Initially, I did not posses a very strong interest in aerospace as a career. I went to the University of Texas for my undergrad where I worked on a business degree. After my bachelor's degree, I made several attempts to enter the aerospace career field and had no luck in finding a job in the industry. While I was able to find success elsewhere with my business degree, after some time, I decided to return to the University of Texas to complete a master of science in electrical engineering. Even though I had taken a few engineering classes at UT prior to my master's, my academic advisors told me that I needed another additional year of engineer coursework to develop a background in engineering. In 2007, I wrote my thesis and completed my grad degree. Soon after, I found a job at NASA and was hired on to work on the Space Shuttle program for the final years of its life. However, once it ended, 133 teams were laid-off as a result of budget cuts and program cancelation. Eventually, I became a part of the mass lay-off, which in turn, actually allowed me to see the trajectory of my career, giving me the opportunity to get ahead. This is when I found Omitron, who were looking for someone with a background in astro/computer engineering for military analysis in space. I moved to Goddard, MD, I worked there until I transitioned to the National Space Defense Systems program. In 2023, I then took a leap and went to ICR. 

I did not begin my career in aerospace as there were many life factors that didn't allow it for a time. Once I received my master's in a technical career field, I was able to get my foot-in-the-door with NASA.  

One mission that was the most meaningful for me would have to be when I entered my career at NASA working on the Space Shuttle program. I was able to work with a diverse set of teams in various backgrounds, all of whom, came together to build some amazing missions and launches. I had watched the space shuttle launches since I was a kid, and knew that this was an industry that I wanted to be a part of. Really any NASA or space related work was exciting for me, working in the National Space Defense Systems program was also a valuable experience. 

I'd say that the first significant challenge I faced in pursuit of an aerospace career would be getting into a master's program, working on my degree (thesis) and learning to code within a short timeframe. When it comes to thinking about overcoming these challenges, ultimately, I'd say luck played a huge part in this pivot. As for work challenges, that would have to be with the government systems that were often tedious and unnecessarily difficult to work with, The industry is wide, and sometimes unforgiving. It can be difficult to get your bearings and no-one is really seeking to train early career professionals. Because training and career development are not always provided, I'd say it might be wise to seek mentorship. Find the subject matter experts (SMEs), to do this, look for the person that everyone looks to for answers. Research conferences you are interested in and figure out who the SMEs are there, show them that you are engaged in the current discussions in your field and show them that you want to learn. To add to this, I've found that it's generally more challenging to get hired into larger companies, so you might find it more manageable to find small aerospace companies to apply to.   

In the space industry, there are many variables that can lead to stress and setbacks as the stakes are really high. The most stressful factors include, the mission itself, national security, and keeping the astronauts safe. There is a job that you must do and that you are responsible for. Because of the stressful nature of this line of work, I find myself needing to take a walk to jog my brain. However, once I am finished, I must make sure that I do the job and I do it well. 

For someone to grow and adapt in such a stressful culture, I think it's important to have great self-awareness. Know what your limits are, know what your team's limits are, and know where your boundaries lay. Again, it's important to do the job you're supposed to do, so a commitment to growth and eagerness to learn goes a long way in this industry. 

From my own experience of witnessing common mistakes of newcomers, what I often remind them is that you do not need a degree in Aerospace Engineering to join the space community. In fact, I would say that for space industry companies, they can find that those with other degrees interested, are going to have broader perspective. I find that there are many disciplines that are needed for aerospace. Manufacturing, Psychology, Planetary Biology, Geology, Chemistry, Physics, all of these unique pathways are useful for space exploration. 

An example from my environment where cross functional teams collaborate there is a flight control room, a backroom, a front room, if these teams are busy, it is difficult to coordinate. If the simulator was over crowded, then teams would need to talk back and forth repeatedly as different teams needed to complete their projects a the same time. Today, I feel that my teams are more flexible, in that they can coordinate quickly by talking about problems in real time often through quick meetings or just hallway-talk. So from what I have seen, a lot of it boils down to interpersonal relationships. I recommend that you don't wait for an issue to arise as this is often where solutions are found. 

When working in NASA Human Spaceflight, I can tell you that leadership does not appreciate needing to get into the nitty gritty details of every project. Self-sufficiency is a primary valued asset to any aerospace project team. I have worked with managers who didn't care about little details all the time, they expected me to be proactive in my work. 

Aerospace is definetly a fascinating and rewarding industry to work in. But there are some drawbacks that can't be ignored. As I talked about earlier, I did not immediately get an opportunity to work for NASA, I needed to work on my degree and skills before the opportunity emerged. Even today, it's still a competitive and challenging industry to get into. In the realm of government contracting, there are cycles of employment and unemployment, and you must have the stomach for uncertainty. I would say it's smart to keep you head on a swivel, understand the contracts you work on, not just the engineering of it, but the business side as well. From here on, the contractor environment will continue to become more unstable as the government is focusing more and more on quick contracts - making it important to be sure you are always in a good place mentally and financially.