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Engineering Physics 10 Years LaterEditor's Note: A few months ago, I received an e-mail from Patrick Marsden, who in May 1991 was among the first to receive a B.S. in engineering physics, Embry-Riddle's one-of-a-kind program combining physics, math, and computer design. Pat offered to orchestrate on the pages of The Leader what amounts to a class reunion of his classmates, most of whom still keep in touch. I agreed, and so did 12 of the first 17 graduates of a degree program that is just as unique today as it was a decade ago. Here is their response.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: It's a combination of physics and aeronautical engineering. My use of the degree has been solely from a reference standpoint, i.e., having an engineering degree as opposed to the specific physics aspects. How the degree has helped me: It gave me a solid engineering and mathematical foundation that I've been able to leverage in the professional world. What I've done since graduation: I've been doing software engineering work for more than 11 years. I've been doing object-oriented design and development on various platforms using various technologies. I'm currently designing and developing distributed systems in the Microsoft arena. My most interesting/challenging project: The company I work for develops software for the manufacturing industry. We're currently working on software that ties together many aspects of manufacturing - from programmable logic controllers on the shop floor, through manufacturing execution systems, to upper-level enterprise resource and planning systems. I'll never forget: Dr. G.G. Sivjee. He showed genuine concern for each student, and his courses were very challenging.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: It's a blend of space science and astronautical engineering. It gives you the knowledge to participate in all aspects of a space science mission, from planning the mission, to designing the instruments and spacecraft, to interpreting the data. It exposes you to a wide range of subjects from which you can choose if you go on to graduate school. How the degree has helped me: I've worked on tasks ranging from Earth science to solar physics to satellite engineering and operations, and, in each case, I've used skills and knowledge from the EP program. The broad background gave me the skills to become a jack of all trades and be more useful to my employer. It also taught me how to solve open-ended, real-world problems where the answers are not in the back of the book. What I've done since graduation: I received a master's degree in mechanical engineering, specializing in astronautical engineering, at George Washington University's Joint Institute for the Advancement of Flight Sciences. Next, I worked in the science group at the Naval Research Lab's Backgrounds Data Center, the primary data archiving site for the Air Force research satellite MSX. I then went to Hughes Information Technology Systems and helped create the Earth Observing System, Data and Information System, Core System (ECS), the data archiving system for NASA's Earth Observing System. I ensured that ECS met the needs of the scientists and researchers in the Earth science community. In early 1997, I joined ANSER, where I worked in mission planning and satellite command and control for the Air Force's MSTI3 research satellite. Since that program ended, I have worked as a satellite avionics engineer at Orbcomm, which provides global data messaging service via 35 LEO satellites. My most interesting/challenging project: I'm working on a project to reduce the electrical power requirements of the bus systems on our satellites. With this extra power, we'll be able to provide enhanced service to our customers. However, it will require operating the bus systems in ways in which they were not designed. I'll never forget: Prof. Elliot Palmer. As the head of the department, he allowed me to transfer into the program. I'll always be thankful to him for giving me that chance. I also remember Dr. Murali Nair for all the time we spent together in senior design class.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: The engineering physicist is the bridge between the theoretical physicist who doesn't understand the constraints of engineering, and the engineers who can't conceptualize new ideas for the aerospace industry. The beauty of a degree with the word "physics" in it is that potential employers assume you're a super-brain. My degree got me jobs as a chemist, an environmentalist, and interviews with several federal law enforcement agencies. How the degree has helped me: Unfortunately, 1991 wasn't a good time to look for a job in aerospace, so I looked elsewhere. But because I had obtained an excellent degree in physical sciences with the bonus of a good engineering curriculum, I was able to market myself in other ways. What I've done since graduation: I enlisted part time in the Coast Guard Reserve, which led into the environmental management field and gave me the qualifications to obtain a job with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. For four years, I was an on-scene coordinator for the State of Florida, performing emergency response to pollution incidents. After receiving a direct officer commission with the Coast Guard, I worked in Washington, DC, on oil spill response policy, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as a marine safety specialist, and now in Norfolk, Virginia, as a shipping container inspection manager. I also got married, survived dengue fever, rode several thousand miles on Harleys, and brewed a lot of beer. No kids. My most interesting/challenging project: After Hurricane Georges devastated Puerto Rico in September 1998, I spent a month detailed as U.S. Department of Transportation representative to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. I worked with a response team under the complex Federal Response Plan. It was difficult work, especially since I was a victim of the hurricane myself. FEMA spent well over $1 billion on Puerto Rico, much of which was for air transportation of relief supplies. I'll never forget: While my classmates will probably all say Dr. Sivjee (and I agree), I remember all of the faculty for different reasons. I'm grateful for their tremendous dedication to science and education. I think often of Dr. Fred Elston, who passed away recently. He was a kind and generous man.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: I explain that I signed up for aeronautical science, but those in charge of the EP program called up and said I was just what they were looking for. Try it, they said, it's just engineering, plus we go into space. I like space, said I. Next thing I know, the math problems had no numbers in them! How the degree has helped me: As I teach instructors how to teach, I can better understand what good teachers are, from the examples I had at Riddle. What I've done since graduation: I've instructed in jets, big and small, and dreamed of space. My most interesting/challenging project: Lighting up a mind, whether he is older or younger. Getting through to a pilot and helping him to make sense of why. I'll never forget: Dr. Sivjee, because I bet nobody can understand what that man is saying to this day. What is a "Lok He Da?"
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: It's an aeronautical engineering degree with an big emphasis on space sciences and physics - a good degree to get you to NASA or a good base for a master's program. How the degree has helped me: It gave me the studying skills to progress as a pilot in the USAF. It made the aerodynamic concepts of being a pilot easier to understand. Most of the advanced courses I took turned out to be relatively useless in my career field. However, I can pick up a Scientific American and understand the concepts they're talking about. What I've done since graduation: I received USAF pilot training, got my wings, then waited a couple of years for an open cockpit in the F-16 Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, Calif. I was part of some really cool test programs and saw what an engineering degree could do for me. I also got my master's in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle's Extended Campus while there. I've been flying the F-16 for about five years now. I'm currently applying to Test Pilot School and still aspire to be an astronaut. My most interesting/challenging project: Just back from a one-year flying tour in South Korea, I'm going through an instructor upgrade in the F-16 at Luke AFB in Phoenix. This is really challenging my instructor techniques - teaching these students to fly the F-16 is a pretty wild and scary concept. This career field has forced me to learn continuously. It always seems like I'm studying or learning something new. I'll never forget: Mr. Phillips. He recruited me from my failing aerospace engineering degree and got me into a program with a lot of other kids who were way smarter than me. This engineering physics family helped me get through the program and forced me to apply myself.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: It's not easy. Most of the time, I just tell people I have a physics degree. How the degree has helped me: It's a great foundation that can be used in many professions. The engineering and physics classes often allowed the same problems to be analyzed from different perspectives. This helps in any technical profession, because it makes you think that different solutions may exist for the problem at hand. The strong mathematical education is also a great benefit that will help in any technical profession, as well. What I've done since graduation: For four years, I helped design hardware and software for atmospheric research satellites at the US Naval Research Lab in Washington, DC. Since then, I've been a developer and instructor of Java programming and Web site development courses for Learning Tree International. I've developed and taught Java Development with Swing Technology: Hands-on, JavaScript for Web Development: Hands-on, Web Site Development: Hands-on, Hands-on Visual Cafe, Powering Java Network and Database Applications, Implementing Web Security: Hands-on, and Building XML Applications: Hands-on. I'm also president of LochNET Systems, a consulting company specializing in Java-based network solutions. I authored and co-authored several books, including Java API For Dummies Quick Reference and Java How-to. My most interesting/challenging project: Working with Learning Tree allows me to travel all around the world and meet very interesting people. I've developed and taught courses with people from England, Sweden, Iraq, Peru, and India, and have become good friends with them all. I find it interesting interacting with the students and finding out what their world is like. I'll never forget: Dr. Sivjee and Charlie Bishop. They were both great at what they did. Not only did they thoroughly understand topics they taught, but also were able to clearly communicate them to the class. The after-class discussions I had with Dr. Sivjee and Mr. Bishop also helped prepare me for the world after college.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: It's the unholy union of aerospace engineering and pure physics. It gives us a unique ability to work in both arenas. The first class entered the program not really knowing what it was. Most of us were enrolled originally in aerospace engineering. How the degree has helped me: There's a real difference between the ways engineers and physicists think. EP grads have the advantage of being able to work and think as both, and that makes a real difference in the professional world. I'm currently working on a Jet Propulsion Lab project for conceptual orbiting telescopes that will search for Earth-like planets around other stars. I have to interface with spacecraft engineers, as well as the astronomers who are designing the telescopes, and speak both of their languages. The EP program gave me the ability to drop back to "first principles" to figure out new problems. I've seen many technical people immediately go for the reference books when confronted with a new problem, whereas EP people start with the most basic laws of science and work forward from there. What I've done since graduation: After a summer job as a space camp counselor, I earned an M.S. in astronautical engineering at the Joint Institute for Advancement in Flight Sciences at NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia. My thesis involved determining the density of the Venus atmosphere based on data from the Magellan spacecraft. I worked as a junior physicist and researcher at the Naval Research Lab, where I shared an office with fellow EP graduate Andy Nicholas. Eventually I moved to a spacecraft software company in Virginia, where I worked with Dr. Nair, who had been our senior design professor at Embry-Riddle. When a larger company acquired our company, I joined Orbital Sciences as a systems engineer in the advanced systems division of the space systems group. I do internal research and development, perform small scientific studies, design conceptual spacecraft, and give technical input to the business development team. The projects are fairly short, and the job can be likened to doing a couple of senior design projects every year. My most interesting/challenging project: Recently I've been involved with predicting the debris from re-entering spacecraft. Not all of a satellite will burn up when it hits the atmosphere. Pieces do fall to the ground. As recently illustrated when NASA de-orbited the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, there is a real concern that satellites entering the atmosphere will eventually kill someone on Earth. I'm working on ways to prevent that, or at least prevent my company's satellites from doing that. Before that, I was the systems engineer for a lunar probe study for the Japanese. We designed the mission and spacecraft systems to deliver a scientific payload to the moon's surface. I'll never forget: Professors Sivjee and Palmer, but also Dr. Elston, who was intelligent and patient with the sometimes obnoxious EP students.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: It gave us a combination of engineering with a bias toward aerospace applications and physics. How the degree has helped me: I was well prepared for most of my graduate course work, but could have benefited from taking a quantum physics class, which was not in the original curriculum. What I've done since graduation: I earned a master's in space physics from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, then worked for six years as a contractor at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, DC. I became a civil servant in 1999, and I am working in the thermospheric and ionospheric physics section of the spaces sciences division. My most interesting/challenging project: I'm working on space flight hardware, specifically UV remote sensing detectors for the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager. I'm starting a new project to launch atmospheric density calibration spheres from the space shuttle. The design of these spacecraft may be an option for the 2000-2001 engineering physics 496/497 courses at Embry-Riddle. I'll never forget: Dr. Sivjee, an excellent instructor. I was fortunate to work in his lab one summer, which inspired me to continue my education in space physics. He always expressed genuine concern for his students' education and future. I also enjoyed Dr. Robert Fleck's teaching style and his astronomy and planetary science courses.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: Just as aeronautical engineering is the study and design of aircraft and their systems, engineering physics is the study and design of spacecraft and their systems and flight. How the degree has helped me: The intense background in mathematics, physics, electrical engineering, and more allowed us to do any number of things and pursue higher degrees in just about any field we chose. What I've done since graduation: I was commissioned in the US Air Force and became an air weapons controller. I was stationed in Korea and South Carolina and went on temporary duty to interesting places, including South America, for anti-drug surveillance. I've since separated from the Air Force, but not completely - my husband, Joe, flies the F-117 Stealth Fighter. I'm currently a stay-at-home mom with our two daughters, Erin and Kelly. I'm also taking photography classes at New Mexico State University to explore new interests. My most interesting/challenging project: Helping two beautiful little girls grow up to be happy, healthy, intelligent, and well-mannered young ladies. Our senior design project was a piece of cake compared to this challenge! I'll never forget: Dr. Sivjee, without question! He truly believes that students live up to or down to expectations. I thought he was THE toughest professor on the planet, but I found myself doing things I never thought I could. He expected great things from us, and I hope when he looks at us now he is proud.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: It's a bridge between the engineering and science communities. I'm comfortable in both fields and capable of communicating with either side. Since these two communities often do not see eye to eye, I have found my education useful in helping me relate to both points of view. How the degree has helped me: I left Embry-Riddle well prepared for the professional world. The most useful skills were comfort in dealing with both the science and engineering communities, and the coding experience I received in class and Dr. Sivjee's lab. The coding experience helped me attain my first position and has been helpful ever since. During my first job, I was in a meeting with the Ulysses science team when someone wrote some E&M [electricity and magnetism] formulas on a white board. I remember thinking: I can't believe I'm out of school and people actually use this stuff! I had thought once I got out of E&M class I'd never have to see any of that again. Boy, was I wrong! What I've done since graduation: I worked for three years as a programmer/analyst at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. I was part of the team that prepared the energetic particle detector on the Galileo satellite for several fly-bys of the Earth and its eventual views of Jupiter. I also worked with the team of the Ulysses hi-scale instrument during its fly-by of Jupiter. This remains one of my favorite projects. During the science team meetings at the Jet Propulsion Lab, we viewed data from Ulysses in near real-time as it passed through the magnetosphere of Jupiter. As the lowly programmer, I was the only one who could run the processing software and, therefore, was first to view all the images. I'm always surprised when students feel that taking a first position as a programmer is beneath them. In my case, it turned out to be quite a bonus and gave me an opportunity to work on several different projects while I figured out where my niche was. My most interesting/challenging project: I have spent the last six years at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., as the instrument operations team leader for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the key instrument on the EOS-AM1 Terra spacecraft. We spent six months at Santa Barbara Remote Sensing in Santa Barbara, Calif., for instrument level testing, and made many trips to Lockheed Martin in Valley Forge, Pa., for integration and tests with the spacecraft. The culmination was the launch in December 1999, when my team and I were able to turn on and activate MODIS and conduct the many calibration scenarios we had worked with the science community to create. MODIS is doing well and in the hands of two other EP grads: Chad Salo (1995) and Bryan Breen (1999). I'll never forget: Dr. Sivjee taught most of our upper-level physics classes so it was hard to escape him. I also spent two years working in his space physics research lab. He was an excellent mentor and provided many opportunities in the lab to expand on our classroom knowledge. Prof. Palmer is also very memorable. His guidance and good humor helped us get through some of the dog days of physics.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: It's the building blocks for engineering - the physics behind the engineering from which the engineering equations are derived. Add some space systems, astronautical engineering, and a minor in mathematics, and that is the EP degree. How the degree has helped me: It helped me understand the basics on which engineering is founded. If I ever came across a concept I did not readily understand, I'd break it down into the physical phenomena (physics) behind the concepts. I'd then understand the terms in an equation or the different physics aspects that would drive such a concept. What I've done since graduation: I farmed full time for a year, then reduced it to part time and earned a master's in mechanical engineering at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. I worked for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency as an environmental protection engineer, reviewing air pollution permit applications, for four years, and as an agricultural inspector for a 17-county area for two years. My most interesting/challenging project: The reduction or elimination, by biological or mechanical means, of odors from large livestock confinements. I'll never forget: Dr. Sivjee, because we had a lot of classes with him. Dr. Nair (senior design project) related well with the students. Dr. Fleck brought advanced concepts down to a lay level and reminded me of a surfer dude. Prof. Bishop showed us the concepts at work in the lab and reminded me of a 1960s flower-power rebel. Prof. Palmer talked with me first about the program and taught our first physics class.
How I explain my engineering physics degree to people: It's applicationalphysics. The program had a solid theoretical basis, with an emphasis on using the knowledge in concrete projects. How the degree has helped me: The actual hands-on use of materials and optics has helped me greatly in my job. What I've done since graduation: I was commissioned in the Air Force. Since then, I've been a computer LAN administrator and logistics integrator for the F-22 at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio, run a parts warehouse, and been in charge of a fuels flight at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho. I'm now a program integrator, working on contractor oversight with Raytheon in Los Angeles. I also earned a master's in human factors engineering from Wright State University. My most interesting/challenging project: I'm overseeing a project that allows submarines to have increased visibility in extremely low light situations. I'm also working with technical upgrades to fighter aircraft radar systems. I'll never forget: Prof. Palmer. He was very helpful from the very first day. He especially helped my mother to understand what I was trying to learn.
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