The job outlook is promising for African American engineers

"The people who understand energy will be the leaders of tomorrow."
– Alex Hicks, Chrysler Group

"Diversity allows for flexibility within an organization and strengthens our ability to respond to changing environments and demands." – John Orfanopoulos, Westinghouse Electric

By Sue Marquette Poremba
Contributing Editor

President Obama announced in June that he wants to see a push to train 10,000 engineers per year to boost long-term economic growth. He's looking primarily to the private sector for help.

African Americans stand to benefit from this push. A February 2011 research and policy brief from the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME, White Plains, NY) notes that African Americans represent only 5 percent of the U.S. engineering workforce, but account for 12 percent of the nation's overall workforce. Just under 5 percent of bachelors degrees in engineering were earned by African Americans in 2009.

The job outlook also looks good for engineering majors. In its 2010-2011 Occupational Outlook Handbook, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov) reports that engineering employment is expected to grow by 11 percent from 2008 to 2018. That's about as fast as the average for all occupations. Most of the employment growth is expected to be in engineering, research and development, and consulting services industries.

Employers value a diverse workforce
"We strive to create and maintain a culture where diversity is valued and promoted," says Michelle LoweSolis, civilian force integration director at the U.S. Air Force personnel center (Randolph Air Force Base, TX). "We are committed to recruiting and hiring the most talented, diverse professionals to help us accomplish our critical mission. The Air Force mirrors our richly diverse country, and here at the Air Force personnel center, we're proud of the part we play in maintaining a highly capable workforce."

"Diversity allows for flexibility within an organization and strengthens our ability to respond to changing environments and demands," notes John Orfanopoulos, manager of global talent acquisition at Westinghouse Electric Company (Cranberry Township, PA). "This is crucial to remaining competitive in the global economy, as well as the evolving nuclear energy industry."

Jamelaa Jones designs new systems at GD Electric Boat
"Different people are made for different jobs, and I believe I was tailor made for engineering," says Jamelaa Jones, a systems engineer at General Dynamics Electric Boat (Groton, CT), a designer and builder of nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy. She says this despite having started as a performing arts major.

"Even though I was in the arts, I found I had a lot of strengths in technical areas, too," she explains. "So I decided to combine art with science and integrate it. Later I discovered that this integration is known as engineering."

Jones earned her 2010 BSME at North Carolina A&T (Greensboro, NC). Becoming an ME made most sense to her because the discipline encompasses so many facets of engineering. She also completed a concentration in aerospace engineering. "Planes intrigued me as I studied them," she notes.

Today, Jones works on underwater vehicles instead of vehicles that fly. Her job focuses on fluid dynamics and designing new systems for a next-generation submarine program.

When asked how she landed at Electric Boat, Jones, who once ran a dance studio and continues to teach dance in her spare time, says, "I was discovered." At a career fair, a recruiter was struck by her personality and asked for her resume. She got a job offer, but took her time making a decision.

"I had to do some research about this company," she says. "I never thought about working for a defense contractor. But one thing I learned about Electric Boat is that it isn't just about having good products and great engineering; it's about providing tremendous service to customers."

Jones grew up in Virginia and moved north to start her job at the beginning of 2011, just in time for a winter filled with unusually heavy snowstorms.

"I thought we didn't have to go to work when it snowed, that it would be too dangerous. After all, you don't move when it snows down south! So whenever it snowed, the people at work would say, 'Where's that southern girl? She didn't come in today because the snow's falling.' My supervisor had to explain to me that the plant doesn't shut down when it snows. So I learned to car pool when the weather's bad," she says with a smile.

Mario Louis is a computer engineer at FAA
Growing up, Mario Louis wanted to be an engineer, mostly because he liked building things with blocks and other building toys. "Back then I didn't know what engineering was about, but it sounded cool," he says. "I knew I wanted to do something hands on and be involved with cutting-edge technology."

As a teenager, his side job was fixing and building computers. "I still build computers when I can't find something I need," he says. So, the logical step for him was to major in both computer engineering and electrical engineering. He got a double BS in 2010 from Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA).

When Louis was looking for a co-op, he came across a presentation by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA, Washington, DC). "They were showing what they did and had a simulation of a tower. It was a really good presentation," he says, so he applied and started the first of three co-ops there in 2006.

The co-op experience led to a job offer, and Louis is now a computer engineer at the FAA's Atlantic City, NJ location. He works on a variety of projects. "I'm doing power testing, programming, document revisions and support analysis. Mostly I'm testing things," he says. "But from day to day, my work can change. I like that."

Going from fulltime student to fulltime employee, Louis had to get out of college mode. "I had to go to sleep earlier so I could get up earlier," he says. "I had to stop thinking the only food was Ramen noodles!

"Being an engineer was the right decision for me," he notes. "I would like to get involved in more R&D work because that's cutting edge. Overall, I highly recommend engineering."

Alex Hicks is in Chrysler Group's CIE program
Alex Hicks and his six siblings learned the value of a good education from their parents. "My mom was a teacher," he says. "I wanted to be an engineer because my dad was an engineer." Both parents emphasized the need for good grades in math and science because they saw technology as the future.

Growing up in Michigan, the automobile industry was always a major part of his life: "Watching my dad bring company cars home was pretty cool." So it isn't surprising that Hicks ended up working for Chrysler Group LLC (Auburn Hills, MI) after graduating from Kettering University (Flint, MI) with a BSME in 2008.

But the job offer didn't come right away. Hicks had done a number of co-ops with Chrysler as a college student, which allowed him to get to know the company and do some networking. When he graduated, the company was sliding into the recession and the automobile industry hit rough times. It wasn't until 2011 that a job opening became available, and Hicks jumped at the chance.

Today Hicks is in the Chrysler Institute of Engineering (CIE) program. As a manufacturing CIE he will work on six four-month rotations while pursuing an MS in energy systems engineering at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI).

"Looking at where the market is going, energy requires a lot of expertise," he says. "The people who understand energy will be the leaders of tomorrow. I'm looking to get as much knowledge about it as I can so I can move forward in my career."

When he entered the workforce, Hicks had to adjust to a life where his days were no longer spent with same-age peers, but with co-workers of all ages and stages in life. "You also have to learn the culture of the workplace," he says. "It's a matter of finding a good work-life balance." Living near his hometown, Hicks depends on his family and old friends to help him with that balance. He also remains active in NSBE for networking.

Shawn Cousins is in LEAP at EMC
An internship as a computer engineering and EE undergrad at Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) helped Shawn Cousins get his job at EMC (Hopkinton, MA), a data storage and cloud computing company.

"Just before graduation in June 2010, I attended a networking event at a local university where I was reacquainted with an EMC recruiter who was familiar with my work as an EMC intern," explains Cousins. "She circulated my resume throughout the company and recommended me to the hiring managers."

Today Cousins is a software engineer in the company's Leadership Engineering Accelerated Program (LEAP). It's an accelerated leadership and innovation training rotational program aimed at designing, implementing and debugging high-quality software running in a demanding time-critical environment, where complex programming skills are developed and independent thinking and research skills are enhanced.

Cousins is working on prototyping and evaluating a SAN array-based content delivery system to serve as a media-processing platform for a content delivery network. He explains that the SAN storage array was configured for system test environments via background diagnostics.

"The system was optimized to maximize bandwidth and minimize latency," he notes. The team delivered a proof of concept, which has been a success with EMC customers and partners.

Cousins' father is an EE, so he was familiar with engineering as a career. But time with his grandfather had the most impact on his career choice. "My grandfather loved to build huge jigsaw puzzles," he notes. "We would spend hours together after school just to complete a small portion."

When he was a high school sophomore, a teacher recommended that Cousins take his C++ class. "I was captivated the first day of class and hooked by the first programming assignment," he says. "I found the intricacies of programming to be much like solving puzzles."

Cousins wishes he had been more engaged as an undergrad. "Education is an investment and you get out of it what you put into it," he reflects. "That said, I could definitely have made more use of my professors and their office hours. And perhaps built a better rapport with my academic advisor and career advisor; it can never hurt to have a strong healthy relationship with these individuals."

Steven JeanJulien is an EE at Westinghouse
Steven JeanJulien's interest in computers was sparked at a very young age when he got his first computer. By middle school he was building his own. "That triggered a general interest in electronics," he says. "Choosing electrical engineering in college was an easy decision because I wanted to design and build the fundamental components behind the electronics that I love."

JeanJulien got his 2009 BSEE from the State University of New York at Buffalo. At a school career fair, he submitted a resume online to Westinghouse Electric Company (Cranberry Township, PA) and was called for an on-campus interview. Three interviews later, he was offered a job.

Westinghouse provides fuel, services, technology, plant design and equipment for the commercial nuclear electric power industry.

As an engineer JeanJulien is currently implementing control logic software for the "conventional island" and "balance of plant" systems for a Westinghouse nuclear plant project in Sanmen, China. "We receive functional requirements for a plant component, such as a valve or a pump, which has to be interpreted, captured and made into a control sheet," he explains. "These control sheets are executed by a controller that allows the plant components to operate autonomously per the logic on the control sheet."

Had JeanJulien known as an undergrad the extent to which his education would become a foundation for his career, "I would have taken more technical electives outside electrical engineering to be a more well-rounded engineer."

Ashley Minor helps CBP manage apps development
Ashley Minor earned a BS in industrial, manufacturing and information engineering in 2009 at Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD).

An internship in the NASA Summer High School Apprenticeship Research Program (SHARP) helped Minor realize that engineering was more interesting and diverse than any other career field: "It was a very competitive program, and it showed me that even as a young black female from a public school, there were so many opportunities waiting for me and I just needed to continue developing my skills and mindset so that I could reach greater heights," she says.

As an undergrad, Minor was initially attracted to mechanical engineering. When she transferred to Morgan State, she switched to IE. "Industrial engineers will always be able to find a job because there will always be some kind of system, whether it's people, money or products, that will need to be developed, improved, implemented and/or evaluated," she explains.

An application via usajobs.gov brought Minor to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP, Washington, DC), a federal law enforcement agency of the Department of Homeland Security. She works in requirements and architecture under the systems engineering division in the Office of Technology Innovation and Acquisition (OTIA).

Minor's main task is to establish and implement a new automated requirements management and analysis environment. "This initiative will help OTIA efficiently capture all demands from the various OTIA projects, make dramatic improvements to application development, and gain greater visibility throughout the lifecycle of the projects overall," she says. It will provide the capabilities to easily manage changes to requirements and software configurations, and repeatedly deploy releases with confidence. "It's a big task, but I'm proud that my supervisor sees that I'm capable of handling it," she says.

Ardarion Richardson is a manufacturing engineer at Biogen Idec
Even though the concepts of engineering have been an integral part of his life for a long time, the idea of becoming an engineer didn't occur to Ardarion Richardson until he was in college. "I grew up on a farm in North Carolina and was introduced to a vast array of machines and processes at a young age," he explains.

On the farm, where hundreds of acres of crops were grown yearly, there was always an elaborate task to be performed and a system in place for performing it. At the jobs he did between planting and harvesting seasons, Richardson "learned the value of cultivating good business relationships," he says. "I also learned how to organize human effort in order to achieve a long-range goal."

Richardson earned his 2008 BS in industrial and systems engineering at North Carolina A&T (Greensboro, NC). He stayed on at the school for his 2010 MS in industrial and systems engineering with a concentration in biomanufacturing.

Today, Richardson works as a manufacturing engineer at Biogen Idec (Research Triangle Park, NC). He learned about the company from a family member and started there as an undergraduate intern. He's now responsible for supporting commercial and clinical manufacturing.

Biogen Idec uses leading-edge science to discover, develop, manufacture and market biological products for the treatment of serious diseases with a focus on neurological disorders. "Some of my specific responsibilities as a purification process engineer include designing, specifying and installing new equipment, providing engineering technical support for processing equipment, supporting validation activities and participating in multi-disciplined problem-solving teams," Richardson explains.

In retrospect, Richardson wishes he had taken more technical writing classes to prepare for his career. "Effective writing is essential when it comes to properly conveying messages, especially in a business environment," he says. "Having the ability to write concisely saves time and is one of the corporate world's primary concerns."

Shaina Steward is an EE at LG&E and KU
When Shaina Steward joined LG&E and KU (Louisville, KY), she participated in a rotation program where she did four jobs over an eighteen-month period. She was slated to work at a power plant when the program ended, but elected to change course when she found that she preferred working in the transmission protection and substation department.

"It was a better fit," she says. "The company was open to my career needs and let me enter into a new line of business."

LG&E and KU is a diversified energy services company that includes Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities. Steward came to the company from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, IN) where she received a BSEE in 2007. She's currently working on an MBA at Indiana University Southeast (New Albany, IN).

"I learned about this job in an interesting way," says Steward. A friend of hers stopped by the company's booth at a campus career fair and mentioned that Steward was president of the school's NSBE chapter. The human resources rep contacted her to ask if she would let people in her chapter know about development opportunities for new grads at LG&E and KU. "At first I wasn't that interested in working for an energy company, but after putting some thought into it, I applied for the job," she says.

Jason Thomas is assistant road master at CSX
Jason Thomas was exposed to engineering from an early age. "My father is a civil engineer in Atlanta, and I followed him around while he was working on various projects," Thomas says. "I remember doing science fair projects on erosion control and compaction testing in middle school. By the time I graduated from high school, I knew I wanted to be an engineer."

Thomas attended Clemson University (Clemson, SC) where he was awarded a BSCE in 2009. But it took him a little while to find a job in the engineering field.

"A family friend, who was working for a competing railroad, told me to apply for the trainee program with his company," Thomas says. Then he found out that other railroad companies were hiring young college grads and applied to them as well. After a few interviews at CSX Transportation (Wilmington, DE), he got an offer.

Thomas is an assistant road master for the company's Baltimore division. He helps his supervisors maintain and enhance track integrity and safety. "This consists of inspecting and maintaining track structures and right-of-ways to standards set by CSX," he explains. He also coordinates the work and schedules of the team and contractors.

Danica Plaskett is a plant engineer at ADM
Danica Plaskett discovered Archer Daniels Midland (ADM, Decatur, IL) at a college career fair. It's an agricultural processing company that takes crops and processes them to make food ingredients, animal feed ingredients, renewable fuels, and naturally derived alternatives to industrial chemicals.

An internship at ADM in Chattanooga, TN after her junior year led to a fulltime job in Valdosta, GA after graduation. Plaskett has a 2007 BS in agricultural engineering with a minor in food science at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (Tallahassee, FL).

"The opportunities seemed endless," says Plaskett, who was drawn to ag engineering because it centers on complex problem-solving issues related to agricultural production and processes. "I realized I would have the opportunity to work in my chosen field at a company that serves vital needs and operates with integrity and responsibility."

As an ADM plant engineer in Quincy, IL, one of Plaskett's key areas of responsibility involves the oversight of a maintenance project to modify and improve the plant's compressed air system. "Throughout my career, I have supervised various engineering-related projects, implemented safety programs, assisted in the oversight of our contractor colleague population, and designed and implemented projects that improve safety, quality and production efficiency and output with budgets in excess of $100,000," she reports.

When Plaskett first started at ADM, she brought all of her textbooks to work. "One of my first assignments was to resize a cooling water pump," she explains. "Using my textbooks, I spent days calculating various scenarios. In the end, I had about ten pages of calculations. None of them led to a definite conclusion, so I eventually decided just to try downsizing the impeller as it was the most economical solution. And it worked! It was a great lesson. Sometimes it takes a calculated risk to solve a complex problem."

Ebony Carter is an ME at Bechtel
Ebony Carter's engineering career really began in high school. She went to a technology-focused school in Buffalo, NY and studied mechanical technology, which gave her a lot of hands-on work. "I like learning how things are built," she says. "It's why I went into mechanical engineering."

Carter got her BSME from North Carolina A&T (Greensboro, NC) in December 2007. "When I was very young, I wanted to be a doctor, but in high school, I saw a rewarding career opportunity in engineering."

It took Carter almost a year after graduation to land her first engineering job. Her biggest challenge was showing potential employers that she had the skills and knowledge to succeed. "I started college with a very low GPA, which kept me from getting an internship," she explains.

But she refused to give up and finished on the dean's list. "One of my senior projects from college has just been published in a book," she states proudly.

Today Carter is a mechanical engineer for Bechtel (San Francisco, CA), a worldwide engineering, construction and project management company. She works at the St. Lucie nuclear power plant, where her job involves design packages. She works closely with suppliers to make sure the designs are acceptable.

Carter got her break at a college career fair in the fall of 2008. "Bechtel sought me out," she says. "The company was given a list of top students who were looking for employment, so I went to meet them at the career fair."

Networking through NSBE also helped get Carter's career off the ground. She's actively involved in recruiting activities for Bechtel with NSBE and at her college.

Charlee Bennett is a post-doc at ORNL
One chance visit changed the direction of Charlee Bennett's career. She had earned her 2003 BA in math and physics at Agnes Scott College (Decatur, GA) and was all set to enroll in an MSEE program at George Washington University when she went with her younger sister to visit the University of Florida (Gainesville, FL). During the visit she discovered the materials sciences and engineering department.

"I'd never heard of that major before," she says, since GWU didn't have such a program. "I was talking to people in the department and got very excited about the opportunities they showed me."

Bennett went on to receive her 2005 MS and 2009 PhD in materials science and engineering at U Florida. "I had a backup plan," she says. "I could always go back to my original plan to study EE at GWU, but I haven't looked back since."

She is currently in her second year as a post-doc at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL, Oak Ridge, TN). The lab conducts basic and applied research and development to create scientific knowledge and technological solutions.

"I am a researcher in solar technology," Bennett explains. "Over the past few years, Oak Ridge National Lab has revamped its solar technology program in response to President Obama's push for alternative energy initiatives."

At ORNL, Bennett works with industry partners on the fundamentals of the materials being used for solar energy. One goal is to help them reduce their costs with lower-priced manufacturing methods. "We are at $3 a watt for solar and we want to get that down to the presidential mandate of $1 a watt," she says.

Post-docs aren't permanent positions. "It's like a residency program for medical students," notes Bennett. "It's a chance to expand beyond my dissertation research and give me the extra training I need to prepare for my career." Dr Bennett's post-doc ended in the summer of 2011, and she recently accepted a position as a senior scientist at the U.S. Naval Research Lab.

Cinque Ajose is at AFRL Munitions Directorate
Cinque Ajose became familiar with electrical engineering through his father. "My dad is an electrical contractor," Ajose says. "I grew up working with him, tinkering around with things."

A lot of family friends were engineers. Ajose learned that electricians had a career ceiling, while engineers had a world of career possibilities. So he entered Florida A&M (Tallahassee, FL), where he got a BSEE and a BS in computer engineering in 2008. "I discovered I only needed three more classes to get a second degree in computer engineering, so I did it," he says.

When it came time to look for a job, Ajose sent his resume to the U.S. Air Force through its website. He was hired to work with information exploitation in the integrated sensing and processing sciences branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate (AFRL, Eglin AFB, FL).

Working with the military as a civilian is a rewarding experience, Ajose says. "I don't like to do things just to do them. I like to feel like I'm contributing something." On the job he does everything from recruiting to research. Because of the confidential nature of his work, he can't discuss many details. He can only say that he does R&D for a variety of munitions.

Going from school to the workforce, Ajose noticed a shift in focus: "When you are in college, you focus on your schoolwork and yourself. When you come into a job, you have other people who are depending on you."

David Dallemand is an EE in the USAF
David Dallemand grew up in New York City. After the September 11 attacks, he knew he wanted to serve his country in some manner. As an undergrad at the City College of New York (New York, NY), he was in the ROTC program. He graduated with a bachelors in EE in 2010 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.

"I picked engineering because I was always good at math and technical subjects," he says. He chose EE more or less randomly, but Dallemand says he has come to love it.

Today he's an ICBM guidance engineer, working with programs that test the missiles at Vandenberg Air Force Base (Lompoc, CA).

Dallemand's transition to the workforce differed from most new grads'. Going from the unstructured life of a college student to the strict regimen of the military was tough. "In college, if you made a mistake, the worst that could happen is you get a bad grade," he says. "In the military, any little mistake and someone could get hurt."

D/C

Sue Marquette Poremba is an engineering and construction writer in State College, PA.

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