Diverse grads bring creativity and innovation to government agencies and contractors

"Use your interview time promoting the value you can bring to a position."
– Paul de Benedictis, U.S. Army RDECOM

"In the intelligence community, the ability to articulate your questions and process the responses is absolutely critical." – Christina Achampong, NSA

By Claire Swedberg
Contributing Editor

Engineering and IT students bring a diverse set of backgrounds and skills to government agencies and contractors. Some offer a blend of technical and business experience and others have advanced degrees. Those most in demand to fill government positions will have subject matter expertise in a desired area and a strong dedication to their country, a number of recruiters agree.

RDECOM is seeking female techies
The U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD) employs civilian engineers and scientists to solve American warfighter problems with technology. According to Paul de Benedictis, chief of human capital planning and development, RDECOM's 16,000-plus civilian employees and contractors include many true "brainiacs." RDECOM has some 12,000 engineers and other technical employees, he reports. Overall, the STEM-intensive workforce is almost 27 percent female; by comparison, the comparable civilian workforce is less than 16 percent.

Despite the size of the organization, many still know little about it, says de Benedictis. Those who work there are often mechanical, electrical and software engineers with intellectual curiosity as well as the usual college experience and strong problem-solving skills.

"Females are still underrepresented," de Benedictis notes. "The command is seeking to improve that female-to-male ratio." He urges college students to participate in interdisciplinary activities, gain as much experience as possible and cautions them to "Behave yourselves. We require a classified security clearance!"

Applicants should look at their experience from the point of view of the employer, says de Benedictis. "Ask yourself 'Why would I be a good hire?' You only have a finite amount of time in an interview," so candidates must use that time promoting the value they can bring to a position that they understand and have researched.

Some of RDECOM's hires come through the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART, smart.asee.org) Scholarship for Service program, established by the Department of Defense (DOD) to support undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. The program aims to increase the number of civilian scientists and engineers working at DOD labs.

NRL seeks grad-level talent
Naval Research Laboratory (NRL, Washington, DC) is the corporate research lab for the Navy and Marine Corps; it conducts a broad program of scientific research, technology and advanced development. "NRL nurtures a multidisciplinary research environment to stimulate and support creative and innovative concepts in the physical sciences, engineering and information technology," says Ginger Kisamore, head of the personnel operations branch in the human resources office.

The lab is always seeking talent at the graduate level in science and technology fields, Kisamore reports. It employs electronics engineers, research physicists, chemists, computer scientists, meteorologists, mathematicians, geophysicists and geologists, as well as computer, materials research, aerospace, electrical and mechanical engineers.

Deputy EEO officer Lori Hill notes, "The diverse nature of NRL's work is complemented by its diverse workforce, which provides not only the necessary technical talent but the added value of varied life experiences. Bottom line is, we believe a diverse workforce is imperative to fulfilling our mission and ensuring the laboratory is as vital and innovative today as ever."

Monique Edmonds: EE at NRL
Monique Edmonds brings electronics engineering experience to her position as project manager at NRL.

Edmonds earned her 2002 BSEE at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and her 2006 MS in information systems at Strayer University (Washington, DC).

As an undergrad she interned at Electric Power Research Institute (Charlotte, NC), an electricity research and development nonprofit. She assisted on both electrical and mechanical engineering projects. She also planned and conducted meetings for circuit breaker, pump and large electric motor users groups, which helped hone her public speaking skills.

"My first experience as a presenter was at the large electric motors users group. At first I was nervous, but once I started talking, I captivated the audience," she says with a smile.

In May 2003, Edmonds was hired as an electronics engineer at the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems (SPAWAR) center in Charleston, SC. At first she served as communications and information technology program manager for the office of foreign disaster assistance, an organizational unit within the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Next she was a SPAWAR systems engineer for the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Digital Video Broadcast-Return Channel Satellite (DVB-RCS) program and the Global Broadcast Service (GBS) joint program office.

While working the GWOT DVB-RCS and GBS programs, she also served as intern for the U.S. Navy Space Cadre, a group of space professionals who support national security space systems.

In October 2008 Edmonds accepted a position as management specialist at the SPAWAR Space Field Activity. She also acted as the deputy dissemination branch chief in the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) communications systems directorate/space systems group/relay communications division. She held a key role at NRO as program manager/contracting officer technical representative for a data dissemination system.

Edmonds joined NRL as electronics engineer in April 2011. In her current position, she's responsible for leading the engineering, design and development of a state-of-the-art ground station and communications relay terminal.

Good interpersonal communication skills have helped Edmonds advance her career. "Sometimes it's a challenge to communicate your great ideas," she says. "If you can master your communication skills, you'll find it much easier to pursue your ideas."

CSC customers need techies in emerging technologies
CSC (Falls Church, VA) provides IT-based solutions in both the public and private sectors. At CSC, clients look for consultants with expertise in the emerging areas of information technology and cyber security, cloud computing and health IT, so those are the specialties he hopes to see in applicants, says James R. Gattuso, director of CSC Americas recruiting.

Diversity is important to CSC because it's good business, says Gattuso. "Diversity enables us to grow our business, and positively impacts our bottom line and our stakeholders. The range of thought and insight the company gains through a diverse workforce drives innovation, challenges the status quo, and brings a stronger set of ideas and solutions to our clients.

"To CSC, diversity is about attracting and retaining the best workforce possible, and the best workforce possible is a workforce diverse in background, culture, lifestyle and thought."

Mary Wessendorf works in CSC's FCP
Mary Wessendorf earned her 2008 undergrad degree in economics and psychology at the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA). But today she's a technical professional at CSC.

After graduating she was hired as an SAP consultant in CSC's federal consulting practice (FCP), drawing on the analytical, quantitative and leadership skills she'd learned as an economics major. Soon afterward she earned a certification in SAP Financials.

As a consultant Wessendorf was selected to work on the Integrated Financial System (IFS) project for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). She was on the business warehouse team performing data queries and analysis to support the IRS's clean GAO audits, compliant treasury reporting and internal reporting.

Next Wessendorf joined the business management team to support CSC financial and contract management activities for the IFS project management office. Most recently, she joined the functional year-end team charged with ensuring that an accurate budget and financial system is readily available for the IRS's next fiscal year.

Already she's earned recognition for excellence, receiving three "Way Outstanding Work" awards from her IRS clients, two for customer satisfaction and one as an "unsung hero."

Outside work, Wessendorf volunteers for Washington, DC-based Women in Technology (WIT) and was part of a team that implemented and promoted the CSC FCP WIT cohort.

Wessendorf also helped spearhead the FCP WIT initiative as part of FCP 2.0, an effort to grow the practice's business and expand its corporate responsibility efforts. She coordinated recruiting efforts, meetings, and an orientation with WIT board members to support CSC's involvement.

"All of these efforts culminated in adding twenty-two members to this 1,000 member organization, with the support and financial backing of the CSC FCP president," she states proudly.

"It's important to learn how to coordinate and manage activities and people," Wessendorf says. "College clubs are an excellent venue to experiment, exercise and develop these skills. They will be invaluable and distinguish you from the pack when you start working."

As an undergrad Wessendorf worked as sales manager of a small marketing firm for two summers, leading a team of thirty reps. "It was a fantastic experience that prepared me to undertake more responsibility and leadership roles in college, at my current company and beyond the workplace."

Wessendorf is now attending Georgetown's McDonough School of Business at night with plans to finish her MBA in 2014. She eventually wants to become a project manager.

NSA is hiring
The National Security Agency (NSA, Fort George G. Meade, MD) is hiring computer scientists, electrical and computer engineers, cryptanalysts, mathematicians and information assurance professionals, says Cindy Smith, chief of the agency's office of recruitment. The NSA is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the U.S. Department of Defense.

"For any technical position, it's important to not only excel academically in the technical field, it's equally important to work ethically, and to develop and master transferable skills such as verbal and written communication, teamwork, and analysis and problem solving," says Smith.

As part of the application process there's also a background investigation that helps determine the applicant's honesty, trustworthiness, reliability, discretion and unquestioned loyalty to the U.S.

Before an interview, Smith says, an applicant should research NSA's current job opportunities online. "Review the descriptions and bring your questions to the interview or event so that you and the recruiter can have a focused discussion. This will be the best use of your face-to-face time and you can truly impress us with your preparedness."

Diversity is at the core of NSA's hiring practices. "Our employees work every day to protect our nation's security," says Smith. "To successfully operate in a global threat environment, we need a dynamic, agile workforce that reflects diversity in its broadest context."

Christina Achampong: OR analyst at NSA
Since high school Christina Achampong has known she wanted to work as an operations research (OR) analyst for the Department of Defense. "The OR field was born in the defense sector, and I figured if that's where OR grew, it would always be on the cutting edge," she explains.

With this in mind, she earned a BS in mathematics at Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) in 2006 and a dual masters in industrial engineering and operations research at Pennsylvania State University (State College, PA) in 2009.

After her first year Achampong alternated six months of classes with work on three six-month co-ops. She started in accounts receivable at the headquarters of Giant Food Stores (Carlisle, PA), a supermarket chain.

In her second co-op, she worked in Philadelphia processing contributions to Pennsylvania's 529 college savings plan for the Lincoln Financial Group (Radnor, PA). She worked in Wilmington, DE in the audit department of what was then MBNA Corporation for her final co-op.

"These experiences, while interesting, were all geared towards finance. But I was also excited about the opportunity to apply the more technical side of mathematics," she says.

Before starting her masters Achampong spent a year as a statistical assistant for Pennsylvania's Department of Labor and Industry, managing wage and salary statistics. When she finished her masters she joined the NSA.

As an operations research analyst for the agency's operations research, modeling and simulation organization, she leads customers through projects designed to support strategic decision-making. Even though her co-op experiences were financial rather than technical, Achampong says the experiences have helped in her work today.

She urges aspiring techies "to seek experience in your field of interest outside the classroom, whether through research or summer work programs."

She touts the value of communication skills: "In school, the data you need can be found in textbooks and on handouts. At work, particularly in the intelligence community, sometimes the data you need can only be found in the minds of subject matter experts. The ability to articulate your questions and process their responses is absolutely critical."

Achampong hopes to pursue a PhD in systems engineering and operations research with a focus on technical leadership and program management.

Clayton Felton: test engineer at Rockwell Collins
Clay Felton is a test engineer at Rockwell Collins (Cedar Rapids, IA). He mixed engineering and business in his undergraduate work to lay the groundwork for a career with this military aircraft electronics company.

Felton earned his 2009 BSEE with a concentration in communications and a minor in business administration and sales at Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL). After his freshman year he interned at General Motors (Detroit, MI) as a test engineer. He worked in the company's Alison Transmissions division in Indianapolis, IN where he monitored algorithms used for transmission design.

"I liked it," he says. "I enjoyed test engineering and the concept of pushing the transmission to the breaking point."

For the next two years Felton was a counselor for the school's engineering department, helping incoming engineering students develop a strategy for their education and careers. He discovered Rockwell Collins at a career fair in 2008.

"I was fortunate enough to be one of the people they recruited," Felton says. He interned at the company's Cedar Rapids, IA headquarters as a test engineer in systems integration and simulation, testing a variety of products like a GPS transceiver.

Felton returned to Tuskegee for a 2010 MSEE with a power concentration. "I was seeing a fluctuation in the market toward power and thought semiconductors, nanotechnology and alternative power would be a good fit," he says.

He did another internship with the systems integration group at Rockwell Collins during his masters program. After receiving his degree Felton took a fulltime position at the company as test engineer. He'd enjoyed the Rockwell Collins culture and felt the job would offer the kind of challenge he was seeking. "But I spent a lot of time thinking about it," he says. "From Fayetteville, Georgia, it was a big move."

Felton started in government systems working on RF and data link programs. He currently has several projects underway.

He's set his sights on program management and believes his business background will be helpful. "Make use of those late hours studying," he urges undergrads. "Time management is crucial. Try to define a goal and develop a path for it, then implement it."

Cameron Jones: combat weapon systems at GD Electric Boat
Cameron Jones is an engineer 1 for combat weapon systems at General Dynamics (GD) Electric Boat (Groton, CT), a designer and builder of nuclear submarines for the U.S. Navy.

Jones earned his BS in computer engineering in 2009 at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. He became interested in GD Electric Boat at a career fair. He was working on software engineering and discovered that there is a great deal of software used on the subs, including the weapons control systems.

To experience the company first hand, Jones signed on as a co-op there. He helped develop an interface for designers to insert dimensions for tiles that were being cut for use on the hulls of submarines.

In a second year at the company, Jones worked on communication simulations for portable ship control units and did other unit testing. Shortly before graduation he was offered a fulltime position. "I do coding, unit testing and integration testing," he says. He also provides software installations and upgrades to existing software on ships.

When it comes to government work, "There's a sense of importance to what we're doing," says Jones. Submariners' lives may depend on the accuracy of his work, he notes.

A willingness to learn has been one of his strong points. "I'm still learning every day," Jones says. "You have to be a sponge and suck in as much as you can." He's set his sights on project management and hopes to participate in the company's rotation program to learn more about how Electric Boat operates.

Laila Linares: project engineer at Military Sealift Command
Laila I. Linares graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, NY) in 2006 with a BS in marine engineering systems and a minor in environmental engineering.

All students attending the academy are required to complete one year of independent study aboard U.S. government-owned and commercial ships to get practical shipboard knowledge.

Linares served alongside licensed officers aboard three U.S. flag commercial ships. She also completed a two-week internship as an onshore surveyor with a private ship operating company in Florida and a three-month internship with a shipyard in California, identifying production improvements and processes. She learned about performance and operating characteristics of various classes of vessels, the operating requirements in different trade routes and even labor relations in the ocean-shipping industry.

Throughout college Linares thought about her career options: "I considered sailing as an assistant engineer on a merchant vessel, becoming a surveyor with the American Bureau of Shipping, working in a shipyard, serving as an active duty member of the U.S. Coast Guard, and working as an underwater vessel hull inspector."

She wound up with the Department of Defense. After getting her degree, Linares started as a third assistant engineer with the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC, Washington, DC), the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense. For most of the next three and a half years she sailed on a U.S. Navy hospital ship, two fleet replenishment oilers and a fast combat support ship.

After a year and a half at sea, Linares was promoted to second assistant engineer on a temporary assignment. In June 2010, she took a mechanical engineering position at MSC headquarters.

Today Linares is MSC's project engineer for two new classes of ships that will support both the Army and the Navy. One is the joint high-speed vessel (JHSV), the first of which was christened in September 2011. JHSVs will transport troops, military vehicles and equipment for missions ranging from humanitarian assistance to disaster relief.

Linares also supports Mobile Landing Platforms (MLPs), which will allow transfers of military vehicles and equipment at sea using float-on/float-off technology. Surface connectors will deliver the vehicles and other equipment ashore to U.S. troops, she explains.

Linares was recently appointed to a "lessons learned" steering committee, which will manage and help identify useful lessons learned for all MSC new-ship and ship-conversion programs. "I'm pleased that my education, work experience and strong interest in engineering and maritime matters helped create the pathway to the interesting work I'm doing today," she says.

MSC needs tech skills, and diversity
Kevin Baetsen, MSC engineering director, notes that the command looks primarily for mechanical engineers, electrical engineers with a power focus, and naval architects. Applicants need a good GPA in their tech courses, along with an ability to communicate and "work across organizational and technical boundaries," he emphasizes.

New grads should be able to point to teamwork and leadership experiences during college; internships, especially in "fields related to the maritime industry," are a big plus.

Diversity is important to MSC in a number of ways, Baetsen says. "For the United States to remain competitive in a global technological society, the country as a whole must take steps to ensure that we have a diverse, welltrained, multicultural workforce. Engineers are often required to work collaboratively; thinking about a problem in new and different ways enables the profound creativity that's a requirement of the profession.

"Creativity is the result of making unexpected connections between things we already know based on our life experiences. Women, men, people from different cultural backgrounds, people with disabilities: each group occupies a different world and has different life experiences. Without diversity, we may not develop the best, most elegant engineering solution."

U.S. Army SSO Michelle Goddard works at the Pentagon
Michelle Goddard got her undergraduate degree in engineering science at Loyola University Maryland (Baltimore, MD) in 2005 and her masters in engineering management at Drexel University (Philadelphia, PA) three years later.

As an undergrad Goddard held several positions. She was an analyst for the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education (Catonsville, MD), an engineering research assistant at Loyola, and a software engineering intern at Booz Allen Hamilton (McLean, VA).

After graduation Goddard became a mechanical engineer at U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD). She started as project test lead for chemical-biological defense equipment, operating and maintaining a mask and material test laboratory.

In 2010 Goddard was promoted to executive officer, responsible for developing technical briefings and supporting science and technology assets. A year later she began working at the Pentagon for the Department of the Army G8 Full Dimension Protection division (FDP, Washington, DC), which is responsible for resourcing and equipping the nation's warfighters.

Goddard is now a U.S. Army system synchronization officer (SSO). As liaison officer between Headquarters Department of the Army G8 FDP division and ECBC in Maryland, she works with senior leadership across the organization to ensure requirements are executed consistently and on time. She helps coordinate ECBC efforts to provide direct warfighter support for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive events.

Goddard enjoys working for the Army, "because I feel that my work positively impacts our armed forces."

To be successful, she notes, students must choose a challenging course curriculum that will make them competitive in today's environment. "Once you commit to a curriculum, stay focused and don't be afraid to make personal sacrifices to achieve success," she cautions. "Sometimes this means cutting an extracurricular activity or spending less time hanging out with friends."

Whether in school or on the job, Goddard believes individuals should be willing to advocate for themselves. "Don't be afraid to apply for a promotion opportunity," she urges. "Do all you can to be competitive."

Jay Yen is an ME at Meggitt
Jay Yen brings a love for the defense industry and weapon technology to his work as a mechanical engineer at Meggitt, a global engineering company headquartered in the U.K. that specializes in extreme environment components and subsystems for aerospace, defense and energy markets.

Yen studied mechanical engineering at the University of California-Irvine and received his BSME in 2008. He went on to earn his 2011 MSME at California State University, Fullerton.

As an intern at Irvine Biomedical (Irvine, CA, now St. Jude Medical), Yen tested medical products like catheters, function generators and pumps for voltage, temperature and strength. "I recorded data into a log using Microsoft Excel," he says. The company's engineers used the data to complete their reports.

Yen was exposed to the world of engineering through his father, a thermal analyst at Boeing. With strong math and physics skills, engineering was a natural choice.

"I really wanted to work in the defense industry," he says, "because I was very interested in learning about the way military devices and weapons work."

A slow job market prompted him to enter grad school. "I wanted to get more knowledge so I'd have a leg up on the competition," he says.

It was a good strategy. Yen now works at Meggitt Defense Systems (Irvine, CA), designing parts like brackets and mounts for systems, using SolidWorks, a 3D mechanical computer-aided design program. He also does research on parts needed for the devices he works with and he helps find solutions to problems that arise from engineering designs.

Eventually, Yen wants to be a supervisor or director of engineering, "because I want to have the ability to lead and make important decisions. I know there is a lot of added pressure involved with these jobs, but I like knowing everything about my company and helping out in a major way."

Yen urges students to treat their schooling like a job: "When you're in school, your occupation is student!"

College success gets students hired
A BS in mechanical engineering is in demand at Meggitt, says Larry Pollard, director of mechanical systems. Engineers at Meggitt are challenged to be both technical pros and facilitators.

"If the GPA is low, the applicant will be fighting an uphill battle to convince the hiring manager of other overriding qualifications," says Pollard. "Your ability to be considered and to get hired hinges on what you gained during college."

Another company looking for diverse talent with high college numbers is Northrop Grumman (Falls Church, VA). "We're always searching for the best and brightest technical talent in all areas of engineering to help create and evolve our products, platforms and services," says Agartha A. Amooson, manager of university relations and recruiting at Northrop Grumman Information Systems (McLean, VA).

"Our breadth of programs allows for a variety of technical career opportunities. We emphasize skill sets such as software, systems, information technology, computer science and strategic focus in areas like cybersecurity and unmanned systems," says Amooson.

Jesse Cerda: systems test engineer at Northrop Grumman Information Systems
In high school Jesse Cerda participated in an engineering club that was building solar cars. He knew then that he wanted to pursue engineering.

Cerda earned his 2010 BS in aerospace engineering at Cal Poly Pomona (Pomona, CA). His plan was to start interning from his freshman year and that's what he did. He worked with manufacturing engineers to design exhaust nozzles for the F35 fighter jet during his first internship at Composites Horizons (Covina, CA).

"It got me exposed to what I wanted to do," he says, "working with composite structures."

He got his next internship, with Northrop Grumman, through a career fair. As part of a test group Cerda worked on designing a wind tunnel model. Cerda learned how the company operates in this industry and how to function as an engineer.

"The internship taught me to sit down and analyze what I'm going to do," he explains. He points out that testing is expensive, and organizing a plan ahead of each test is crucial. The software he was testing is installed in unmanned vehicles on what he calls the "hot bench," the place where simulation work gets done.

After earning his 2010 BS in aerospace engineering, Cerda started full time as systems test engineer at the Rancho Bernardo, CA location of Northrop Grumman Information Systems. "My challenge is to design without a pilot in the loop," he says. "In school we were taught to visualize flight from the pilot's perspective, but in this case we can't do that."

Cerda is now in a masters program for aerospace engineering at UCLA , specializing in flight controls. He hopes to complete his degree in 2013.

D/C

Claire Swedberg is a freelance writer who lives in La Conner, WA.

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