With 25+ years of experience, Karen Mayer, PE is a proven leader of engineering teams in executing both small plant projects and large-scale capital projects in chemical and industrial facilities. She employs modern project execution methods, with strong interpersonal skills as well as technical, procedural and project control system skills for ensuring successful results. She is a skilled manager, well versed in identifying project and plant needs, project risks, and opportunities for savings and value additions. As Chemical Process Market Director, she brings an unparalleled commitment to delivering innovative, safe, and sustainable solutions for her clients.
Professional Background
Karen’s career journey began with an unexpected shift in her academic pursuits. Initially entering college as a biology major with dreams of a career in medical research, she found herself captivated by the complexities of chemistry. This newfound interest led her to an internship at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, where she worked on technology transfer, utilizing NASA designs intended for application in space into real world applications. It was here that Karen decided to pursue dual degrees in biology and chemical engineering, setting the stage for a career that marries her love for science with practical, impactful engineering.
She landed on pursing engineering in the chemical industry after completing a second formative internship experience at LTV Steel (now Cleveland Cliffs Cleveland Works). This was a complete departure from her time at NASA. She worked in Environmental Health and Safety, tracking and monitoring radiation sources, air contamination, and chemical exposures, seeing firsthand the workplace challenges of meeting production in a safe and efficient manner. As she explains,
“Together these experiences led me to pursue a career in project design in the chemical industry because I get to solve problems, generate designs, and address the operational and safety challenges. I find a compliment on a design from the plant’s front-line operators, or maintenance team members, to be the highest compliment a chemical project engineer can get.”
From sterile, high-tech environments to gritty, safety-focused operations, Karen’s diverse early career experiences in a variety of process plants helped her develop a holistic understanding of the challenges and demands of process engineering.
These experiences shaped her approach—one that balances technical precision with an unwavering commitment to safety and efficiency.
Karen’s impressive portfolio showcases her ability to manage both small-scale projects and large capital ventures with equal finesse. Her technical expertise is broad, spanning the design and implementation of complex systems in the industrial gas and specialty chemical industries.
Notably, she has led significant projects for industry giants such as Messer LLC and Linde LLC, where her role often involved overseeing multi-million-dollar projects from conception through execution. Projects have spanned leading site development and cost estimation, overseeing construction of greenfield plants, and managing detailed engineering and construction of carbon capture systems, industrial gas supply systems, and various chemical plant expansions and upgrades, including reactor systems, raw material storage, and production facility enhancements.
There is perhaps no better testament to Karen’s abilities than the successful completion of what she considers to be the most challenging project of her career. The project involved restoring production for a very high-demand product after the plant experienced a catastrophic explosion. As Karen tells the story, “I was among the earliest visitors to the site to survey the damage and develop a solution to get the production of the high demand product up and running as soon as possible. It was an enormous challenge. Our solution was to restore the production area, which was lightly damaged, then we needed to reroute the product transfer to the shipping area, as the entire pipe bridge was destroyed. Instead of designing the solution and issuing our designs in one IFC package, we had a team on site, designing solutions hand in hand with the construction team. The team did conceptual design, evaluated the concepts, changed the concept, found a solution that would work, then prepared design drawings in hours instead of weeks. We had daily meetings with corporate leadership to demonstrate our progress and resolve our issues.
We were challenged to meet a very aggressive schedule, that we thought was impossible. Instead, we finished early, and production was restored ahead of schedule. It was one of the most stressful experiences of my career, but one I will never forget.”
Dedication to Client Service & Excellence
Karen’s dedication to her clients and depth of understanding of their needs makes her a sought-after engineering partner. She understands that in the chemical industry, plant owners are experts in operations, but they often rely on engineering firms to bring their expansion projects to life. Karen aims to be a go-to partner, providing not just engineering services, but peace of mind. “My goal with each one of our clients,” she says, “is to be the preferred engineering partner that can fully support their expansion projects and fill gaps in their knowledge and capabilities.”
She further elaborates,
“Poor-quality deliverables, schedule overruns, and budget overruns due to change orders result in construction delays and impact production on stream dates. Owners need engineering partners that have the manpower to execute their expansion projects, provide additional needed expertise, and meet the project schedule and budget with a high-quality design.”
To be an effective partner, Karen utilizes a well-trained team and the appropriate software (Intelligent design/P&IDs, Cloud storage, Project Management/Document control) that allows for efficiency in the design process and minimizes labor intensive activities through direct generation of project lists and repetitive information. “We strive to improve quality and accuracy, reduce labor costs and improve schedule performance,” she says.
Karen further explains that her approach to ensure successful projects can be summed up by the saying “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.” She shares: “I was once reading a leadership paper where the author invoked the military maxim ‘slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. The statement initially seems counterintuitive. But when you dig into the meaning the concept is really very eloquent. At its core, the saying emphasizes the importance of accuracy, consistency, and a controlled pace in executing tasks. Contrary to popular belief, the fastest route to success isn’t always about rushing headfirst into tasks. It’s about maintaining a rhythm, a smoothness in operation that naturally leads to increased speed and efficiency.”
Karen immediately employed the mantra at the next project kick-off she attended. When the client PM said they wanted the project completed “yesterday,” she stated, “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.” After a brief moment of confusion, the client embraced the concept. They spent the next 30 minutes discussing how they could execute the project in a manner with a measured cadence during the design effort and which would lead to the project construction being executed with very few delays. By eliminating the impulse to rush, the focus moved to delivering in budget, and on time. Karen and the client worked on several more projects together in the ensuing years, and in implementing the “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast” concept, achieved some of the most successful projects of their careers.
Looking to the Future
As the chemical and process industries continue to evolve with respect to plant maintenance and capital projects, Karen is ready to help her clients navigate the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities.
Asked about the key trends affecting the industry, Karen shares, “On the positive side, our clients are pursuing a philosophy of safe and sustainable by design. Their projects are focusing on providing the needed function while avoiding chemical properties that may be harmful or toxic. This approach considers using waste as sustainable feedstock, redesigning processes to create better products, and circularity by design such as carbon capture and utilization.
To achieve these initiatives, chemical plant owners are looking to reduce equipment size, improve heat and mass transfer, reduce energy consumption and reduce waste formation. Of course, all this needs to be combined with the additional objectives of being cost effective, safer, and sustainable. These initiatives take the role of the engineering design team to the next level.
At REW we strive to understand and support these initiatives through a collaborative approach with the chemical plant owners. When the objectives are more than just schedule and budget, we engage to become an integral part of team to develop concepts and solutions focused on our client’s success.”
On the more challenging side, Karen shares that clients are dealing with more regulations and record-keeping requirements. Further, supply chain issues persist, and the workforce continues to shrink, resulting in shortages of qualified employees. “Our approach as an engineering services provider,” Karen states, “is to step into those roles needed to support our clients with these challenges. We perform code and regulations reviews; we support developing programs for meeting record keeping requirements.
And as we now have more than 200 employees consisting of strong engineers and designers; we have the resources to support our client’s staff needs.”
Unparalleled Enthusiasm
Karen’s track record speaks for itself. She is energetic, detail-oriented, and strives to build project teams marked by cooperation and collaboration. Further, she offers not just technical expertise, but a genuine passion for making a difference. Her commitment to building long-term relationships and delivering results truly makes her—and REW—stand out in the industry.