Because, you know, you can't just do science for science sake. You know, we are in a business, and we need the science in order to propel our business and to solve our customers greatest problems. So matching the two, I love matching the two and solving the problems that our customers absolutely need. Because, you know, that's where we can grow. And that's really how we are able to fulfill our mission, which is to transfer transform how everyday life is built.

So how many people are actually located in this region. Now, how many employees about,

oh, in this region, from downtown out, probably close to 1000. In the x area between lotro between downtown, we've got a plant and located not too far from here as well.

And so let's let's jump real quickly and talk about one thing, the Mars rover. And we're just going to talk about how cool it was to have your bits used on the rover. Why is this so important? Why is this initiative so important? going to Mars having kennametal have a piece of of that action? Talk about that, from your perspective?

Yeah, I think that as we explore space, we get to learn a lot more about ourselves a lot more about our history, a lot more about how we might actually colonize and, and go to Mars and potentially have colonies on Mars, as we're looking to solve, you know, some of the resource issues that we have here. And if I can just mention, here's a picture of a standard. It's not the ones that we supply, but a standard cutting blank or cutting element that's made of our very tough tungsten carbide material. It's a particular grade that we supplied to NASA. And so you know, we've had a relationship with NASA for quite some time. supplying them with with various cutting tools. And so when they approached us, I think it was back in 2014, it was just really natural for us to work on a new carbide grade that they could use in their drills. And so it's it's, you know, space exploration, I think, I've been on some discussions with the Carnegie Science Center as they're looking at bringing in some some of their exhibits around space exploration, I think we learn a lot more about ourselves, and about our natural resources here on earth when we can explore our neighboring planet. So we see this as as a critical element for exploring and improving our lives here on Earth as we are able to explore, you know, other other planets in outer space. And we're very proud and happy to be a part of that it was, you know, the the whole entire team has been absolutely energized by being part of the perseverance and the Mars rover program.

Well, so before we get to some of the questions, I'm going to pass it to Jonathan, I'm going to ask you a question about, what might we be surprised to know that in terms of how kennametal is involved in so many different companies and customers? Like, is there anything that you could tell us like, oh, where we are a piece of that company or that product? Yeah.

Well, maybe I won't. I won't point to specifics. But um, but if you've flown on, on an airplane that was that was made by a large aerospace manufacturers, like Boeing, for example, were large, you know, made with large engines. Those engines most likely, and some of the components on that airplane was formed by some of our tools. As an example, if you've driven a car, a GM car, Ford car, most likely an engine was cut. And our tools were utilized to make that engine for, for an example. Here in the pandemic, for example, we've really mobilized our teams were contacted by a variety of companies for ventilator canisters, and they contacted us because they need to needed to efficiently actually form the the metal components of these ventilators. And so we worked very quickly to put together tooling packages. And we sold them to a variety of companies who wanted to make these canisters in the most efficient way. And so we had a hand in making ventilators during the, during the pandemic, so a wide variety of different application spaces with some of the larger companies that you probably have heard of,

yeah, I like to think I've been to one of the manufacturing sites in Tanzania. As we said, I like to think of the metal as a touch almost everything and that we would use

pretty arrows. And you know, aerospace, automotive, and aerospace could mean not just commercial flight, but for defense, construction, mining, oil and gas, you name it, we have a wide variety of applications that we can apply our materials to.

Great. So Jonathan, grab a few of the questions if you would, please.

Carolina. Thanks for joining us today. That is fascinating. I just love it. We need more time, because there's so many great questions from our guests here. We'll start from the top here. So Carlos wants to know, how us kind of metal facing energy efficiency requirements, are there any investments on renewable energy? And what's the vision on ESG? At kennametal?

Yeah, so we just put out an ESG report last year, and it was really well received by our investors and a variety of different members of the community. So that's someone's dog, I think. And and so we have a program with goals and objectives for for recyclables for also lowering our emissions. And I think, you know, we've outlined that in in our ESG report, that you know, he being for environmental assets in terms of social and so, diversity and inclusion is part of that and we have a, a program, an initiative at at kennametal around our organizational awareness in the Today, talent acquisition and development, as well as our community interaction. And then the other part of that is our governance and and how we operate through our core values, which one of which is ethics and compliance and operating with the highest integrity. And so it's an important part of what we're what we are about here at at kennametal. Our core values are around environmental health and safety, around operating with the highest ethical standards. Respect for people, which is includes our diversity, inclusion efforts, and then around our sense of respect for people. So those are our critical core values that we operate around. And we're making great progress and have programs and key areas that support each one of those.

Excellent, this falls on very close with Steven Diggs wants to know more about how we know kennametal is creating a more sustainable environment, any specifics you can give us as to what you're doing?

Yeah, well, um, let me go on the product side of that. So we know that our automotive industry is undergoing a transformation right now. And we're looking at electrical vehicles, for example, really taking off and perhaps faster than any of us had anticipated. So we're developing solutions that go directly to the heart of making components, so that are quite different than a combustion engine, for example, for electrical vehicles. And so, you know, in that way, from a product perspective, we're helping our customers really transform some some of the the industries that we've, you know, come to know a lot about. And so, our scientists and engineers are busy at work at looking at materials that can apply to some of these areas, particularly for Eevee. And then also for for some of the new evolving aerospace and air travel requirements, and and they are requiring some different material sets, some different designs of tooling and where solutions. And so we're at the heart of trying to understand what those trends are, and developing the solutions to to to help build those,

you know, those economies? It seems like that's definitely part of your growth trajectory. And Bob Watson wants to know, can you tell us more any other things that are that are really creating growth for kennametal? And where you guys see yourself like in a decade or two?

Yeah. So there, there's a lot of evolving technologies that we are looking at digitalization is one area, I think where we are that's bringing transformation not only to our manufacturing, but then also how we look at developing our, our were components, our tooling. And I think that and you know, as we get more into digitalization, we're going to know a lot more about the materials and how we make those materials and bringing in the most efficient way to make our, you know, our tool sets, but also about how they perform out in the application space. And if we know that better, if we are able to do more prediction, we're going to be able to give just in time service, if you will, of our materials to the you know to to our customers. And so if we know for example, when a tool is going to, to break or we know when when a tool is reached its end of life, we can have a solution right at the doorstep, you know, just in time, as opposed to waiting for a tool to break and then having to go through that cycle of ordering and then waiting for the order or holding inventory. I think additive manufacturing is also going to provide we have an additive manufacturing business here at kennametal. It's going to provide an opportunity for us. The design flexibility that you get with additive manufacturing is absolutely phenomenal. And I think we've only scratched the surface as to what we're going to be able to design for, for the future. And at once again, we have great material science to apply to that we have great design engineering apply to that. And as we find more and more opportunities and application spaces to apply that to where we're going to be well prepared to meet some of those channels. The future.

So we have, before we get to some of the questions, there are a couple of points that I'd like to jump in. And I apologize about the dogs. I feel like I'm living in a zoo. So, you know, kennametal has also established a priority for STEM, including a fund that you've actually worked together with the Pittsburgh foundation. Correct?

Yeah. So this is one of the areas that I talked about in terms of our diversity and inclusion initiatives. We have established a kennametal scholarship fund with the Pittsburgh foundation. And so actually, you can apply for this scholarship. will march 31, I think is the cutoff for this year. And this is for seniors who are graduating who will pursue a college degree in some sort of STEM area, math, science, or engineering. And it's really aimed at, at ethnic or racial minority students, and it's open to nine counties, and those counties Let me see Allegheny Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, green, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland. So I encourage you, if you know of a student, a senior, graduating going on to college, we have a great opportunity for students to get a scholarship. So you can go to the Pittsburgh Foundation website and find out more information and apply by March 31.

And so just quickly, just to aggregate some of the questions in the chat. What about automation and robotics? Where are you? How are you seeing that? I know that I saw that on the plant floor, you know, a decade ago? Yeah,

yeah. And so we've gone over the last couple of years, we've gone through what we've called as our modernization program. So we've put a few 100 million dollar investment into our plant sites, where we've modernized our equipment, and part of that equipment is the connectivity of that equipment and includes robotics, it also includes a lot of data. And so part of that digital transformation that I alluded to earlier is a key part of, you know, getting the most out of our plant sites, and then most out of our investment. And so we've seen already where we've implemented robotics, where we've implemented some of our digital tools at our plant sites, just more productivity, helping with our cost and keeping our costs down. So that we can serve our customers better. And, you know, more productivity allows us to put more material through our plants and to get more out of our plants. And so it's a very important part of what we're doing and monetization, and also sustaining you know, the gains of our modern modernization.

And so, you know, we're running up to the end, and people have a lot of questions. Is it possible for us to forward those questions to you? And that may be an opportunity? Sure. Oh, my

gosh, I can't believe 30 minutes is going on? Yeah, because I

want to talk about two other things that we talked about. So okay, make a note of that, that will come back to people who have some really great questions about energy automation, MEMS systems, etc. So, you, um, you're a met, you immediately got to participate in the community, you're on the board of St. Vincent's college, right, which is obviously a natural partner, longtime partner for kennametal. So that's no surprise, you have you sit on a public Board of a medical device company, right. And then you also are serving on Tali, and I'm actually a mentor on that, as well. So, you know, obviously, you're a busy person, but you decided to take on even more, because these things matter to you. Any comments on any of those activities?

It's absolutely very important. I feel personally responsible to try to give back which way whatever way I can and whatever I've learned, and so I really enjoy working with St. Vincent college. Great history, their tally program, the advanced Leadership Initiative is fantastic. In terms of diversity, inclusion, and really mentoring our next generation leaders and executives and I, I'm on my third cohort, I started as soon as I got here, Evan Fraser got me told me, and I absolutely make time for that because it's absolutely critical to give back. We have a mentoring program here at at kennametal as well, where we actually mentor our women. We have a women women mentoring program and just yesterday, one of our male employees at kennametal asked me to be his mentor as well. So I do a lot of mentoring internally at kennametal women and men, as well as through the community, and it's absolutely so important for all of us to give back and to share whatever we can to help out others. It's very, it's always been very important to me.

That's great. Yes, I can see that from your career trajectory and your journey. So the last thing is that you started a blog. And I know you wanted to talk about that. Before we

ask more. If you want to know more about our Mars, our, you know, our efforts to help NASA get to Mars on this latest mission. You can check it out a blog, which is going to post tomorrow from my colleague, Franklin Cardenas, who is the president of our infrastructure business. And he's doing the blog with Pittsburgh region. Next is now so if you want to sign up or go look at that blog, went out host, a website www.on, their region.org. So please check that out. Tomorrow, I think you'll find it that blog is going to be really cool. You'll find out more about our mission to to Mars with helping NASA get to Mars.

Well, listen, we've I've tried to pack in as much as I can, during this short period of time, and appreciate your rapid immersion into the region, and your commitment and leadership and in all of your journey. Can't you know, can't say enough. I'm sure your family is over the top proud of the work that you're doing. But hopefully to catch up with you. Maybe we'll fish one day, or play a round of golf. I don't care Jonathan cycles all over. So he's been all through the Allegheny Passage. But I want to I want to thank you for joining us. They're questions that still we're not answered. We'll make sure that they get to her. And we'll see if there's some ways to stay connected. So that's Dr. Carlotta. Riley, I like to use Dr. Because I think that's well worth all the journey that you've been through. And hopefully I'll meet you face to face at some point.

Likewise, Audrey, I'll see you around tally, hopefully.

Yes, absolutely. So

thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity to come on and speak with with all of you. It was great. Thank

you and Jonathan, what do we have coming up?

Well, tomorrow we have you triple treat, Audrey, we have three Canadian AI company stopping by to talk about their growth and expansion plans in the United States. Nice shirt. Yep.

That's great. All right. Well, thank you, everyone. And we'll we'll capture the questions that are in the chat and get them over to kennametal. So thanks again for joining today. Stay safe. Stay safe, nice seeing you. kalamba.

Stay safe, everyone.

Okay, take care.

Right

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