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Jeanne Rosario of GE Aviation
Jeanne Rosario, VP and general engineering manager of GE Aviation, is a techie in a high management position in the company. She notes that “From my observation, women in management have an engaging style that allows them to lead a large workforce very effectively.”
Rosario earned her BSME at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. She joined GE in 1975 as a member of the company’s well-known Edison Engineering Development Program. Since then she’s accumulated fifteen years of experience in engine design and ten years in systems leadership.
“In a truly global company like GE, we need employees that look, think and act like our customers,” she says.
“The broad and diverse perspective that diverse teams bring to developing new technologies, products and services cannot be outdone. Women have brought about changes in our direction merely by questioning the status quo.” |
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The defense of the U.S. is no longer just a man’s job. Women’s numbers continue to grow in both military and civilian defense work, and civilian women are filling more and more important jobs, while military women are rising in the ranks.
Defense is a field with wide-open career options. The industry offers opportunities in a variety of specialties from rocket science to more conventional branches of engineering. When it comes to aircraft, for example, engineers not only design the craft but develop tests and work out simulated military operations to evaluate them.
A substantial number of women have recently joined Women In Defense (WID, Arlington, VA), says Jane Casey, staff director. WID is a national organization affiliated with the National Defense Industrial Association.
“Membership has more than quadrupled in the past five years,” Casey says. “We’ve grown from 300 members in 2002 to nearly 1,400 in 2007.”
Recent membership data, she notes, also show more CEOs and company presidents: “That indicates a real progression of women in the industry.” Casey believes these WID numbers essentially mirror the industry as a whole.
Benjamina Millado agrees. Millado is diversity and EEO program director for the Aerospace Corp (El Segundo, CA). “There’s been a dramatic increase of women in the engineering profession over the past thirty years,” she says.
“They add a valuable dimension to the workplace,” Millado declares. “Our experience shows that women in technology bring unique skills and perspective to bear, enhancing the quality of our effort overall.”
Bell Helicopter IE Marie Reid supports airframe design
Marie Reid is chief of airframe design for programs and special projects at Bell Helicopter (Fort Worth, TX). Reid has been at Bell twenty-three years.
“When I first came here there weren’t many women engineers,” she says. “Back then you really had to prove yourself, sometimes over and over again, to get noticed. We have many more women now and many of them are in key positions of authority.”
Reid left high school at sixteen to help support her family. She found work as a machinist. “My experience as a machinist opened my eyes to the engineering process and the details involved in building a product,” she says. So she went back to school, working fulltime while earning first her associates degree, then her 1989 BSIE from Texas A&M. By then she was also raising two children.
Reid has garnered impressive credentials throughout her career. She earned Six Sigma green belt and black belt certifications, and various numerical control programming certificates. She’s been cost account manager for a $135 million project, and responsible for managing design and product development for airframe, furnishings and equipment on the H-1 upgrade program. Currently she’s supervising forty-six employees and providing technical and administrative support to airframe design for all of Bell’s military programs.
If a project is having problems, a “deep dive” of experts employs intense and rapid solutions to get the project back on track. Reid has taken part in a number of deep dives, and finds them stimulating. “Deep dives provide the opportunity to stretch your abilities, including organization, communication and people skills,” she says.
“Being able to network effectively is the key to success when you work in a large organization,” Reid notes. “It’s important to maintain relationships in all directions, both vertically and horizontally.”
Molly Dixon of GA-ASI: taking her airframe skills to the field
Molly Dixon is an airframe and power plant specialist III with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI, San Diego, CA). She specializes in Predator A and the newer Predator B unmanned aircraft system (UAS) aircraft designs. She has BS and MS degrees in chemistry, but put a twist on her education to become licensed in airframe and power plant maintenance at East Coast Aero Tech (Boston, MA).
“I always liked tinkering and taking engines apart and putting them back together,” she says. “It started when I restored a ‘68 Chevy pickup.”
A UAS collects data and relays it to a simulated cockpit on the ground, transmitting video so troops can see the terrain beyond their range of vision. Predator A has a reciprocating engine and Predator B uses a turbojet engine, Dixon explains. A UAS is exponentially more complicated than the old trucks Dixon began with, but her familiarity and ease with engines makes her job at GA-ASI an excellent fit for her.
Now, Dixon’s skills will be tested in the field. She’s opted to move to one of twelve sites GA-ASI operates around the world, where she’ll be supporting U.S. troops.
Thomas Cassidy, president of the GA-ASI aircraft systems group, notes that GA-ASI employees routinely deploy overseas to support Predator operations. “We are extremely proud of all GA-ASI employees who deploy,” he says.
“This is not a role that women traditionally target as a career choice,” Cassidy adds. “It is particularly exciting to see women like Molly Dixon volunteering to join this elite group.”
CS Paula McFarland supervises software technology for Meggitt
Paula McFarland, supervisor of software technology at Meggitt Defense Systems (Irvine, CA), enjoys a start-to-finish project. “I prefer to be involved through the entire software development lifecycle,” she says. “My favorites are new product developments which require new user interface design and algorithm development.”
Meggitt is a defense contractor participating in the design, development and manufacture of virtual and live-fire target solutions, aerial targets and electronic scoring as well as ammunition handling and environmental control systems. One of McFarland’s favorite projects is the Sea Target Laser Aim Scoring System for the Navy, which allows a sea-target training aircrew to evaluate its performance after a Hellfire missile training exercise. “The scoring system receives aircraft data, captures pictures of the laser spots on the target boat, and uses this data to produce a complete post-mission three-dimensional replay for use during the aircrew debriefing,” McFarland explains.
When McFarland was a kid her father encouraged her interest in computers, and later suggested that she join a student worker program at Rockwell International, where she worked with engineers on a space shuttle project. After she finished her BSCS at California State University-Dominguez Hills she continued to work for Rockwell, eventually moving into defense. In 1990 she joined Cartwright Electronics, now Meggitt Defense.
Being a woman in a male-oriented field has never discouraged McFarland. “Professionals always have to demonstrate their competencies,” she says, noting that all the engineers she supervises are men.
Karen Ouellet, director of HR and admin, says, “Meggitt relies on the application of diverse engineering and technical skills. We’re pleased to see more and more women applying for our technical positions and we value their contributions.”
ME Michele Evans: supporting warfighters at Lockheed Martin
Michele Evans is VP of aircraft systems at Lockheed Martin Corp (Bethesda, MD). She’s responsible for delivery on A-10, special ops, unmanned aerial vehicle and site logistic programs. Business, technology, scheduling, cost and client expectation areas are all her concern.
She’s also responsible for modernizing the A-10A program and bringing it through to the A-10C configuration in support of the Air Force. This means transitioning thirty-year-old equipment from analog to digital and integrating smart weapons technology.
“What we do saves lives and helps bring our warfighters home to their families,” says Evans.
Evans received her BSME magna cum laude from Clarkson University (Potsdam, NY) in 1987. When she started work at IBM after graduation Evans was the only woman in her department. That unit of IBM is now part of Lockheed Martin, and today Evans is one of many women engineers there. “Being a female in this profession gives you a strong sense of drive,” she says. “At Lockheed Martin diversity is accepted, and business strategy is driven by a feeling of inclusion.”
She always excelled in math and science and participated in field hockey, basketball and track. These days Evans spends most of her spare time at her sons’ sporting events. “Sports contributed to who I am,” she says. “I learned to be a good winner and a good looser and how to pick up the pieces. It taught me teamwork.”
Latesha Young tracks and configures equipment
Latesha Young is a computer engineer with the space technology sector of Northrop Grumman (Los Angeles, CA), working at the Redondo Beach, CA Space Park campus. She manages a team of analysts and programmers who work with proprietary software that tracks every piece of equipment used at the campus or leased to a client. This adds up to some 60,000 pieces of test and measurement equipment worth more than $100 million. The software even ties into the administrative side of operations and sends out the bills to clients.
“If a customer needs an oscilloscope,” Young explains, “We are responsible for registering the need, acquiring the equipment, calibrating and maintaining the equipment and keeping performance records. We track equipment throughout its life cycle for all our Southern California campuses.”
Along with tracking the equipment and monitoring its calibration, Young and her group make sure the equipment is configured to the manufacturer’s guidelines and to project specs.
This is just one of many behind-the-scenes operations that keep the company’s projects running smoothly. The software and database have been so successful that Northrop Grumman is considering making this system the calibration management software standard at other locations, Young notes. The system tracks equipment used on projects like the advanced extremely high frequency (EHF) military satellite communications system that provides communications to U.S. troops abroad.
Young received her BSCE from North Carolina State University in 1999 and went right to Northrop Grumman. “During the orientation I got a chance to see some of the technology, and I was sold. We’re building systems that save human lives.”
Hallie Walden: surveillance satellites at Ball
Hallie Walden is an advanced systems manager at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp (Boulder, CO). The defense industry, she says, is making the world safer for everybody, including her own children. “I definitely feel that I make a difference,” Walden says.
She received her 1986 BSME and 1988 MSME from Stanford University (Stanford, CA), following in her family’s engineering footsteps. “My dad and grandpa were engineers, so it just seemed logical to go into engineering,” she explains.
When it came time to look for a job, Walden was drawn to the excitement of aerospace. “At first, as a woman, I did feel I had to work a little harder to earn credibility,” she admits.
Walden currently works with new business, finding out what clients want and how Ball Aerospace can meet their needs. Frequent customers are the Air Force, the Army and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a central R&D organization in the Department of Defense.
At Ball, Walden works in the business unit that designs and builds spacecraft to test cutting-edge space-borne defense technologies. Its programs include NextSat, part of a robotic spacecraft servicing mission, and a spacecraft designed to economically fly a variety of defense-related government experiments.
Walden develops proposals that lead to contract awards. “Submitting a winning proposal is a little like getting an A+ on a college final,” Walden reports. “When the design and development effort ends with a launch into orbit, that’s a thrill few careers can match.”
Dan Brophy, director of defense systems for Ball Aerospace, says, “The technically demanding work we do supports a variety of defense and other programs, and includes mission-critical contributions from the women engineers we employ.”
CS Leslie Tassey Willis simulates warfare at Picatinny
Leslie Willis works on a virtual battlefield. The U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal spans 6,500 acres in northwest New Jersey where real and simulated combat exercises take place. Willis works on the organization’s armament server, which represents fielded munitions by performing ballistic calculations. By improving simulated testing, she explains, the cost and environmental impact of live-fire tests can be reduced.
“We can simulate environments all over the world, and different platforms such as cannons or tanks,” Willis says. “If a tank simulation makes a request to fire at a certain location, the armament server responds by telling the tank simulation where to point and fire. When the tank fires, the armaments system reports the trajectory and where the round hit. The server helps us assess the overall impact of rounds fired in the field.”
Willis received her BSCS from East Stroudsburg University (East Stroudsburg, PA) in 2001. She expects to finish her MS in systems engineering with a minor in IS from the Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA) in the fall of 2008.
“Being a woman isn’t what distinguishes you here. We’re all here to do a job, and we’re recognized on our merits, not our gender,” says Willis.
Ingrid Dombroski, competency manager in Picatinny’s system analysis division, notes that “Women today are actively pursuing technical careers, making tremendous contributions and providing leadership to facilitate technological advancement.”
Pamela Battle leads a global team at GE Aviation
Pamela Battle grew up in Tennessee, influenced by a brother who was an engineer, and a respected math teacher who encouraged her to study engineering. Battle went on to a 1985 BS in aerospace engineering from the University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH).
In her current position she manages configuration design engineering. She leads a global engineering team involved with all the engine products of GE Aviation (Evendale, OH). She brings teams together from the U.S., India and Mexico, and travels internationally every couple of months.
Battle’s clients include Delta, Comair, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, the Navy and the Air Force. “I love projects that are technically challenging,” she says. “When you complete them it’s awesome.”
Earlier in her career she worked on R&D for the Air Force and NASA. “We worked on projects that were technically cutting edge and wouldn’t be in the field for ten to fifteen years,” she recalls.
Battle is proud to be helping U.S. troops. “Our engines are in helicopters and airplanes with warfare capability,” she says.
Julia Yuping You: multipurpose data acquisition for NSTec
When she received her BSEE with a minor in math from the University of Minnesota in 1994, Julia Yuping You began working as a software engineer. She soon moved toward the defense industry, testing systems for aircraft. As an engineer for National Security Technologies, LLC (NSTec, Las Vegas, NV), You works at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland designing and testing software and electronic instrumentation.
For a recent project she developed embedded software and instrumentation that incorporate various analog and digital inputs – outside air temperature, for example – into a multipurpose data acquisition system. The system transfers the information into a database and stores it there.
The development process for such a system can be challenging, but You enjoys both the challenge and the variety. “Sometimes I’m involved with data acquisition and sometimes I help clients build hardware. I like the variety of the work I do here.
“At NSTec, being a woman isn’t an issue,” says You.
Dr Steve Younger, president of NSTec, notes that the company “recognizes and appreciates the significant contributions women have made to scientific research, applied engineering, technology and development. We encourage women and other groups to consider the opportunities at NSTec. We work at the highest levels of technological development as we pursue our mission to support national defense.”
Rosalind Lewis of Aerospace Corp
Rosalind Lewis directs the cost and requirements department of the Aerospace Corp (El Segundo, CA), where she works across the life cycle of military space programs: systems vital to national security. She is, in fact, a driving force at a company that serves as an advisor to government and industry and has been considered an engineering brain trust for the Air Force space program.
Lewis has three degrees: a BSCS and a masters in systems architecture and engineering from the University of Southern California-Los Angeles, and an MSCS from Polytechnic University (Brooklyn, NY).
She joined the technical ranks of Aerospace Corp in 1987. She’s led multidisciplinary teams working on digital imagery systems and been a senior project leader for satellite navigation and support systems.
“As a director, I do less of the technical work than I used to,” she reveals. “I do directly support some projects and tasks, but in my current position I’m responsible for the timeliness and quality of analyses produced by others.”
Lewis doesn’t believe that becoming an expert pigeonholes anyone. “When I got to the point where I was considered an expert on the system I was supporting, that knowledge allowed me to branch off in other directions. Being an expert really builds confidence.”
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