Government and defense are on the offensive despite economic turbulence

EEs, CEs, MEs and software engineers are still in demand

By Jon Boroshok
Contributing Editor

'The recession has put a damper on hiring, but there is still a demand for the best and brightest engineering and IT grads,” says Walter Caldwell of Goal Recruiting (Los Angeles, CA, www.goalrecruiting.com). Caldwell recently retired from a long-term position as staffing resources manager at a major aerospace and defense company.

There are jobs in electrical, chemical, mechanical and software engineering, along with computer systems and security. But some offers may be lower and take longer to come through, he says. Companies are not willing to take as many risks, and they’re being more selective. “Grads need to work hard to be more marketable,” he notes. “They need to be more assertive.”

Caldwell adds that the economy is posing an additional challenge for today’s grads. The plummeting value of retirement funds has forced many experienced professionals to put off retirement. This means fewer positions available for new entrants to the workforce.

“Companies are also scaling back on campus recruiting,” he says. “Some only show up for very specific openings.”

Harris seeks top talent for tomorrow’s leadership
“We recognize that our future relies on the leaders of tomorrow and that this top talent exists on the college campuses now,” says university relations and recruiting manager Lisa deCordova of Harris Corporation (Melbourne, FL).

Harris, an international communications and IT company that serves government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries, has been in business for 114 years. Its leaders realize that even a challenging economy will eventually improve. “We must stay focused on long-term goals: ongoing relationships with our key university partners and attracting top new college grad talent,” she says.

Seniors and new college grads pursuing technical fields should also remain focused, she advises. “Network, perfect job hunting skills and be flexible. Opportunities are available.”

Kimberly Sheppard is an engineer at Babcock & Wilcox
Kimberly Sheppard danced her way into her job at Babcock & Wilcox (B&W, Lynchburg, VA).

The December 2007 graduate of Longwood University (Farmville, VA) earned a BS in physics. She was considering grad school, but took an interim job at a dance studio. The studio owner introduced her to someone at B&W, a global provider of energy products and services.

Today she’s a B&W engineer, supporting products as they move through the shop floor. She says the best part of her job is the people she works with. “Everybody is extremely helpful and patient,” she says, but “You’re expected to learn everything quickly.”

Sheppard says that B&W is supportive of employee community involvement and has been flexible and accommodating with her schedule, although she’s scaled back her extracurricular activities. “I still dance, but plays are out,” she says.

Sheppard’s department is mostly male, but there are women too. She’s been assigned a formal mentor to guide and direct her.

In the future, Sheppard may take advantage of B&W’s tuition benefits and pursue that masters degree in applied physics. For now, she plans to “just do my job well. I work with people who really know what they’re doing.”

B&W values diversity
“With a well-rounded workforce come different perspectives that help us think out of the box and create better products and solutions for our customers,” says Van Athanas, B&W’s VP
of HR.

The company has a formal summer intern program and maintains a high profile in local community initiatives. “Not only is it a good way to introduce future engineers to B&W and build goodwill among existing employees, we feel it’s important to lead by example in giving back to our communities,” says Athanas.

He cites a B&W initiative that sponsors two students in the Central Virginia Community College and University of Virginia’s joint engineering degree program. While open to all applicants, the program was launched to foster and recruit female and minority engineers whenever possible.

Marcella Soto is a process engineer at BAE Systems
Marcella Soto was not a good student in high school, and she got in trouble. While serving a suspension, she sat in on some of the classes at the college where her mother worked. This sparked an interest in electrical engineering.

Soto entered California State University (Los Angeles, CA) as an engineering student and interned at Boeing (Huntington Beach, CA) and Southern California Edison (Rosemead, CA).

But she had to help support her family and found herself working more than taking classes. So she began looking for a fulltime job that included tuition assistance. She’d heard good things about defense, security and aerospace company BAE Systems, Inc (Rockville, MD) and sought out the company at a SHPE conference in Philadelphia.

Soto is now a process engineer at the company’s York, PA facility. She works on new mine-resistant vehicles. “My job lets me see all levels of process and product life cycles from proposal through production,” she notes.

Soto’s job is to support the performance excellence group in developing and maintaining project and divisional policies, standards, processes, work instructions and templates. “I make sure projects are in compliance, that they meet customer requirements and make business sense,” she explains.

Soto finds the age gap between new employees and long-timers is her biggest challenge. She works hard to gain her colleagues’ trust and prove her abilities. “I view it as an opportunity,” she says. “I can learn a lot from them, but I can also help them with new methods.”

Soto is back in school and hopes to complete her BSEET at Pennsylvania State University (Harrisburg, PA) in 2011. “I want to work more hands on with vehicles in engineering support and production,” she says.

“At BAE Systems we recognize and leverage the richness and value that the knowledge, ideas and experiences of all our employees add to our business,” says HR director Maureen Barge. “We strive to create an environment where everyone is recognized and given the opportunity to develop to his or her own potential.”

Ahmad Ishaq is a project manager at DIA
Ahmad Ishaq is an Afghan-American. He grew up in Los Angeles, but was
born in Kabul, Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation. He still has family
in Afghanistan.

As a child, Ishaq became infatuated with “a giant computer” that his father had bought him to play with. Over the past ten years, his love of technology has driven him to earn numerous degrees and certificates.

Ishaq holds a BS in business administration and a BA in political science from California State University (Dominguez Hills, CA), an MS in information systems technology from George Washington University (Washington, DC), and he’s back in school nights working on a masters in government at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD).

Ishaq is the Analytic Space (A-Space) project manager for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA, Washington, DC). DIA is a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) combat support agency and important member of the U.S. intelligence community. With more than 16,500 military and civilian employees worldwide, DIA is a major producer and manager of foreign military intelligence.

The DIA’s A-Space project is an online collaborative workspace for intelligence community analysts, built on the model of Web 2.0 social networking applications like Facebook.

A DoD undergrad internship helped Ishaq land his current job. He served as an IT specialist from January through May 2006 and as a financial executive intern from May through August 2005.

Now Ishaq manages projects; he gets customer requirements and then directs contractors to deliver them. “The A-Space project earned a Time magazine best invention award in 2008,”
he states proudly.

“Being on the government side, you have an opportunity to drive initiatives,” says Ishaq. “It also requires thinking two steps ahead, and always trying to improve products.”

Ishaq says his Afghan background has certainly influenced his career path, but it hasn’t been
a concern in his line of work. “I have as many opportunities as anyone else,” he says. “Evaluations are performance based, so being a minority is not a problem.”

Ishaq has a strong interest in financial terrorism and aspires to a government agency CIO role. After completing his masters in 2010, he plans to begin working on a PhD. Despite the heavy workload of school and job, Ishaq manages to go hiking and spend time with friends. “Time management is your best friend or worst enemy,” he says with a smile.

Diversity is mission critical at DIA
Denise Carter, senior expert for diversity, says that the DIA needs a diverse workforce to meet the challenges of the 21st century. “We equate diversity of workforce with diversity of thought that transcends physical characteristics,” she says.

Carter notes that nothing is more important to the intelligence profession than leveraging different perspectives on threats that are facing our nation. “By hiring men and women with a broad range of backgrounds, we increase our analytical perspectives and effectively minimize the likelihood of group think,” she says. “For us, diversity is a mission-critical objective.”

Ensco’s Kenneth Galindo is a systems analyst
“In high school, IT was really hot,” says Kenneth Galindo. “I always liked taking computers apart.”

Galindo earned his 2004 AS in IS technology with a concentration in software development at Northern Virginia Community College (Annandale, VA) and his 2007 BS in IT, with a concentration in database management and programming, at George Mason University (Fairfax, VA).

As an undergrad, Galindo started working part time as a helpdesk administrator at Ensco, Inc (Falls Church, VA), and was offered a fulltime job at graduation. The company provides engineering, science and advanced technology solutions for the defense, security, transportation, environment and aerospace industries.

Galindo’s parents are from Guatemala and he’s the first member of his family to graduate from college. “I’m very motivated to succeed and make them proud,” he says. He’s married and just bought his first house. “Ensco’s family-friendly environment has made it a lot easier to have a home life and still take advantage of the professional opportunities here,” he notes.

On the job, Galindo is a systems analyst supporting Ensco locations across the U.S. “When systems go down, I jump in,” he says.

Galindo works on databases, networks, hardware and software in both PC and Mac environments. He manages and supports many different apps and OSs across multiple platforms, and helps maintain Ensco’s network infrastructure. “Working with a variety of technologies is my favorite aspect of the job,” he says.

He finds his work environment supportive. “The guys here are amazing,” he says. “People took me under their wing to bring me up to speed.”

Galindo is currently taking classes toward an MBA at Strayer University (Newington, VA). “I want to keep going,” he says. “The MBA will help me understand the business side.”

Ensco is building an inclusive culture
“Ensco is committed to cultivating a culture of diversity, in our work and in our workforce,” says HR director Gillian Thomas.

“There is a certain collaborative energy that is attained when a company builds an inclusive culture, when it leverages the different perspectives employees of all backgrounds bring to
the workplace,” she states proudly.

Leanne Erickson: co-op to engineering at GE Aviation
As a high school student in Coopersville, MI, Leanne Erickson liked physics. She took a class in electric racing cars and became the school’s first female race team captain.

Erickson enrolled at Grand Valley State University (Grand Rapids, MI) thinking she’d major in electrical engineering. Instead, she decided on a dual major: computer and electrical engineering. She earned her bachelors in August 2009.

A month before graduation she joined the Grand Rapids, MI location of GE Aviation (Evendale, OH). The company is a global producer of large and small jet engines for commercial and military aircraft. It also supplies aircraft-derived engines for marine applications and provides aviation services.

Erickson completed the three co-ops her school requires at GE Aviation. She worked in custom logic design and then in hardware systems. With over two years of experience at the company, it’s not surprising that she was offered a fulltime position.

She’s a systems safety engineer in the company’s leadership development rotation program. “It’s different from my co-ops,” she says. In the hardware group her job was to make sure everything worked together and met customer requirements. “I’m now making sure there are no system failures in commercial and military aircraft.”

Erickson believes that co-ops have definitely helped prepare her for the “real world.” The rotational program includes a formal mentoring and training plan. “Everyone here is very willing to help, so there’s less pressure,” she says.

“We want to make sure GE is a place where the best and the brightest want to come to work and where they want to stay,” says Joe Colburn, HR leader. “We believe a diverse workforce and environment are what bring us the best talent. It creates a culture where everyone can excel no matter what their background.”

Stephanie Slezycki is an ME at General Dynamics Electric Boat
Growing up as the daughter of an engineer who has worked for forty years
at the same company, Stephanie Slezycki was determined not to be like
her father.

She enrolled at Boston University (Boston, MA) without declaring a major.
“I just knew I didn’t want to be an engineer,” she says.

But she’d loved a robotics class in high school. “I decided I really was destined to become an engineer,” she says with a smile. Slezycki transferred to the University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT) and earned her BSME in 2007. As a student, Slezycki co-authored two books on robotic designs from the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics program.

She landed an internship with her father’s employer, General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp (Groton, CT). She worked in the Virginia-class submarine main propulsion machinery group, concentrating on ship service turbine generator (SSTG) sets.

Her performance as an intern earned Slezycki a fulltime job at graduation. In April 2008, she became a permanent employee in Electric Boat’s main propulsion machinery group. As an ME she was responsible for supporting improvement, maintenance and troubleshooting of SSTG sets being installed during ship construction.

Her change of schools, work schedule and outside activities meant that it took her seven years to earn her degree. The transition to fulltime work was eased by her extensive internship experience, but “I was just looking forward to that paycheck,” she exclaims. “Work is easier than school. You’re done at the end of the day!”

Slezycki is now working in Electric Boat’s Virginia-class program office. The company has delivered five subs so far, with thirteen more under contract. Slezycki is responsible for evaluating cost-saving design improvements, and developing plans to make the improvements permanent. She describes her position as closer to program development or project management than hands-on engineering.

She likes running her own projects. “I get to learn a lot and I’m never bored,” she says. She also has the flexibility to do side projects, sometimes thinking five years ahead. “That forward thinking can be a challenge,” she notes.

Being a woman poses no special challenges at Electric Boat, but Slezycki still wants to prove she’s as good as anyone else. She’s in a rotational program that typically lasts two years, but can vary depending on the actual assignment. “There are lots of opportunities to grow with the company,” she notes.

Slezycki plans on a long future with Electric Boat. She’s aiming for a project management
role in technology development. “I’m being assigned roles with more and more responsibility,” she says.

Slezycki is a member of the ASME, American Mensa, the NDIA Undersea Warfare Division, the Electric Boat Management Association and the Connecticut FIRST Robotics Regional Planning Committee. She also volunteers with the FIRST Robotics program as an engineering mentor to high school students. “I hope to get Electric Boat more involved in that,” she says.

Diversity drives innovation at Electric Boat
“The future of General Dynamics Electric Boat depends on our ability to develop a diverse workforce that stimulates various perspectives to help resolve complex engineering challenges,” says HR VP Robert Nardone.

“Diversity drives innovation, and innovation is the reason Electric Boat has succeeded for 110 years,” Nardone explains. “A diverse workforce is crucial if we are going to help the Navy find answers to the complex problems we will face in the twenty-first century, and it will help us identify and seize opportunities in a rapidly changing economy.”

Victor Jimenez Delgado is a software engineer at Harris
Victor Jimenez Delgado was born and raised in Puerto Rico. His father worked with computers, and young Jimenez was exposed to technology at an early age. “I liked breaking down computers and putting them back together to see how they work,” he says.

Jimenez earned his 2008 BS in CS and mathematics at the University of Puerto Rico (Mayaguez, PR). “Computers are a way to solve problems,” he says.

Jimenez was first introduced to Harris Corporation (Melbourne, FL) at a campus job fair. He liked what he saw and was interviewed during his junior year.

After graduation, Jimenez joined the company’s RF Division in Rochester, NY. He designs, tests and upgrades software communications products for soldiers in the field. “Software engineering is a very problem-solution oriented field right now,” he says. “We can help one soldier save another soldier’s life.”

Jimenez says that when he took the job he was ready for a change. And change is what he got, both culturally and climate-wise! He says there’s not much diversity in his native Puerto Rico. “I’ve had to focus on my English, and get used to ‘real winters’ with cold weather,” he says with a smile.

Jimenez has gotten to use his Spanish on the job. There are occasional calls from Spanish-speaking customers and he attends job fairs to help with recruiting.

He looks forward to a long future with Harris, and hopes to someday go back to school for a masters in artificial intelligence.

Global inclusion is a core value at Harris
“Global inclusion touches all aspects of our employees’ careers, from hiring, to performance,
to development,” says president & CEO Howard Lance. “It also directly impacts our business capabilities, from research and development, to enabling technologies, to patent leadership
and more.

“I am personally committed to seeing that Harris continues to align and incorporate global inclusion strategies into the way we operate on a daily basis,” says Lance.

April Cooke is in a post-doctoral program at NIST
April Cooke took mechanical drawing classes as a high school student in the Charlotte, NC area. “I always wanted to know how things work,” she says. Mechanical engineering appealed to her.

Cooke decided to stay local and earned her 2002 BSME at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As a student, she was influenced by an adjunct professor from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

NIST is a non-regulatory federal agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It promotes U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards and technology.

The professor encouraged her to apply for NIST’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program (SURF). SURF is an eleven-week program that gives undergrad students the chance to contribute to an ongoing research project under the guidance of a NIST scientist or engineer. It was the first time she’d been away from home for that long.

Cooke returned to UNC Charlotte for her 2007 MSME and 2008 PhD. During grad school she worked as a research assistant at the school’s Center for Precision Metrology. She conducted thermal imaging during machining tests, performed calibrations for temperature conversions, and assisted other projects that needed thermal measurements. “My graduate advisor was a National Research Council post-doc researcher,” she says. “He convinced me to apply for the program.”

Through the NRC, Cooke is now doing a two-year post-doc program at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD. She’s a regular NIST engineer, but got her appointment through a competitive NRC process. Cooke spends 50 percent of her time on a new project in additive manufacturing, which is the process of making something layer by layer. “Working for a national lab is both challenging and rewarding,” she says.

Cooke feels some self-imposed pressure from being one of the few female MEs in her division, but she looks up to her male advisor and supervisor. She’s openly gay and is grateful that NIST offers a very supportive culture.

After finishing her program Cooke hopes to join NIST full time. She ultimately aspires to becoming a professor, maybe even back at UNC Charlotte.

Diversity facilitates problem solving and innovation at NIST
“NIST needs the sharpest minds from around the country to tackle the nation’s most critical technical challenges,” says Jeremy Lawson, EEO specialist in the civil rights and diversity office.

“Our SURF program and other student programs make special efforts to recruit and mentor talented students from underrepresented groups,” says Lawson.

Annie Lum is an aerospace engineer at NRL
Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, Annie Lum loved high school physics.
One of her teachers was a mechanical engineer who encouraged her to take AP physics.

At Boston University (Boston, MA), Lum was able to waive physics 1 and 2 and take elective courses in computer programming and solar and space physics. She also worked as an engineering aide at one of the school’s labs.

After earning her 2008 BS in aerospace engineering, she was ready for a change. One of her professors introduced her to a contact at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL, Washington, DC).

After two interviews, Lum joined NRL as an aerospace engineer in the astrodynamics and space navigation group. She’s responsible for mission design and orbit analysis for both pre-existing satellites and projects currently in development. Her tasks include developing software updates to aid in high-precision orbit determination.

Lum also develops novel formation control methods for future satellite constellations. She explains that her job is to answer the question, “‘How do you keep satellites where you want them to be?’ I’m working on something that we hope will be launched into space,” she states proudly. “It’s really exciting for me.”

NRL values the diversity of its workforce
“We believe a diverse workforce is imperative to fulfilling our mission and ensuring the laboratory is as vital and innovative today as ever,” says deputy EEO officer Lori Hill. “We recognize that a workforce comprised of a wide variety of perspectives, ideas and backgrounds is an integral aspect of our success.”

As part of its diversity and recruitment efforts, NRL incorporates government-sponsored student programs like the student career experience program, student temporary experience program, and summer hire program where students are brought on board prior to graduation and given the opportunity to participate in NRL’s research and development efforts.

Raytheon’s Lindsey Brown is a systems engineer
Growing up in Galveston, TX, Lindsey Brown always liked taking things apart and putting them back together. She enrolled at Prairie View A&M University (Prairie View, TX) because it had a lab that would let her do just that. “It also counted toward my electrical engineering major,” she says with a smile. She earned her BSEE in 2006.

As an undergrad, Brown did two internships at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (Houston, TX). She participated in the requirements definition and implementation of a VoIP system for the new astronaut crew quarters. This involved testing and evaluating hardware encoders and decoders for high quality video transport, testing software for digitization of space shuttle mission pictures for real-time viewing, and performing tests to reduce the cost
of photo development.

She also interned at General Electric (Louisville, KY) where she presented specifications in electronic control reviews and validated software through black box testing.

An interview at Raytheon led to a job offer early in Brown’s senior year. She’d met Prairie View alums at a campus career fair and was impressed with the company. “Because I wasn’t under pressure to find a job,” she says, “I was able to concentrate on my classes.”

As a systems engineer II, Brown qualifies hardware, making sure it meets customer requirements. She likes the responsibility and flexibility that come with the job. “I’m one of those people who can’t sit at my desk all day,” she says.

Brown has been in her current position for three years and has already been honored as employee of the month twice, the first time just two months after joining. She has no formal mentor, but has developed a strong support network. “I’ve met many other wonderful female engineers at Raytheon,” she says.

She recently entered a three-year rotational program. “I’m looking forward to getting a lot of knowledge in a lot of areas,” she says. Brown is involved in her church, her community, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

“Diversity is an integral part of Raytheon’s culture,” says university programs manager Sandra Beckett. “We strive to create an environment where everyone is valued and empowered to perform at peak level by offering employee resource groups, diversity outreach and focus on respect and inclusion.”

Nichole McCown designs hardware and software at Rockwell Collins
Nichole McCown knew she wanted to be an engineer. She just wasn’t sure what kind, but narrowed her choice to either biomedical or electrical engineering.

She’d had exposure to biomedical engineering in high school, working as an intern at the Soldier and Biological Chemical Command (SBCCOM) as part of
a Department of Defense apprentice program for high school students. “I was the only female, the only minority, and at fourteen the youngest person in the program,” she says.

McCown earned her 2007 BSEE at Iowa State University (Ames, IA). During her freshman year, she connected with several older students who were members of the NSBE. They took her to a career fair, where she met representatives from Rockwell Collins (Cedar Rapids, IA).

This introduction led to two internships and a co-op at the company’s Cedar Rapids HQ. On both internships she worked with the same team and was invited to join the company full time after graduation.

As a systems engineer, McCown designs hardware and software to meet customer requirements. She gets requirements directly from clients and then works with the engineering department to ensure that Rockwell Collins delivers exactly what’s needed.

Her favorite part of the job is the hands-on testing. “When you see the stuff in action, it’s pretty cool,” she says. “It’s like putting a puzzle together.” She developed a new test bench for another program and was recently given a project of her own, which she completed solo.

McCown believes that today’s engineering majors need to use all available resources. “Do internships, gain experience and get involved,” she advises. She remains involved with NSBE and helps Rockwell Collins with campus recruiting.

For her own future, McCown wants to take advantage of Rockwell Collins’s tuition benefits and start working on her MBA. She hopes it will lead her on a path to management.

Diversity: building the Rockwell Collins workforce
“Hiring college graduates remains an instrumental part of our recruiting strategy,” says Steve Schulz, director of talent acquisition for the company. “Like most companies in our industry, we’ve been impacted by the current recession, but we still have a need for critical talent for the long-term well being of our company.

“Our diversity and inclusion strategies will play an integral role in building a strong and innovative workforce that represents a variety of people with different backgrounds, beliefs, viewpoints, ideas and experiences.”

D/C

Jon Boroshok is a freelance writer in Groton, MA.

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