Software Engineering Workshop

How Puzzling?

Presented by: Lesa Kaitz, Nicole Soucy, and Terri Soohoo, Software Engineers, Raytheon Company

Workshop Description

Engineering is solving puzzles. In this workshop, we will work in teams to solve puzzles of all kinds.  We will be the computer and solve puzzles as the computer does.  We will also be the scientist who solves puzzles. We will have lots of fun learning what an engineer does for work.

Leader’s Job Description

Lesa: I work on a software integration team for a large radar project. The software is written in pieces by other teams. Those pieces then need to be put together and made to work as intended; that is my job. The pieces include:

• what is seen on the display screen
• communication with the people in charge (also known as the Battle Manager)
• finding things the Radar is looking at (also known as search)
• identification of what those things are (also known as discrimination)
• following those things identified (also known as track)
• evaluating all the physical pieces of the Radar to insure they are working and pose no danger to people (also known as diagnostics)
• collecting data during a mission that will be used for evaluation

Nicole: Currently, I have two jobs at Raytheon; section manager and Control Account Manager.  As section manager, I am responsible for managing the career development of 15 – 20 engineers.  This includes checking the engineers’ timecards to see if they were done correctly, having discussions with them on their performance, as well as, what kind of jobs they might want in the future.  As a Control Account Manager, I am responsible for approximately $60 million across two programs.  In this job I have to keep track of what work needs to be done, when it starts, when it should finish, how well we are doing the work and how much the work is costing to get done. There are lots of reports that need to be done monthly and quarterly to keep track of all the work and money.

Terri: I manage a group of software engineers where we are responsible for supporting the software/system engineers and software development environment of a large radar project. Our tasks include establishing/maintaining software development environment, creating scripts to automate standard processes, customizing tools according to project needs, packaging build releases for delivery to customer sites, troubleshooting issues presented by our user community, and assist in the acquisition of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) tools and licenses.

Advice for Career Path

Lesa: Math and science including, but not limited, to computer science courses are all important for pursuing a career in software.  Other courses to consider would be physics, chemistry and biology. English is always important. The written and the spoken word are needed in the workplace to insure effective communication.

Nicole: Degrees in math, science and engineering all teach great problem solving skills that are great for any kind of work.  But the most important thing to do is have an open mind to the possibilities.

Terri: A solid foundation for a career path in software engineering would include courses in Math and Science (ex., Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, Physics), Software Design Methodologies and Programming Languages (ex., Object-Oriented Design, C, C++, Java, HTML), Operating Systems (Unix, MS-DOS, Linux), Database scripting and tools (ex., SQL, Oracle, Access), and Scripting Languages (ex., Perl, C-Shell, Bourne Shell).  Equally important are the “softer” courses that promote skills for communicating and working with people in an effective and professional manner (ex., time management, use of presentation tools, email etiquette, technical writing, toast masters, conflict management, personality assessments). 

If you like to solve puzzles, then software may be the career for you.