Rachel Sokol

 

MECHANICAL ENGINEERS FIND THEIR WORK ENGAGING, THEIR COLLEAGUES LIVELY

 

ENGINEERING MAJORS ARE PROJECTED TO BE THE TOP PAID BACHELOR’S DEGREE GRADUATES FROM THE CLASS OF 2015, ACCORDING TO NACE’S JANUARY 2015 SALARY SURVEY REPORT. THE PROJECTED OVERALL AVERAGE STARTING SALARY FOR THESE GRADUATES IS $62,998. IN THE FIELD OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, THE MAJORITY GARNERS AN AVERAGE SALARY OF $68,000. PLUS, THERE'S MUCH OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH. MECHANICAL ENGINEERING JOBS CAST A WIDE NET, WITH PROFESSIONALS DEPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING, BUILDING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION. THE JOBS THEMSELVES ARE ALSO VARIED, WITH A GREAT DEAL OF LATERAL MOVEMENT AND OPPORTUNITY TO MOVE INTO DIFFERENT JOB FUNCTIONS. THE FOUR MECHANICAL ENGINEERS PROFILED BELOW SHARE WHAT THEY LOVE ABOUT THEIR JOB. THEY ALSO REVEAL THAT, DESPITE PUBLIC PERCEPTION, ENGINEERS “JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN.”

 

BAE SYSTEMS: HAVING GENUINE IMPACT

DOMENIC de rubis, senior principal mechanical engineer in Bae systems greenlawn, ny location, oversees the mechanical design of electronics, such as radios and antennas, used in aircraft and ships for the us army, navy, and air force.

 

“I graduated from adelphi university in 2003 with a Bs in physics and from columbia university in 2005 with a Bs in mechanical engineering,” notes de rubis. “i started at Bae systems fresh out of school, as an entrylevel mechanical engineer in the company’s intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance solutions business area,” he explains. “as mechanical engineer, i have worked on a variety of development and production support pro- grams writing proposals, performing mechanical design and analysis, reviewing drawings and specifications, creating FEA [finite element analysis] models, and analysis.”

 

Programs De Rubis has worked on include the ISR mission workstation for the Boeing P-8 long-range maritime patrol aircraft and critical Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) technology that helps both commercial and military users distinguish friendly forces from unknown or hostile ones. “I also worked on an international communication vehicle transport program that gave me the opportunity to make several trips to Slovakia to work with in-country partners,” he says.

 

De Rubis is involved in new product design and supporting production lines in the factory. “I review drawings and specifications, develop FEA models and analyses, and manage product testing and reporting,” he explains. He is developing a new electronic radio frequency module for a US fighter aircraft. “It requires a lot of interdisciplinary collaboration and has been a great learning experience so far,” he acknowledges.

 

De Rubis, who also holds an MS in systems engineer ing from NYU’s Polytechnic School of Engineering, likes the idea of working with products that have a genuine impact to the safety and well-being of allied soldiers, which attracted him to BAE Systems. “I have family in the military, so this is of special importance to me.” BAE Systems is one of the world’s largest defense contractors.

 

Being an engineer is often seen as a “social dark horse, and that engineers reflect the banality and exactness of the subject matter,” says De Rubis. “What makes engineering so special is, despite the rigor of the topic at hand, my peers are very sociable and a lot of fun. When we arrive at a solution together, it’s very rewarding.”

 

De Rubis advises job seekers to “enjoy yourself and the people around you. If you cannot do that, you are in the wrong place doing the wrong thing.”

 

BAE Systems is one of the largest and most geographically diverse defense and security companies with approximately 83,400 employees worldwide. BAE Systems delivers a full range of products and services for air, land, and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, security, information technology solutions, and support services to a diverse customer base in the US and internationally.

 

WSP GLOBAL: WORK OPPORTUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD

AS vice president and managing director – Houston for WSP Global, David M. Sinz, PE, LEED AP, delivers quality MEP engineering design and construction to various market sectors, including commercial office buildings, hospitals, laboratories, hotels, and sports stadiums.

 

Sinz, who earned his MBA after graduating with a degree in marine systems engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, notes WSP Global has many national groups for young engineers to get involved with, and that come up with new and exciting ways to improve the culture and work environment at WSP. “One of the biggest misconceptions about engineers is that we are all boring and no fun,” he says. “Here in Houston, we have many young staffers who are always planning great company functions and also go on trips together outside of work.”

 

WSP Global Inc. provides management and consultancy services to the built and natural environment. Following its acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff, the combined entity has approximately 31,500 employees in 500 offices across 39 countries. The company is organized into the following main service areas: buildings, energy, environment, industry, mining, and transport and infrastructure.

 

“WSP in an international company with offices around the world,” says Sinz, who has worked overseas. “I speak enough Arabic and Spanish to get by, but I wish I was fluent in both. I can see how that would be a great asset to an international engineering company. As the projects and clients become more and more international the need for bilingual engineers will become more prevalent.”

 

As an engineer, he says, “you must always be aware of numerous factors when you are designing a project. Every location has a unique solution that must be engineered into the project for it to be a success. Some of the items that you need to account for are local weather, local technical expertise, availability of products, and available electrical systems, to name a few.”

 

Sinz points to the pervasive use of 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, most notably Auto - desk’s Revit building design software. For anyone interested in working in building design and construction, its critical to be proficient in its use.

 

In his nearly five years at WSP, Sinz has worked on a variety of interesting projects. “The coolest project was the semi-conductor facility in Brazil for IBM—the most advanced semi-conductor facility in South America. The project was fast-paced with over 60,000 square feet of Class 1000 clean room,” he says. “The draws had to be done in metric except for a Brazilian item that they still specified in English units. The drawings also had to be done in English and Portuguese.”

 

RASSINI: TECHNICAL PROBLEMS SOLVED

AS engineering director at Rassini, Mauricio Gonzalez Rocha helps assure that all application programs are running on time and on budget, at the company’s Plymouth, MI, location. “I also lead activities to identify new technologies that impact Rassini’s product and technology offerings and consequently shift the way manufacturers see our product,” he explains.

 

According to Gonzalez, Rassini is “a very unique company because we produce brake and suspension components that most people in the automotive industry believe are mature with minimal opportunities to innovate or further differentiate.” However, he continues, Rassini utilizes human creativity as a competitive advantage “to provide our customers with key solutions to chronic issues developing new materials and alternative processes for mature components.”

 

Gonzalez has always been intrigued by automobile product development, starting with the styling of the car through the final vehicle assembly, and how innovation and collaboration solves outstanding problems. “Engineers are part of the equation that helps make businesses work and the opportunities for advancement in their professional careers are huge. A mechanical engineer is capable of starting his career in a given field or focus, and move to other areas of focus due to the amount of skills and knowledge learned at the university-level. This individual is able to move to areas such as maintenance, product development, manufacturing, or program management and from there is capable to move to other responsibilities (in most cases incremental education is required to excel in new professional paths).”

 

Adds Gonzalez, “Mechanical engineering is a good choice for new generations for pure technical and executive career growth.”

 

At Rassini, a team of people with unique skills in specific areas will come together to take on projects. “In most cases, we have a lead researcher that is in charge of the project and uses the skills of his/her colleagues to solve specific issues that arise during the development of the technology,” explains Gonzalez. The benefit of working in this way, continues Gonzalez, is that, “we have a pool of knowledge that is available for several projects and people enjoy working in specific tasks that fall within their main competencies, and they are able to have other projects either in R&D, applications, or both.”

 

Recently, Rassini accomplished a project that measured a key material characteristic for brake discs, called “damping factor.” “Our goal was simple, but aggressive, because we were looking to reduce the amount of time currently used to perform that measurement by more than 80 percent,” says Gonzalez, who studied mechanical engineering at Universidad Iberoamericana, Cuidad de Mexico and later earned degrees from the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.

 

When you work for a company like Rassini that supports different markets, customers, and consumers, “it is extremely important to understand the view point from people around the world,” says Gonzalez. “This perspective translates into a better working relation with global customers, and also provides the best solutions for (technical) problems.”

 

NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING: AMERICA’S LARGEST MILITARY SHIPBUILDERS

MARY Perkinson, engineering manager for Newport News Shipbuilding— a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries—leads the crane procurement and overhaul process for 600-plus cranes with an annual budget of approximately $10 million.

 

Perkinson manages the NNS Crane Long Range Strategic Plan that documents the crane replacement strategy and budgetary cost. “I oversee all aspects of crane project implementation including the documentation, budgeting, scheduling, construction verification, commissioning, endurance testing, inspection, load testing, and certification of completed crane projects,” she explains. Additionally, Perkinson oversees nine direct reports, including the technicians, mechanical, and electrical engineers necessary to complete the process.

 

“Being part of a process that takes raw materials and makes them into a finished product is exciting,” Perkinson says. The process starts with an idea that then becomes a design, which fixes a problem or serves a need. “All along the way,” she continues “important decisions are made such as selecting the best materials to use for a safe, quality product while staying within the projected costs and delivery.”

 

Perkinson calls Newport News Shipbuilding “an amazing place to work with complex facilities, from a hot metal foundry to two of the largest cranes in the western hemi- sphere.” Not to mention that Perkinson, an engineering graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, sees steel plates and components arrive in a raw form and leave as nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines sailing out to sea. “These are two of the most complex machines on the planet that serve a vital need for our country,” she says.

 

Anyone interested in mechanical engineering should focus on the perks of 3D printing, advises Perkinson, as the use of computer modeling, simulation, and design in combination with 3D printing allows engineers to show their customers what the final product will look like before the money is spent to fabricate the full scale design. “Furthermore, there will be a time in the not too distant future where many machine parts will be built using 3D printing technology,” she acknowledges.

 

Engineering, says Perkinson, “is not your grandfather’s workforce. The biggest misconception is that engineers are all geeky males like (the character) Sheldon on the television show ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ Today’s engineering workforce includes male and female engineers from all kinds of diverse backgrounds. It is extremely important for companies to make sure that their engineering workforce is diverse so that their collective backgrounds and experiences can be used to make better products.”

 

At Newport News, adds Perkinson, “many engineers make a difference through our projects and designs at work and many make a difference in their communities by mentoring or participating in STEM outreach and professional development events.”

 

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America’s largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of manufacturing, engineering, and management services to the nuclear energy, oil, and gas markets. The company employs approximately 38,000 people both in the US and abroad.