Meet Grace Sotlar, Product Engineer

Grace Sotlar, Product Engineer, recently joined the team here at Brainard Rivet Company in April of 2024. With a passion for finding creative solutions to complex problems, Grace is always looking for a new challenge. Read along as she shares some details about herself and her experience here!

Grace was attracted to Brainard by the team-like atmosphere. “I was looking for a new challenge and I really liked the team atmosphere here because it’s so much easier to come up with solutions to problems when you are able to bounce ideas off like-minded people.” She believes that this type of team approach helps to produce better solutions and ideas. “Everyone has a focus on the same problem, but may look at the approach differently,” shares Grace.

A typical workweek consists of handling RFQs and training to help out other team members. From quality to new part entry, if something comes up, Grace tackles it! She also spends her time studying up on all there is to know about the new drilling equipment that Brainard will soon be receiving. By the time it arrives, she will know the new equipment inside and out.
When she isn’t working, you’ll find her immersed in coaching sports. From the end of fall through spring, she is either coaching softball at Struthers High School (since 2017) or most recently, club volleyball with Infinity volleyball club (coaching the 13s age group). When she isn’t coaching, she enjoys spending lots of time with her dog. Grace’s dog, Dr. Hazel Marie, was the head of the mechanical engineering department at YSU and was also one of the advisors for her capstone project. She likes going to the park, hiking, and paddleboarding. There’s nothing Grace (and her dog) won’t do!

A sucker for any type of Mexican food, Grace claims she could eat it everyday! Her favorite football team is the Steelers. If she could have any superpower, it would be to channel the “chaos magic” that Scarlet the witch has in the Marvel comics. This encompasses a lot of different powers such as telekinesis, time manipulation, spell casting, and flight. She would like to be able to manipulate energy and reality. This is definitely a “cheat-code” power that would allow her to have multiple superpowers. But why only choose one?

Grace’s willingness to problem solve and learn along the way makes her essential to the company’s success. We are proud to have her as a part of our team. Thank you, Grace, for all that you do!