What does it mean to be a Southernite?
To be a Southernite is to live a life of excellence and tradition by having an obligation of serving the community, making a positive impact in your industry sector and taking responsibility for establishing a legacy that will continue to add value to the world.
Shadrach's Bio:
Shadrach A. Stephens is the Global Improvement Leader and Reliability Director for the Environmental Technology Center at Dow Inc. Shadrach has made an impact within his profession by creating value in every role that he has served in. As a Reliability, Maintenance and Engineering Leader he develops and energizes teams that are committed to changing the current reality and are focused on delivering value to the company’s future expectations. Throughout his entire career, his improvement teams have generated over $85 million of value creation. He joined Dow in 2007 as an Instrument & Electrical (I&E) Reliability Engineer for in Freeport, TX and in this role, he was responsible for the development of various site-wide reliability and departmental improvement projects. In 2009, he had an opportunity to partner with a faith-based organization to provide project leadership in the execution of a $6.5MM community center in Houston, TX. He returned to Dow in 2011 as an Instrument Reliability Engineer supporting the Deer Park Operations. While there, the Acrylates I&E team established a reliability program that delivered an 85% reduction in reactor unplanned events. Shadrach rejoined his cohorts in Freeport in 2013 as the Maintenance Group Leader responsible for the instrument, electrical, and refrigeration technologies across Texas Operations. In 2015, Shadrach joined the Environmental Operations Business (EOB) to become a Reliability & Maintenance Leader for the Freeport assets and from 2015 to 2017, the team was able to deliver a 37% reduction in base maintenance cost while also increasing equipment reliability by 1.9%. In 2018, Shadrach transitioned into a combined Global Improvement Leader and Reliability Director role within the EOB portfolio. In this role, he supports the capital and reliability improvements for 15 sites across the world.
Outside of his corporate engagements, Shadrach has started a new initiative called, Re.engineer, which is an open source community of STEM (Science, Technology, Mathematics, and Engineering) practitioners, professionals, and academics that collaborate, share and leverage value added solutions and innovations. As the founder, he aspires to create a radical collaboration movement that leads to more value creation and mentorship in the world of STEM, Diversity & Inclusion, and Continuous Improvement.
Shadrach earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, LA. He is also a certified Six Sigma Green Belt Project Leader and Kaizen Facilitator, and is the recipient of Plant Engineering <40 Engineering Leaders, HART Plant of the Year and Southern University Alumni Federation 40 under Forty. Shadrach has been married to his wife Marie Smith-Stephens for 13 years and they both enjoy volunteering in the community and traveling with their 3 year old Mekhi and 7 month old Moriah.