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Mike Collins. Director of Program Management for Lockheed Martin Corporation. Degrees. Undergraduate work done at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. In those days the only choice was to graduate with an engineering degree.
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Mike Collins Director of Program Management for Lockheed Martin Corporation
Degrees • Undergraduate work done at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. • In those days the only choice was to graduate with an engineering degree. • Masters degree in engineering from George Washington University
Military Academy at West Point NY GW University
Preparation • The military academy was not a normal university as your four years were totally controlled. • There really weren’t any internship opportunities. • After graduation, you had to serve in the military. • Everything was laid out so Mr. Collins didn’t have to worry about any “extra” work. • Although internships and hands on experiences were rare back then, he said that now, it is really important to have real life experiences along with performing well in the coursework.
Military Service • Served in Berlin during the Cold War • Had tours of duty as an infantry and transportation officer. • His goal was to get into army aviation. • While an army officer he attended school where he obtained his masters at GWU • To do so, he had to sacrifice his free time to attend school at night
Life in the Academy • The program has changed at the Academy as now you can choose your major. • Mr. Collins had a total of four electives in four years so there was not much leeway in the ways of freedom. • Within these degrees of Freedom, he focused on Operations Research (similar to systems engineering). • The school had the classic engineering courses like electrical, chemical, and thermal. They were also very heavy in physics, chemistry, and mathematics. • The academy was preparing students for leadership roles so they wanted their engineering students to have a broad scope of understanding which is why they had such strict course outlines.
Growing Up • When he was growing up, America was in a turbulent time with the Vietnam War and Cultural Revolution. • The space program caught his attention as it was uplifting to the nation. • He remembers sitting in his home in Ohio watching the US land on the moon. • This inspired him to pursue a technical career as he wanted to be an astronaut and in order to do so he needed technical grounding.
The Astronaut Program • He tried very hard to get into the astronaut program. • Interestingly enough, it turns out that his roommate at the military academy was the Army’s #1 selection for the astronaut program. • He wanted to be a pilot in this program but was rejected as his eyes were too poor. • Despite this failure, he has been involved in material that has been as fulfilling and rewarding as being an astronaut.
How the Academy Directly Prepared Mike For His Job • At the Academy, he learned the mechanics associated with various engineering domains. • The Academy immersed its students in leadership opportunities. • They wanted their graduates to lead organizations. • He says that, “in the end, no matter what tools you are using, work is about problem solving.” • His role right now is to ensure that the systems are in place and allow individual programs to function well. • He will go to a program to monitor the progress and even assist if needed in the elements associated with cost, schedule, and technical content. • It has been a long time since he has actually coded software. • However, he has done those things in the past and this experience allows him to contribute to technical solutions at a higher level.
Life After College • Spent 7 years in the military after college and spent this time in various leadership roles and in furthering his education • After his service, he went to work in General Electric Aerospace. • A lot of what he worked on is classified so he couldn’t tell me exactly what he was doing. • He was essentially a “test engineer” • He wasn’t actually designing the systems. Instead, he was taking elements of the design and testing them in real world situations to make sure that the design was actually going to work. • So he needed to know parts of how it was designed, where the requirements came from, and whether the requirements were done in such a way that it would achieve its objective. • He tested systems of national technical means (or large and important systems) associated with aerospace engineering. • There were thousands of people working on these systems. • He would look at the software, hardware, requirements, and the operational scenarios to make sure that what was being developed would work • He spent a number of years as a test engineer.
Continued… • He then became a program manager for a program that was in development so he dealt with everything in regards with that program (also classified). • He then ran an engineering department that did all the command and control simulations work for a business. • He was an engineering manager and had around 300 engineers working in his organization. • They were all working on various programs and he ensured there was a robust capability. • The next job he had was as a director level for information technology for Lockheed Martin Corporation. • Finally, and also currently, he went back into program management for Lockheed.
Interesting Fact • Lockheed Martin is a corporation that has been put together in the last 13 years (since the end of the Cold War). • There were 22 Heritage companies that were separate before and formed what is now Lockheed Martin. • Throughout his career, Mr. Collins essentially worked for LM because the smaller companies like General Electric and Ford Aerospace all became part of LM when the cold war ended.
Day at Work • “There hasn’t been a normal day in twenty-three years…[and] it [engineering] has been totally fun.” • Everyday for him is an adventure and every day is about problem solving. • The only commonality is that the day begins and ends. • He always has a plan when he comes in but it is a rare day when he actually executes the plan. • I was an example of this because the day before I was not scheduled as one of Mr. Collins activities. I just dropped in! • He says that the discipline that comes from solving problems, putting bounds on things, and understanding your environment, allows you to take anything that comes during the day and be able to deal with it. • A normal day for an engineer is they will come in and have to accomplish a specific task during the day. It includes both individual and group work where you are putting together the pieces of some system. • You will always have unexpected things pop up that you have to deal with.
Life Outside of Work • In the engineering field, you could spend all, day, every day at work • However, it is important to have a life outside of work • Mr. Collins is very interested in philosophy, quantum mechanics, sports, and spends a lot of time staying fit mentally, spiritually, and physically. • The most important thing for him outside of work is his family. • He has some young kids that are his first priority every spare minute he has whether it be going to a soccer game, a play, or just practicing with them. • Everything he does outside of work is “essentially some form of giving back what [he’s] been blessed with one way or the other.” • This can be to the community, the family, and when he has spare time he likes to bone up on mechanics.
“You never stop learning and the adventure never ends” (Mike Collins).
The End Courtesy of Mike Collins
An Engineer? • Although going into engineering is still a possibility, I am still undecided on my major. • I have other interests. One of which is Business and I am taking the Intro to Business Course next semester. I will have to wait to base my decision until after that class. • I am good at math and science so Engineering could be a career path. I also like to build things and work with computers. • Mr. Collins dealt with systems in the aerospace field and it sounds interesting. • My dad also works for Lockheed Martin and I have always been fascinated with jet fighters, rockets, space shuttles, satellites, military equipment, etc.
So… • For the purpose of the project I will choose to be an aerospace engineer. • As far as companies go, I would be interested in working for Boeing or Lockheed Martin. • Preferably Lockheed Martin as it is the largest aerospace and defense company (140,000 employees) and to be frank, performs better. • It would be awesome to work in designing, building, and testing stealth fighters, shuttles, and other aerospace equipment.
F-22 Raptor Mars Lander (Phoenix) F-35 Stealth Fighter Hubble Space Telescope
Colleges • I have always wanted to go to BYU not only because it is an excellent academic school, but for the positive and enriching environment. • BYU has a top engineering program and is a targeted recruiting school for aerospace and defense companies such as Lockheed Martin. • They have won a number of engineering competitions and one of their winning designs is a car built from parts that gets 50 mpg and goes from 0-60 in 3.1 seconds. • As far as two other colleges, I would select Stanford and Maryland as Stanford has the #2 engineering program in the country and Maryland the 18th and is relatively close to home.
Steps • After graduation, I need to perform well in the coursework at college. • This will require dedication, work ethic, time, energy, and perseverance as engineering is a difficult degree to major in. • Mr. Collins recommended that I get the hard courses done first when I have the time so that could be a path to take. • In today’s society, doing well in class is not enough and to prepare me for the real world I would need to enroll in an internship program to get me hands on experience in a work place environment. • I would get a BSAE and because I also want to get into program/systems management, continue my education to receive a masters in business.
Projected Work Day • A life outside of work is very important to me so I don’t want to be working more than 10 hours a day. The best time would be from around 8:00-6:00 so I could get home for dinner with my family. • I would come to work with a plan and strive to get it done • Most likely, I would be working on a system (whether it be designing, constructing, repairing, or testing) individually as well as with a group. • As a manager, I would make sure the organization was running smoothly, assist engineers on the design floor, and deal with problems regarding cost, production, consumers, and efficiency.
Ahhhhh….Leisure • Well the pictures about sum it up. • I like to sleep. • And go to the beach. • I would also spend time with my family. • As well as visit extended family.
