Zoie Bleau says she is “made for the Aviation and Aerospace Industry.”

Zoie Bleau says she is “made for the Aviation and Aerospace Industry.”

Two years ago, Bleau was still a senior at Montserrat College of Art, completing her BFA in her Sculpture concentration. The pandemic was still in its early stages and classes were fully virtual. A tough and solitary time for most students, but for art students who require studio time for their practice, especially trying.

Today, she works as an ultrasonic welder, helping to build full pressure suits for NASA and the Air Force. DCCI of Worcester, her employer, has played an important role in air and space protective equipment design, development, and manufacture since 1941.

Ultrasonic welding (USW) is a solid state welding process using high frequency ultrasonic vibrations and pressure to create a weld, usually on soft plastics or fabrics. This process is used to make airtight components of pressure suits. The work is precise as lives depend on her accuracy.

”The best preparation I could have had for this job was Montserrat,” Bleau says. “A big advantage was working as a safety monitor for the sculpture department. The protocols I learned gave me the edge. My background with tools and machinery helped a lot, along with my problem solving skills.”

Although nervous when she first started, Bleau leaned on what she learned and allowed her skills and confidence to grow. She started her position as a temp, but was hired soon after as her supervisors began to trust her work.

Zoie’s delight in her job is palpable. She is now living in Worcester and maintains relationships with both professors and alumni. She said she is happy and feels the stability that a career and a community bring.

To other students, her advice is “Pay attention, you never know what skills or lessons are going to help you in your future; even the small details can be important. Also, don’t stop trying or you will do a disservice to yourself as an artist and a human.”

And of her own future, she says, “I want to stay in the aerospace field. I couldn’t have thought I would be doing this, but I love it. I was made for this, after all, my middle name is Star.”