Boeing Panel Discussion: Career Paths & Advice

Speaker Profiles & Career Paths

Tracy Stoddard

• Current Role: Air Dominance Division Software Lead at Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS), located in St. Louis, Missouri.
• Initial Entry to Boeing: Started as an intern. Despite being an applied math major at a time when software wasn't prominent, and not fitting traditional engineering or business roles, she secured an internship in Contracts and Pricing as an "engineer." This initial "foot in the door" was crucial for future opportunities.
• First Full-Time Role: Met someone from the F-15 software team at a water fountain during her internship. This led to an opportunity to translate navigation algorithms from analysis memos into code, leveraging her math background for the F-15 program.
• F-15 Program Tenure: Stayed on the F-15 program for over $20$ years, drawn by the continuous learning, the platform, the people, and the users. This long tenure is noted as uncommon compared to others who moved more frequently.
• Career Progression:
  • After $20$ years, encouraged to move for career growth.
  • Worked on the T-7 aircraft (USAF trainer) as software lead, experiencing a completely different environment.
  • Moved to Phantom Works, which is the "front end of the business" where new technologies, capabilities, and platforms are conceived and developed before transitioning to production programs.
• Air Dominance Division (Current Role): Focuses on fighter aircraft (F-15, F-18, F-22), new aircraft (MQ-25, T-7), and Flight Sim software. Manages teams primarily in St. Louis, but also in Daytona and California, overseeing a broad and exciting portfolio.

Kristen Francisco

• Tenure: Aproximately $3.5$ years at Boeing; previously spent $15$ years at Lockheed Martin.
• Lockheed Martin Experience:
  • Started as a software engineer in simulation and training, working on Humvee simulators for military ground operations.
  • Participated in the Engineering Leadership Development Program (ELDP), a rotational program offering diverse assignments outside software engineering (e.g., systems engineering for integration and tests).
  • Worked on flight simulators for F-35, F-16, and commercial aircraft (e.g., commercial flight simulators for the July. Boeing commercial planes).
• Transition to Boeing: Joined Boeing about $2$ years ago, motivated by a desire to work in space exploration.
• Boeing Space Program: Was a Senior Software Manager for the Space Launch System (SLS) program in Titusville (Kennedy Space Center). Her team developed the "stage controller" software, a critical testbed responsible for testing the Artemis rocket before launch to prevent issues on the pad.
• Current Role & Location: Moved to Daytona Beach about $6$ months ago to help establish Boeing's new facility on the Embry-Riddle Campus. Started as the first engineering employee on-site in March, and the team has grown to about $35$ members. Her primary role is staffing and building the team for the F-18 program there.
• Education:
  • Florida Southern College: Computer Science degree with a double major in Math.
  • Florida Tech: Two Master's degrees — one in Software Engineering and one in Engineering Management.
• Personal Life: Originally from New York, moved to Florida for college and stayed. Enjoys sports, Disney, and running Disney races. Has three daughters (ages $11$, $7$, and $4$).

Angela Reeling (Angie)

• Current Role: Engineering Manager for Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA).
• Education & Entry to Boeing: Graduated from Embry-Riddle in $2012$, secured an internship the summer before graduation, and then joined full-time.
• BCA Career Path:
  • Started on the 747-8, working on interior components (anything a passenger can see and touch).
  • Moved to the 777-9 development program, where she collaborated with airline customers to specify interior requirements, conducted trade studies, and created mock-ups to evaluate feature feasibility.
  • Currently working on the 777-8F, a new derivative cargo airplane designed to replace existing 777-300F or 200F models, responsible for delivering Amazon packages.
• Professional Growth: Has been with Boeing for $12$-$13$ years, holding roles as a technical design engineer, technical lead, and now a manager.
• Motivation: Driven by the opportunity to influence and develop people, and to remove obstacles for their success at Boeing and in their professional lives. Finds continuous learning and new technical challenges at Boeing highly engaging.
• Background: Migrated from Columbia, South America, to the U.S. at age $10$. Expects to stay at Boeing due to the diverse opportunities and technical challenges.
• Recruitment: Attends SWE conferences to recruit top talent from institutions like Embry-Riddle.

Venus Rivera

• Current Role: Quality Engineering Manager for the enterprise, supporting various Boeing business units (BCA, BDS).
• Background: Originally from Puerto Rico; studied Management Systems at the University of Central Florida (UCF).
• First Internship (Sea Ray Boat Company): Highlighted the importance of a first internship in shaping one's career path. Despite being an industrial engineer, she ended up in design engineering, which influenced her resume and subsequent opportunities in design.
• Early Career & Challenges:
  • Worked in design at Lockheed Martin.
  • Sought industrial engineering experience at United Parcel Service (UPS) in logistics but realized her preference for design.
  • Worked in automobile design at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, but experienced a layoff during the automobile recession. This experience was shared to emphasize career adaptability and the possibility of unexpected changes.
• Boeing Experience (787 Program):
  • Joined Boeing to work on the 787 program in South Carolina.
  • Noted significant challenges: the 787 was the first airplane primarily made of composites (a new material with no prior aircraft history) and involved a distributed global supply chain, a departure from previous Boeing manufacturing models in Seattle.
• Career Progression at Boeing:
  • Started in manufacturing engineering.
  • Moved to fabrication, gaining experience in assembly, installation, and fabrication processes.
  • Worked in workforce strategy, leading efforts like "Engineering Central," a platform providing tools and resources for engineers and technical pipeline development, including partnerships with universities.
• Quality Engineering: Emphasizes the significant need for talented quality engineers to ensure the continued high quality of Boeing's aircraft and products across all business units.
• Personal Life: Has a son and lives in Florida.

General Career and Internship Advice from Panelists

Engineering Leadership Development Programs (ELDP)

• Benefits: Rotational programs (like Lockheed Martin's ELDP) teach adaptability and how to quickly ramp up on new tasks.
• Outcome: After participating, individuals become highly adaptable, capable of being "plugged and played" wherever needed within a company, and can quickly learn new things.
• Personal Transformation: Can help individuals overcome shyness, develop leadership skills, and gain confidence in public settings.
• Recommendation: Highly recommended for students to explore similar programs at any company, including Boeing, for a broad and impactful career start.

Self-Discovery & Career Niche

• Identifying Interests: It's often easier to identify what you don't like (e.g., specific classes, projects) to help narrow down what you enjoy.
• Leveraging Experiences: Reflect on courses, projects, and organizations where you were deeply invested to understand your passions (technical aspects, working with people, mission-driven work).
• Connecting with Companies: Use discovered interests to align with company missions, visions, and specific job roles, and communicate these connections effectively during interviews using project examples.
• Broad Majors (e.g., Aerospace, Mechanical Engineering): It's acceptable not to know your exact niche. Interviewers appreciate candidates who are honest about their uncertainty but express a willingness to learn, try new experiences, and explore different roles. This broad experience leads to a more well-rounded professional.

Interviewing & Essential Skills

• Well-Roundedness: Employers look for candidates who are not just academically strong but also involved in extracurricular activities, community service, or other interests. This demonstrates passion, capacity, and diverse capabilities.
• Soft Skills: Crucial in a professional setting. Includes personality, positive demeanor, good communication, and the ability to work collaboratively. Even if naturally reserved, adapting a professional persona at work is important.
• Humble Swagger: A key trait. Be confident in your abilities but also humble enough to say, "I don't know and I need help." Managers prefer transparent communication to avoid wasted effort from employees struggling in silence.
• Curiosity & Willingness to Learn: Interns and new hires are not expected to know everything. The most important qualities are being eager to learn, willing to listen, and asking questions.
• Communication Skills: One of the biggest challenges in the industry. Being able to clearly convey requirements and share information effectively is as important as technical intelligence. A good balance of technical knowledge and soft skills (especially communication) is essential.
• Leadership Experience: Even as a freshman, seeking out opportunities to lead and solve problems (not just be a bystander) in school organizations or community involvement is valued. Employers look for passion and initiative.
• Quick Interviews: Focus on a project you're passionate about or a previous internship, and weave in extracurriculars or community involvement to demonstrate your ability to manage multiple responsibilities.

Boeing-Specific Programs & Advice

• Career Mentoring Program:
  • Target Audience: Specifically designed for freshmen and sophomores.
  • Purpose: To quickly connect students with Boeing.
  • Benefits: Pairs students with a mentor (leader, manager, technical leader, SME) who can guide them, help with interviewing skills and resume writing, and facilitate networking within Boeing. This program is highly recommended for building initial connections.
• Customer Integration Role: A technical project management role that requires strong soft skills for interacting with customers, understanding their needs, and managing expectations. Also requires technical understanding to assess the feasibility of customer requirements and coordinate across multiple design teams. Good foundational experience as a designer helps to understand the practicalities of implementing features on a plane.
• Internship Duration: Boeing extended its internship duration from $6$ months to $1$ year to allow interns more time to learn, dig in, and perform effectively in their roles.
• Financial Support: Boeing pays for relocation for interns.
• Networking: The last $20$ minutes of the session were allocated for one-on-one networking, allowing students to speak directly with speakers, ask individual questions, and potentially share resumes.

First Internship Timing

• Panelists indicated that first internships typically occur after the freshman or sophomore year of college. One speaker mentioned staying at her college to do research for Carnegie Mellon University as a summer opportunity.