Echoes

    Like most inquisitive siblings, Andrew Gillman wanted to know what his father did during all those long hours away from home.
    Some of his friends’ parents were teachers. Others were air traffic controllers, athletic trainers, dentists and building contractors.
So, what did Steve Gillman do at Eli Lilly and Company?
    “We make drugs,” Steve replied in a matter-of-fact fashion while driving his son to soccer practice.
    Andrew turned abruptly to look into his father’s eyes.
    “Drugs?!” he countered.
    Realizing what his son was thinking, Gillman immediately took steps to clear up the situation.
    “No, son, we make medicine.”
    It’s this type of quick thinking, common sense and keen communication skills that have helped Gillman (Chem. Eng., ‘79) throughout a successful 20-year career as an engineer, manager and director at Lilly.
    Since 1996, the Brookville, Ind., native has been director of Lilly’s Engineering Tech Center, responsible for leading a global organization of engineering technologists that help optimize the company’s manufacturing and development processes, and facilities. He oversees a 150-person team with a $20 million annual budget.
    “I feel very fortunate that I have loved engineering and have always worked in a technical arena, with quality technical staff members and a company that values technical expertise,” assessed Gillman, one of a family of 10 children (younger brother Carl is a 1990 Rose-Hulman graduate). “I may be the team leader, but first and foremost I’ve been an engineer who appreciates the corporate setting. I’ve learned that everything engineers do reflects on the company’s economic well-being. One of my roles is to help other learn to sell their engineering skills and ideas.”
    At Lilly, perfecting such things as new insulin delivery devices for diabetes patients and developing new anti-depression drugs improve the lives of people throughout the world.
    “You know you’re helping people. Sometimes it hits close to home: You’re helping a neighbor or the parent of one of your child’s classmates at school. That’s the most gratifying aspect of my job,” Gillman said during a meeting with Rose-hulman chemical engineering majors. “I have enjoyed what I have done at Lilly. The company has always challenged me.”
    One of Gillman’s biggest challenges came from 1988-91 as project manager for the design and construction of Lilly’s $210 million biosynthetic bulk manufacturing facility in Indianapolis. It is one of the company’s largest capital projects ever accomplished.
    “It was good for my career, but not as good for my family life . Thank God my children were young at the time,” he recalled. “I worked far too much (65 to 70 hours a week). I learned that I had to set priorities for my life and my professional career. I couldn’t do it all. I started to rely on others more. I became a better manager. I learned to listen better. The experience has caused me to do my job differently today.”
    Those are qualities Gillman now seeks when recruiting and retaining engineers as Lilly’s management sponsor for Rose-Hulman. It’s a relationship with the college that he’s nurtured during the past 14 years.
    “I’m looking for people with the passion for engineering,” he states, adding engineering experience, communication skills and ability to work in teams are other requisites for Lilly. “Rose-Hulman graduates are much more advanced communicators than when I graduated. They know how to sell a product. I don’t think I would have been hired by Lilly if I was graduating today. I wasn’t as well-rounded as today’s Rose-Hulman graduates. I had a lot to learn.”
    After starting as a staff engineer in 1979, Gillman’s Lilly experiences have also included service as head of a corporate projects engineering department (1986-88), manager of environmental affairs (1991-93), and manager of environmental, containment, process and energy tech centers (1993-96). He has spent three years in his current position.
    “As long as the job is exciting I’ll always be happy,” he says. “I still haven’t figured out how to do my job in a 40-hour week. I spend too much time in meetings. My wife, Cindy, (the couple met on a blind date at Rose-Hulman) keeps me grounded, along with two children. I’m still working very hard to keep everything balanced in my life. It’s a daily challenge.”
— by Dale Long