{"427431":{"#nid":"427431","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Five things that every engineer should know","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENOTE:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe following is part of an ongoing GT-AE\u0026nbsp;series called \u0022\u003Cstrong\u003EFive Things You Should Know\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003Ewhich extracts pearls of wisdom from friends and alumni of GT-AE who are working the multifaceted field of aerospace engineering. This installment was culled from a Jan. 23 visit by three very generous Lockheed Martin engineers:\u0026nbsp;Dan O\u0027Rourke, Julie Whitehead, and Jeff Baldino. The trio came to Georgia Tech as a part of the School of Aerospace Engineering\u0027s Student Advisory Council (SAESAC) Career Night.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable width=\u0022200\u0022 border=\u00220\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00225\u0022 align=\u0022right\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\u0022rtecenter\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EJulie Whitehead\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDirector of Air Vehicle Systems\u003Cbr \/\u003ELockheed Martin\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E1.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EBuild up your \u0022work equity.\u0022\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If a colleague comes to you and asks you to do something extra, say \u0027yes.\u0027 It matters. A lot,\u0022\u0026nbsp;said Whitehead, Lockheed\u0027s director of Air Vehicle Systems. \u0022Every assignment that I was asked to take on, I said \u0027yes\u0027 to. And it built my reputation for having a good work ethic. At Lockheed, they notice who\u0027s coming in on the weekends to do extra work. They remember the people who are willing to go above and beyond. Those are the go-to people, and they move ahead.\u0022\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey also remember the ones who don\u0027t.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Someone actually said they couldn\u0027t stay late to work on a project because they had a kickball tournament,\u0022 she added. \u0022\u003Cem\u003EA kickball tournament.\u003C\/em\u003E\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E2. Hone your basic engineering skills.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022With my background in mechanical systems, I was working as an air vehicle deputy, but when they had a hole for the C-5 avionics director, they called on me to fill it\u0026nbsp; eventhough I\u0026nbsp;had no background in electronics,\u0022\u0026nbsp; said O\u0027Rourke, GT \u002782, who is now the chief engineer for the C-5.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022They had seen how I\u0026nbsp;approached problem-solving on other tasks, and knew I\u0026nbsp;had a solid foundation as an engineer, so when they were behind schedule and over\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable width=\u0022200\u0022 border=\u00220\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00221\u0022 align=\u0022right\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\u0022rtecenter\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDan M. O\u0027Rourke, GT \u002782\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EChief Engineer, C-5 Program\u003Cbr \/\u003ELockheed Martin\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003Ebudget, they figured I could handle it.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E3.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EKnow what you don\u0027t know.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EThen find someone who does.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This relates to that last point,\u0022\u0026nbsp;said O\u0027Rourke. \u0022When I\u0026nbsp;started working as the avionics director, I knew what I didn\u0027t know and I was ready to find people who could fill in the holes. This is critical at Lockheed, because we have to work as a team. You have to be able to identify the resources you need and then be ready to activate them.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E4.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003ETime. Management.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When I decided that I wanted to go back to graduate school, I\u0026nbsp;had a full-time engineering job at Lockheed,\u0022 said Baldino,\u0026nbsp;BSAE \u002710 MSAE \u002713, an engineer on the C-5.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I knew there would be\u0026nbsp; times when I\u0027d have to work late and no one was going to care if I had a test the next day or a lecture to attend. If I wanted to go to school, I\u0026nbsp;had to make it work around my job.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable width=\u0022200\u0022 border=\u00220\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00221\u0022 align=\u0022right\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022rtecenter\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EJeff Baldino BSAE \u002710, MSAE \u002713\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EC-5 Engineer\u003Cbr \/\u003ELockheed Martin\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBaldino forged ahead in his GT-AE graduate program by switching between on-campus classes and distance learning.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022If I really wanted to take a class, but it only met at noon, I found a way to take it online so that I could watch it when I got home from work,\u0022 he said. \u0022I\u0027m not going to tell you it was easy, because it wasn\u0027t, but I learned how to manage my time really well. Now that I\u0027m finished with my masters, I have more time than I know what to do with sometimes.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother perk:\u0026nbsp;Lockheed helped him pay for his schooling.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E5. Did we mention the part about always saying \u0027yes\u0027?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Building up work equity really builds your credibility,\u0022 said Whitehead. \u0022I can\u0027t emphasize enough how important it is to take new assignments and, then, to learn new skillsets. You will be learning throughout your career, and you want your colleagues to see how well you learn.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable width=\u0022450\u0022 border=\u00221\u0022 cellspacing=\u00221\u0022 cellpadding=\u00221\u0022 align=\u0022center\u0022\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EThe man underneath the screen images is Dan O\u0027Rourke, GT \u002782. After addressing students for an hour during the Jan. 23 Career Night event, he spent almost an additional hour answering questions from GT-AE\u0026nbsp;students.\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Five things that every engineer should know."}],"uid":"27456","created_gmt":"2015-07-22 10:23:39","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:15","author":"Britanny Grace","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-01-23T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-01-23T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1239","name":"School of Aerospace Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"}],"keywords":[{"id":"2082","name":"aerospace engineering"},{"id":"136301","name":"Dan O\u0027Rourke"},{"id":"136311","name":"Jeff Baldino"},{"id":"136291","name":"Julie Whitehead"},{"id":"2558","name":"Lockheed Martin"},{"id":"169942","name":"SAESAC"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["communications@ae.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}