Supply Chain and Logistics Technology Program Director Margaret Kidd was recently featured on the cover of Breakbulk Magazine — a bimonthly worldwide project cargo and breakbulk shipping industry publication — in a surprising twist that elevated her profile piece into a major feature.
Breakbulk Magazine is published six times per year, going out to major global engineering firms, port authorities, third-party logistics firms, oil and gas firms, and other entities related to global capital projects. Kidd was initially selected to be interviewed for a story detailing her connections to and involvement in the sector.
"I had absolutely no idea that I was being featured on the cover," she said. "I was in Dubai, and I spoke on a panel at Breakbulk Middle East in February. I thought they were just doing a profile piece. They didn't tell me that it would be the front-page story. I started getting early-morning texts from friends in Europe because it launched out of London, and that's how I found out."
"I guess what's ironic is that most of the supply chain and global capital projects world is very male-dominated," she continued. "This is only the second time that a woman has been featured on the cover of Breakbulk Magazine, but they’re really trying to drive this message of inclusivity and diversity."
In fact, this is the third issue in a row that women have been featured as the cover story for Breakbulk Magazine. Their sixth issue of 2023 highlighted their Women in Breakbulk conference panel and initiative, sharing commentary from over half a dozen women industry leaders on their experience in the breakbulk and supply chain sectors, and their first issue of 2024 featured Alia Janahi, DP World's Vice President of HSE Operations in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
"When you're younger and you're thinking about the profession, it's encouraging to see women doing the job, too. Not just men. If you look at program directors of supply chain and logistics education programs in the US, they're almost all men. There are a couple of women, but even on the academic side, the field is very male dominated, so I hope that seeing this might inspire some of my students and encourage them not to let anyone get in their way. It would have been great to see this twenty years ago," Kidd said. "Global logistics is a fruitful industry."
This issue — the second of 2024 — focused in part on energy transition, which Kidd notes is of particular importance and relevance to the University of Houston and its work as a Tier 1 research university.
Dubbed a "champion for Breakbulk's [next generation]" by the publication's headline, Kidd's efforts to create and maintain educational and experiential opportunities for her students are featured prominently; she emphasizes that it's not about her being on the cover as much as it is about what her presence represents for women in the industry and for the University of Houston on the global stage.
"They don't normally put an academic on the cover of this kind of publication, but there's no question that I spend a lot of time with industry to drive value to my students," she said. "The EPC world — engineer, procure, construct — includes some major engineering firms that have their home base right here in Houston, like Bechtel and Fluor. That's really my goal: the work I do when I'm speaking at these conferences drives internships and job opportunities for our students, and my focus is to make a difference for them."