Math lover found a place to do good

With a background in physics and materials science, Cacie McDorman, Process Engineer at Kanthal’s medical unit, thought it would be hard to embark on a career that could benefit the global community. “I’ve always wanted to dedicate my life to making the world a better place,” she says.“Kanthal allows me to do just that.”

Cacie grew up in Baltimore, MD, and discovered that she excelled in science and mathematics in school. “I was the first person in my family to go to college. I studied physics because it allowed me to try to answer fundamental questions about how and why things work the way they do and then apply them to real-world problems,” she says. “And I still love math!”

Since joining Kanthal’s business unit BU Medical in 2021, she has developed several processes to support customers’ fabrication of a range of medical products. “Devices for the earlier detection of heart failure, breast cancer localization wires, electrodes for cochlear implants, and neurostimulation coils,” she offers as examples. It didn’t take long after joining Kanthal to realize that she would both do good for other people and also herself become even better at doing so. “As a forward-thinking and global company, Kanthal opened the door for future career development, which means I can hone my expertise to help improve lives,” Cacie says.

Her Ph.D. research focused on biosensor development from the design stage all the way through the biocompatibility testing stage. This knowledge laid the foundation for her to gain a greater understanding of BU Medical customers’ end goals.

At work, she spends her time developing value-added operations to Exera® medical fine wire. “These types of processes help expand our market share by making BU Medical a ‘one stop shop’ which means that our customers can cut out the middleman from their design and fabrication processes,” Cacie says.

“One customer was ordering a cable from BU Medical and were having issues with removing the coating from the ends of the wires,” she says. “I was able to develop a cut to length and coating stripping process that fit their needs.”

During her free time, Cacie plays the guitar and goes to concerts. “There is always music playing in my house, even in the kitchen where my kids and I enjoy cooking together,” she says. “When the weather is nice, you can always find us outside throwing around a football or kicking a soccer ball.”