Member Insights: Krishna Vuppala

Hello everyone, I’m Krishna Vuppala, a lead manufacturing engineer at John Deere in Waterloo, Iowa, and an SME Member Council representative. My journey with SME began during my master’s program at the University of Missouri when a good friend gifted me a membership to support my job search. Becoming a member allowed me to get more involved with SME, opening doors to opportunities that enabled me to make a meaningful impact on the manufacturing community. As I shifted my focus towards manufacturing, I started seeing the world through a new lens, realizing that everything around us must be manufactured for us to use it. I feel incredibly fortunate to work in the manufacturing field, where I can add value to customers in numerous ways every day.

I kept my SME membership and embraced a leadership role in 2017 as chair-elect for Waterloo Chapter 186, which was a turning point in my involvement with SME. In this initial leadership role, I had the chance to learn the ropes at my own pace, building a solid foundation for the chapter’s success. When I became chair in 2019, I set a goal for Waterloo Chapter 186 to achieve Platinum Chapter status. Thanks to strong teamwork and dedicated leadership, we reached that goal, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see our chapter maintain its Platinum status to this day.

As a Member Council Representative, my focus is to help enhance member engagement, retention, and recruitment with the goal of serving professionals from different backgrounds in the manufacturing industry. In this role, I help chapters and their members across the globe maximize the value of membership. As a Co-Chair for Chapter Enhancement Committee (CEC), our team’s primary focus is to help the chapters with the resources and best practices needed to excel.  Even though COVID brought several challenges, the committee members made sure chapters were getting the help they needed to be successful. In fact, it helped broaden my network with subject-matter experts in various fields of manufacturing.

SME membership is also helping me develop future leaders at John Deere. I utilize SME’s resources to gain insights into current challenges and expand my network with industry experts, allowing us to avoid “reinventing the wheel.” Additionally, my membership helps me share the latest manufacturing trends with my peers both within and outside of John Deere by organizing webinars and Lunch & Learn sessions.

I am passionate about SME because it offers countless opportunities to learn, engage, and advance in the field of manufacturing. I feel fortunate to have SME support me in my mission to help students access the resources they need to succeed. SME provides its members with a wealth of resources—including SME Connect, Manufacturing Engineering magazine, SME events, and membership webinars—that enhance our daily manufacturing activities. The future of manufacturing relies on the next generation of leaders we are cultivating today, and with SME’s support, we are making that vision a reality.