Women in Manufacturing: Miss Kentucky contestant uses platform to encourage youth to enter trades

The second of three in a series on Women in Manufacturing to appear on Thursdays at the NKyTribune.

By Sydney Murray
BE NKY Growth Partnership

Twenty-one-year-old Adisyn Donk is a manufacturing engineer co-op at Mazak, and despite her young age, she is already advocating for careers in the trades, especially through her community service initiative platform while competing for Miss Kentucky.

She participated in her second pageant in 2024 with the platform “Who is Made for the Trades? Any Face from Any Place.” It focused on the benefits of attending community college and not overlooking the trades, because this path can help young women find the right career or lead to further education at another university.

“I truly realized how much of an impact I could have on other girls by talking about my career and pathway in manufacturing,” said Donk. “Going into the trades can lead to so many opportunities for young adults.”

Donk’s path to working in the manufacturing industry started when she was a young teenager.

As a sophomore at Conner High School, Donk participated in a program where she spent a semester at Boone County Area Technology Center learning more about skills such as welding, automotive technology, and health sciences.

During her junior and senior years, she chose a more specific route and spent half her day working in metal fabrication, which included some welding. Donk stayed in this program throughout her senior year until COVID-19 interrupted it. Donk also won the SkillsUSA metal fabrication regional competition but couldn’t compete at the state level due to the pandemic.

Donk transferred to Lawrenceburg High School, and out of Boone County ATC, to finish her senior year. But even though she lost touch with welding for a while, she eventually decided to pursue a career in this field through study at Gateway Community and Technical College, along with the assistance of a Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship through the school.

During her time at Gateway, Donk earned associate degrees in welding technology, science, and business.

Donk joined the welding department at Mazak in August 2023. After only six months, she was given the opportunity to transfer to the engineering department, and she said this was a difficult choice for her to make.

“It was a really hard decision,” said Donk. “Even though the end goal was to be an engineer, I really liked working in fabrication and welding. When the hood goes down, it’s like you’re in another world.”

Donk did transfer to the engineering department, and in her role, she works with her colleagues to solve issues relating to Mazak’s floor operations. She said she likes getting to see every single aspect of what goes on at Mazak.

While working as a co-op, Donk is also pursuing her bachelor’s degree in mechanical and manufacturing engineering technology at Northern Kentucky University. After graduation, Donk hopes to work full time in Mazak’s engineering department.

“Adisyn is a great addition to our Mazak team, and we look forward to seeing her growth as she pursues her engineering technology degree,” said Mazak HR Director Bill Weier. “With women making up only about 29 percent of the manufacturing workforce nationwide, we are excited to see Adisyn inspiring young women to pursue manufacturing careers.”

Although there have been many steps that have gotten Donk to where she is today, she said she owes a lot to Gateway, and she loved her time there so much she wants to teach at the college after she retires.

“If I wouldn’t have gone to school for welding, I wouldn’t have discovered Mazak or the job I love,” said Donk. “Going to community college should not be embarrassing. And from there, you can find what you are really passionate about.”

For those interested in learning more about opportunities at Gateway, contact Senior Admission Recruiter/Advisor Madeline Kues at madeline.kues@kctcs.edu .

Sydney Murray is Communications Specialist at BE NKY Growth Partnership.

See third in this series next Thursday at the NKyTribune.

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